2027 4-Star QB Wonderful ‘Champ’ Monds makes college commitment: Live update
4-Star QB Wonderful 'Champ' Monds announces college commitment live!
Kenyon Sadiq was drafted 16th overall by the New York Jets as the first tight end in the 2026 NFL Draft. He discusses his fit with the team and his college experiences, highlighting the potential of his fellow teammates.
Kenyon Sadiq has made the trip from Oregon to New Jersey before. Such are the perils of playing in the expanded Big Ten.
The balance of cross country trips and the rigors of being a student athlete was just one of the cauldrons that forged the Idaho native into the first tight end selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Sadiq was drafted 16th overall be the New York Jets. He's set to be another jewel in a crown of young playmakers trying to reverse the fortunes of a franchise that's gone more than a decade without a playoff appearance.
Sadiq sat down for a quick interview one week after his Day 1 selection to talk about his college career, how he can elevate an offense ripe with young playmakers and why his teammates will make great pros in 2026 (Dillon Thieneman, Emmanuel Pregnon, etc) or 2027 (Dante Moore). The video is below, along with a few choice quotes from Sadiq's insightful peak behind the Ducks' and Jets' curtains.
"I think it's really common. You're starting to see a lot of these two, three, even four tight end sets pop up, so I don't think it's out of the blue... or anything like that. I think our games could definitely compliment each other. I think we're both unique in our own ways and I think it'll work really well.
"I have a bit more speed. He has a lot of raw strength and his hands are really good and even with Jeremy Ruckert, he is a big strong blocker as well, and I think we can all work together really well.
"I can do both and not be a liability in the run game."
Kenyon Sadiq plays as a tight end and was drafted 16th overall by the New York Jets in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Sadiq believes he can complement Mason Taylor and contribute to the Jets' offense, as multiple tight end sets are becoming common in the NFL.
Sadiq described his time at Rutgers as 'fun for about... five minutes,' indicating a challenging experience.
Sadiq mentioned teammates Dillon Thieneman, Emmanuel Pregnon, and Dante Moore, highlighting their potential to become great professionals.
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Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq hurdles over Penn State cornerback Audavion Collins as the Oregon Ducks face the Penn State Nittany Lions on Sept. 27, 2025, at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
"I talked to him on Zoom and then finally getting to meet him in person was great. He has a great plan of not only how he envisions me, but the offense as a whole, I don't really want to go into details or anything, but I really trust him and I'm really excited to play for him."
"He really does everything pretty well, to be honest. His arm talent is just off the charts, [the way he] sees all these throws. He's getting hit in the face, throwing touchdowns, still not fazed by pressure, but he is also commanding the offense as well.
"It's just him taking those next strides of being confident in himself, trusting everyone around him, kind of developing everyone around him as well to come out next year."
"I just want to use him as a resource my first year coming into the league and suck up as much information as I can. He has been through so much adversity, he's kind of seen the ins and outs of this league.
"So I mean really just getting around him, like I said, seeing how he thinks, how he processes information, just me really being a sponge. I'm around him, to be honest, just to get every bit of information."
"I think they just had initially sent a bunch of insoles out for us at EXOS to try out. It wasn't by force or anything like that, we all just tested them out and ended up really liking them. Especially when it comes to jumping in them, you can definitely tell a big difference. So as soon as we started testing with the insoles, we all kind of wanted to jump in them."
Dillon Thieneman (Round 1, Chicago Bears)
"He's bringing the hardest worker in the room, that's for sure. There's always me and him in the morning in the facility, first [ones] there getting extra work on top of that. He is a great football player.
"He is a guy that can play in space. He is a great sideline to sideline guy, rarely misses tackles and he is always going to know where to be and when to be there. He knows everything about the game and on top of that, he is a great person, so they got a good player for sure."
Emmanuel Pregnon (Round 3, Jacksonville Jaguars)
"Yeah, that's a big body. First of all, he is a good human. I love being around him. Only got to be around him for a year, but I feel like I've known him forever.
"But no, once again, one of the hardest workers you're going to find. He does really well in any type of zone scheme, gap scheme. He is going to move bodies. He is going to create movement at the point of attack, which is huge."
Jadon Canady (Round 4, Kansas City Chiefs)
"That's my guy. We hang out all the time. We'd always go at it in practice.
"In my opinion, it's him and DeAngelo Ponds [drafted by the Jets in Round 2] are the best cover players in college football. He did a great job of guarding Makai Lemon, any of those guys, they didn't really do anything on him.
"He's definitely an undersized guy but you don't see it in his play at all. He is going to make plays with the line of scrimmage and he's going to make plays in the pass game."
Malik Benson (Round 6, Las Vegas Raiders)
"Speed. Malik's so fast and you can go watch that last Washington clip of him, that game winner and just see everything you need to see there. He's a great guy and like I said, he's fast and he's going to get hopping for sure."
"I'd probably say Rutgers being one, the travel and then two, just the crowd and everything. It was fun for about the first five minutes of the first quarter and then it was 'everyone's leaving.' No one's in the stands [and] we're on the other side of the country."
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Kenyon Sadiq interview: his Jets fit, Mason Taylor, and scouting Oregon teammates