Playing in the NFL is every draft prospect's dream, but playing for the Jets would hold extra weight for Clemson S R.J. Mickens, whose father Ray played for the team from 1996-2003.
"It'd be really cool to play for the Jets," R.J. Mickens said on Thursday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. "Just knowing that [my dad] played there, that city is a great city. Great fanbase and it's a great organization. So, yeah, it'd be really cool."
Ray Mickens was selected by the Jets in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft and totaled 347 tackles, 40 PDs, and 11 interceptions in his eight seasons in New York. For six of those eight years, he was teammates with Jets HC Aaron Glenn. The two also played together at Texas A&M.
"I was just so excited to see [Glenn] get that job," said R.J. Mickens. "It's huge for him and his family. We kind of grew up with their family and my dad obviously played with him. So that's just a great relationship.
"I mean he's a really genuine person. He's a great role model, a great leader, a great man and he's really special. He is going to do great things there."
Born in Irving, TX, R.J. Mickens spent some of his early childhood in New York when his father played for the Jets. At Carroll HS in Texas, R.J. Mickens was a two-way player who lined up at cornerback and caught passes at wide receiver from Texas QB Quinn Ewers. He earned a scholarship to Clemson and started his college trek as a safety and special teams contributor.
"My dad's helped me so much just being a former DB," he said. "Knowing how DBs think, teaching me defensive schematics, everything has just been huge. He's been able to pour into me and share his experiences with me. What this process was like, how his draft went and how his experience in the NFL went. It's just really cool to be able to tap into that and have that resource in my back pocket."
R.J. Mickens (6-0, 207) played five seasons for the Tigers and totaled 196 tackles, 19 PDs, 7 INTs and 13.5 TFLs. He is an instinctive player who has experience playing both safety and cornerback.
"I like to describe myself as a Swiss Army Knife," he said. "I feel like I could plug and play any position on the back end. Just having that mindset, that knowledge, to be able to play multiple positions, I feel like it all just adds value. Being able to know what to do at every position, being able to coach that position, know the ins and outs of that position. Also, just my body size, my composition, my speed and range. I could do a lot of different things."
Asked which NFL player, past or present, he would want to play with, Mickens, who could be a Day 3 draft selection, had an obvious answer.
"My pops," he said. "Definitely my pops."
