As part of The Post’s 2021 NFL Draft preview, we examine what the Jets might do at each position. Tuesday: Edge rusher
There has not been a draft in the last 15 years when you could not list edge rusher as a need for the Jets. It continues to be, although maybe a little less of one this year.
The team signed Carl Lawson in free agency to a three-year, $45 million contract to bolster the pass rush. While Lawson will help Robert Saleh’s defense, the Jets could use more help on the edge to play on the opposite side of him.
The Jets could take an edge rusher with the No. 23 overall pick if one of the top ones falls to them like Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari or Michigan’s Kwity Paye. It seems more likely that they would draft one in the second or third round, though, where there are a number of edge rushers expected to go.
Miami’s Jalean Phillips and Gregory Rouseeau, Penn State’s Jayson Oweh, Washington’s Joe Tryon and Wake Forest’s Carlos Basham Jr. are all expected to be drafted on Day 2.
Oweh is a fascinating prospect. He ran a 4.37 40-yard dash and is a freakish athlete. But he did not have one sack in 2020 for the Nittany Lions. A team is going to have to be convinced that his potential outweighs his production.