If you had to pick one decision the Jets made in this year’s draft that was questionable, it was moving up 18 spots in the fourth round to take Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik.
On the surface, it seemed unnecessary to move up to get Klubnik at pick No. 110 when it seemed likely he would have been available at No. 128, where the Jets were going to pick next.
But the Jets believed there were two other teams that were targeting Klubnik, according to a source. They also knew that people around the NFL expected the Jets to draft a quarterback in the fourth round because they did not have a fifth- or sixth-round pick and the expectation was they would draft a quarterback on Day 3.
The Jets traded two fourth-round picks (Nos. 128 and 140) to the Bengals to move up 18 spots and they also received a sixth-round pick (No. 199) in the trade. The Jets felt like they were not losing a pick since they were getting that sixth-rounder back and they were interested in getting back into the sixth round where they had a player in mind. The Jets ended up taking Miami guard Anez Cooper in the sixth round after another trade where they moved up 11 spots.
The Jets wanted Klubnik after doing a good amount of work on him in the pre-draft process. They went to Clemson to work him out and new offensive coordinator Frank Reich was high on Klubnik’s potential. The Jets expected Miami’s Carson Beck and Penn State’s Drew Allar to go in the third round and they did. There was a drop-off after Klubnik. The next quarterback taken was North Dakota State’s Cole Payton in the fifth round.
The Jets were not high on LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who was projected to go on Day 2 of the Draft but fell all the way to the seventh round before being drafted by the Chiefs.
The Jets began signing undrafted free agents after the draft ended. They added a kicker — BYU’s Will Ferrin. Kicker seemed like a position the Jets might target late in the draft but they waited and signed Ferrin.
The other reported undrafted free agent signings are: BYU CB Mory Bamba, UTSA LB Kendrick Blackshire, TCU TE Chase Curtis, Louisville WR Caullin Lacy, Toledo RB Chip Trayanum, Wyoming RB Sam Scott and Rutgers WR DT Sheffield.