The New York Jets will now pick either 22nd, 23rd or 24th in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft thanks to the Seattle Seahawks loss.
The entire living, breathing football world understood New York Jets fans wouldn’t be rooting for Jamal Adams Saturday afternoon. (Further explanation not required.) But fans had even more of an incentive to see the Seattle Seahawks go down.
A Los Angeles Rams victory in Seattle would give the Jets a better first-round selection in the 2021 NFL draft.
The Joe Douglas summer special that sent a disgruntled Adams and a 2022 fourth-round selection to the Great Northwest for a pair of first-round picks, a third-rounder and Bradley McDougald will now fetch the Jets a first-round pick somewhere in the 22-24 range.
The wild-card losing teams will be slotted in the 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th picks of each round of the upcoming draft. Since the Indianapolis Colts finished with one fewer win than the Seahawks, they’ll pick ahead of Adams’s new squad. (The Colts lost to the Buffalo Bills earlier in the day.)
The Jets’ second first-round pick can turn into the 22nd overall selection if both the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints fall on Sunday. They’ll pick 23rd if one of those teams loses or 24th if both teams win—making Seattle the best team to fall in the new super wild-card round.
Remember, this also impacts the Jets’ second third-round selection.
As far as the game was concerned, Adams finished with two sacks, three tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and seven total tackles (six solo). Quarterback Russell Wilson put forth one of his worst playoff games ever. He could muster just 248 yards and no touchdowns to two costly interceptions on 22 of 37 passing.
Brandon Staley’s Rams defense was just too much for Brian Schottenheimer’s offense.
Although the Jets would have felt great if Seattle missed the playoffs, Douglas and the rest of the brass has to be loving the fact this Seahawks loss helps the team’s draft position considerably in the spring.
