Bailey's college journey bears that out. He played collegiately for four years but only last year at Tech after growing and learning in multiple ways in his three seasons at Stanford. He played 32 games as a part-time starter but full-game danger to opposing QBs, finishing that phase of his career with 14.5 sacks.
Then at Texas Tech, he matched that total in one season, 14 games, with his 14.5 sacks for the Red Raiders tying for the FBS lead. One platform pegged his 81 QB pressures as the best among college defenders, and his 19.5 tackles for loss were second-most in FBS.
"I learned a lot of great things at Stanford under Bobby April," Bailey said of his defensive coordinator and OLBs coach with the Cardinal, who is now the Bills' OLBs coach. "I had a pretty good, decent junior season. That next step, I think it really came down to Coach \[Junior\] Ah You's teaching and also just all the resources that Tech had. It allowed me to be a pro. That last year, I was living like a pro, I was taking classes just to be eligible. But I wasn't trying to earn a master's or anything, so I had a light course load and it allowed me to just lock in on football and become the best player I can."
Don't let that quote fool you. Bailey wasn't a pretend college player. He earned his degree in three years at Stanford.
"If I want something and put my mind to it, I feel like I'm able to achieve that," he explained of his off-the-field learning. " The goal of graduating in three, I really didn't think about it until after freshman year. The reality was after that, where I started taking community courses and online courses to get more credits and graduate. So as soon as I knew that's what I wanted to do, I put my mind to it and I was able to achieve that."
Kind of like what he's envisioning for his time in the NFL.
"The first comes with just being athletic," he said. "I had a great strength staff at Stanford, a great strength staff at Tech, and that just helped me become the best athlete I can. Also, I just watched a lot of edge rushers so I was just trying to emulate my game after Von Miller, I watched a lot of DeMarcus Ware, Aidan Hutchinson, just watching different pass rushers and getting different tips and tricks from that.
"And obviously, I play my own game. I have a unique game."
Perhaps Bailey has the kind of game that would fit nicely into the scheme envisioned by Glenn (who, purely coincidentally, coached Hutchinson for three seasons as Detroit's defensive coordinator), new DC Brian Duker and the Jets' evolving scheme. More to be revealed in the next two months leading up to Round 1 of the draft.