The kids are ready to come out and play.
And contribute.
This is the Jets vision, beginning with Sunday’s season opener against the Ravens at MetLife Stadium.
The Jets could have four 2022 draft picks among their starting 22 on Sunday — two on each side of the ball — cornerback Sauce Gardner, receiver Garrett Wilson, running back Breece Hall and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson.
While Hall and Johnson will be heavily used rotational players, the players likely to be most impactful with the most potential to electrify fans are Gardner and Wilson.
Both Gardner and Wilson, the fourth- and 10th-overall picks in April’s draft, had standout summers. Both have shown a common tendency to be mature beyond what their birth certificates say. Both show more traits of being humble than being divas. Both are unafraid of the big moment. And both confident without being cocky.
Head coach Robert Saleh has spoken all offseason and summer about how excited he is to find out who the “superstars’’ on his team are going to be, how and when they’ll reveal themselves. Saleh believes among those potential stars are some rookies.
When was asked to characterize the confidence level of Gardner, who never allowed a single touchdown pass to be caught on him in 1,059 snaps during his collegiate career at Cincinnati, Saleh channeled his inner “This Is Spinal Tap’’ and said, “Eleven.’’
“Sauce has got all the confidence in the room,’’ said safety Jordan Whitehead, an offseason acquisition from Tampa Bay. “Just from his preparation, you can tell he’s ready to play. He doesn’t get beat, so he should be confident. He makes plays.
“He has the spotlight on him all the time [being] the fourth-overall pick, but you wouldn’t even know. He just brings himself to work every day, head on his shoulders and is ready to learn.’’
How good can Gardner be?
“When I look at him, I don’t even think rookie,’’ Whitehead said. “I see him out there as a vet, as a leader on this team. He’s ready to start.’’
Whitehead also is excited about Wilson.
“Watching his routes, it’s like he’s playing basketball — crossing over, jumping up for balls,’’ Whitehead said. “When he goes up and catches the ball, it’s always a jump ball for him, he’s always high-pointing it, [has] great hands, and he’s just an athletic freak.’’
Offensive guard Laken Tomlinson, another veteran offseason acquisition coming from a winning program [San Francisco], said the presence of the rookie talent on the roster “fires me up.’’
“The draft picks we have are really talented guys, guys who love to work and who have bought into the culture that we have here, the winning culture,’’ Tomlinson said. “I’m excited for those young guys to go out there and show that they belong in this league.’’
Though the pedigree and accomplishments of Gardner and Wilson have been well-documented, Hall comes to the Jets having been the most productive running back in college football in 2021, rushing for 1,472 yards a year after producing 1,572 yards. Hall set an NCAA record by scoring at least one rushing touchdown in 24 consecutive games — 41 TDs overall in that span.
Johnson last season at Florida State, produced 11.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for losses.
Among the other rookies who have a chance to make an immediate difference includes fourth-round pick Michael Clemons, who played like a backfield wrecker in preseason.
Saleh knows, for the rookies and all the confidence they’ve gained in training camp and preseason games, the degree of difficulty increases on Sunday.
“It’s a whole different animal,’’ Saleh said. “That first game is just different in terms of the amount of speed, the amount of violence that possesses, just how fast everything is moving. There’s still another step that they’ve all got to take. There’s a bunch of steps they’ve all got to take.
“I love [Gardner’s] mindset. I don’t think it’s too big for him. It’s not too big for Garrett, Breece, Jermaine, Michael Clemons … all our rookies. [I’m] really excited to see those guys in their first week.’’
The group has a chance to be something special. Who will emerge as stars?
“I know we have them,’’ Saleh said. “It’s going to be so fun to watch this team kind of grow up this year in terms of who those dudes are that step up in the fourth quarter. It’s where you see guys like [Patrick] Mahomes and Josh Allen just throwing haymakers and Stefon Diggs. At the end of the Super Bowl, where you see Aaron Donald make the last two plays of the game and closing that game out.
“I think we’ve got a really good thing going here, and it’s going to be fun to watch it evolve. You never know until you know, but I know we’ve got them.’’