The Jets settled into a relatively normal one-pick, no-further-trades round when they selected linebacker Blake Cashman out of Minnesota in the fifth round with the 157th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft this afternoon.
Cashman (6'1", 237) was a team captain and tackling machine for the Golden Gophers last season, coming up with 104 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, and was named All-Big Ten third team.
He began his UM career in 2015 as a walk-on safety, then moved to pass-rush specialist in 2016 and recorded a career-high 7.5 sacks. For his career he played 50 games (11 starts) with 183 tackles, 31 TFLs and 12 sacks. He turned in a 4.50-second 40 and a 6.95-second three-cone drill at the NFL Combine.
See the Best Photos of the Former Minnesota Linebacker
Cashman is the 10th Minnesota player drafted by the Jets all-time and the first Gopher taken since 1985, when they selected DB Kerry Glenn in the 10th round (No. 262) in 1985. Four years earlier they took RB Marion Barber in the second round (30th overall) in 1981. Three years before that, they drafted their only LB out of Minnesota, Mark Merrill in the second round (31st overall) in 1978.
The Jets gave up their own fifth-round pick to the Raiders in the trade for G Kelechi Osemele. They moved back into Round 5 as the result of a three-pick swap with the Saints. Then they traded up from New Orleans' 168 to Tennessee's 157 in a four-pick deal with the Titans.
The Jets' picks in Rounds 4 and 5 — TE Trevon Wesco and Cashman — both came from the Titans in the first trade between the teams since 2004, when the Jets send their second-rounder in that draft to Tennessee for Titans WR Justin McCareins, who had 141 catches in 64 games over four seasons with the Jets.
At the moment, the Jets have one selection remaining in this draft, Round 6 (No. 196), which they got back from the Raiders in the Osemele package.
