The New York Jets are entering the 2026 NFL Draft picking second overall, right behind the Las Vegas Raiders, who will take the lone first-round caliber QB in Fernando Mendoza.
With the Jets in dire need of a quarterback and without having a good alternative at second overall, the Jets will be tasked with pivoting to the best player available.
In a recent mock draft for ESPN, Mel Kiper Jr. predicted that the Jets, with their pick of every player other than Mendoza, would make NFL Draft history for the first time since 1991 by picking Ohio State safety Caleb Downs second overall.
Jets predicted to make bold draft choice with Caleb Downs
"This would be the highest draft slot for a safety since Eric Turner went No. 2 in 1991," Kiper writes. "Downs is worthy, though. He reads the offense so well, and then he has quickness, physicality, and ball skills to make plays against both the run and the pass."
Taking Downs second overall would be an incredibly bold decision. He's one of the highest-ranked players entering this draft across various experts' big boards.
But, taking a safety, a position less valued in the NFL, at number two overall, would be a very bold decision to make.
The Ohio State Buckeyes safety has played three seasons of college football, and each year, he's had two interceptions.
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For a Jets team that made NFL history as the only team ever to go a full season without recording an interception over the course of a full season, taking a defensive playmaker makes sense.
But picking such a player second overall, and that defensive back being a safety, is a very bold move for the Jets. Kiper's prediction coming true would be a surprise.
However, thanks to the lack of a great quarterback other than Mendoza and not a clear number two prospect in this class, Downs going second overall isn't impossible.
The Jets taking Downs second overall would make NFL Draft history, as the first safety since 1991 to be drafted this high. This being a realistic option highlights just how shaky this year's draft class is, in that a less-valued position might end up going so early.
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