The New York Jets selected three players in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night, and they all had something major in common. Edge rusher David Bailey, tight end Kenyon Sadiq, and wide receiver Omar Cooper all competed in the College Football Playoff last season.
“When you have targets, you identify guys you like, you love – you go get them,” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said after the first round, per the team’s official website. “And that’s exactly what we did today.
“And any time you can bring guys with a winning background on your team, that only helps the morale of your team. So, there’s a lot of things that goes into that, but to get three first-round picks and the caliber guys that we got, the personality, the mentality, the football character, all those things are huge, bringing those guys on our team.”
Glenn is looking forward to Sadiq’s presence on the field helping to dictate the defense opponents are forced to run.
“We’re going to be able to dictate as far as the defense is concerned on what are you going to play,” Glenn said. “Are you going to be in base, are you going to be in nickel? And he brings that value to us. There are so many positions that he can play for us that’s going to make us be able to open up the offense and Frank (Reich) has a really, really good vision for this player.”
After a frustrating season on both sides of the ball in Glenn’s first year as the Jets’ head coach, he knows his team has to improve, and believes he has found the nucleus of young players to usher in that improvement.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.