The NFL Combine takes place next week in Indianapolis, the first for Jets general manager Darren Mougey in his new role. The logo and colors of his team may be different for the first time in his career, but nothing changes regarding the scouting process that led to Mougey's rapid ascension.
"The thing you hear about Mougey from people around the league, especially scouts on the road, is that this guy is a top-notch evaluator," Pro Football Focus' Connor Rogers said. "That's where everything is really cut for him -- evaluating talent whether it's through the draft or through the All-Star circuits. This is somebody that understands the college scouting aspect. The things where you wonder for him, how is he going to handle a salary cap? How is he going to handle trades going into free agency, which he did have a hand in at Denver as well, but managing the entire scouting department.
"What we do know is that this is somebody that can evaluate and Aaron Glenn can lean on. When you're the head coach of a team, you're not doing the college scouting during the season. You need a head guy that could do that throughout the entire fall and Mougey will really be his go-to guy."
Mougey, 39, is the third-youngest GM in the NFL. He began his NFL career with the Broncos as a scouting intern in 2012 and rose to assistant general manager 10 years later. In his 13 seasons with Denver, the Broncos had six head coaches, two general managers and changed ownership.
"The fact that [Mougey] has been through a couple of different regimes in Denver and several head coaches I think speaks to somebody that multiple people evaluated and believe that he deserved to stay," ESPN's Field Yates said. "On top of that, he deserved to be promoted throughout this process. It speaks to somebody who clearly has a sensibility about them and some chops to their scouting acumen, not just at the pro level but also at the college level.
"I would say the early signs suggest somebody that is prepared for this role. Understand that doing it for the first time, there's always going to be the uncertainty for anybody that hasn't been in that seat before, but I can at least believe that certain people are more prepared than others. Whether they execute is a different story, but it seems like he is ready for this opportunity."
Before he became a scout, Mougey spent training camp with the Falcons in 2009 and had a stint with the Cardinals in the 2010 offseason. Mougey played wide receiver at San Diego State from 2005-08 where he was roommates with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, who, coincidentally, played for the Jets from 2009-10. Mougey went to SDSU to play quarterback until he lost the competition to O'Connell and transitioned to wideout.
While Mougey and new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn have not previously worked together, they met in the 2021 coaching cycle when the Broncos interviewed Glenn to be their head coach.
"It's going to be interesting to see this marriage between him and Aaron Glenn," CBS Sports' Leger Douzable said. "I love that Aaron looked at him and said we're going to do great things together. It lets you know that they want to be on the same page going forward. A lot of egos can come into place when it comes to who has the power as the GM or head coach and it doesn't seem like that's an issue right now."
