Playoff-starved Jets take players with winning backgrounds to lead their NFL draft haul

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets entered the NFL draft with plenty of roster holes and a culture under construction. They're confident they at least chipped away in a big way at both over the weekend. Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey was the second overall pick, giving the pass rush an immediate boost. The Jets took Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq 16th overall and then traded back into the first round to select Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 30 — both playmakers for the offense. They grabbed Cooper's former Hoosiers teammate, cornerback D'Angelo Ponds, in the second round. The Jets' first four picks have something in common: They all played in the College Football Playoff last season, including Cooper and Ponds winning a national championship with Indiana. And that was no small coincidence, not for a franchise coming off a 3-14 season and mired in the NFL's longest active postseason drought at 15 years. “Usually when you come from a winning program, you really know how it looks,” coach Aaron Glenn said. "And when you join another program, you bring that same mentality to that program to help that program elevate to where it is. Any time you can do that with a number of players, it just only elevates your team. “And they’re going to practice and they’re going to go through meetings, they’re going to go through walkthroughs like winners do, and that permeates throughout your whole team.” Glenn insisted the Jets didn't pass on any players who were on losing college programs. But their board just happened to be topped by winners. “Which is a plus for us,” Glenn said.

No kidding

Sadiq was hesitant when he answered his phone Thursday night and was told the Jets were drafting him. “I’m excited, Coach,” the speedy tight end told Glenn during the call, video of which was taken by the team and posted on social media. “I was thinking this might be a prank call for a second.” He didn't want to be this year's version of Shedeur Sanders, who was pranked last year during his slide to the fifth round. “That’s just like my biggest fear,” Sadiq said Saturday at the Jets' facility. “If you look at like Shedeur and all that stuff that happened with him, it’s just a moment full of so many emotions. It would kind of be not a fun way to get a prank call and stuff like that. But no, obviously, the call and everything was amazing.”