Star DB prospect is the current favorite to be drafted by Jets at No. 4

Mock drafters have the New York Jets looking to the secondary

Falling to 3-11 with their third consecutive loss, the New York Jets are flying up the draft board. They currently own the fourth overall pick courtesy of their own woes while the first-round pick owed to them through the Seahawks is situated in the eighth slot.

Here is a look at the draft’s top-13 (all teams with losing records) as of Monday, Dec. 20:

1. Jacksonville (2-12, .508 strength of schedule)
2. Detroit (2-11-1, .537 SOS)
3. Houston (3-11, .498 SOS)
4. NY Jets (3-11, .502 SOS)
5. NY Giants (4-10, .532 SOS)
6. NY Giants via Chicago (4-9, .524 SOS)
7. Carolina (5-9, .502 SOS)
8. NY Jets via Seattle (5-8, .515 SOS)
9. Atlanta (6-8, .464 SOS)
10. Philadelphia (6-7, .517 SOS)
11. Minnesota (6-7, .517 SOS)
12. Washington (6-7, .526 SOS)
13. Las Vegas (6-7, .536 SOS)

With the regular season winding down, mock draft season has officially begun for star-crossed teams like the Jets. And when it comes to mock drafts, NFL Mock Draft Database is our friend.

The brilliant website takes the mock drafts and big boards of hundreds of experts across the internet and meshes them together to form a consensus mock draft and a consensus big board, giving us an excellent feel for the world’s collective opinions on the countless prospects who are set to hear their names called in the spring.

So, with the draft a mere 129 days away, what are the internet’s consensus thoughts on what the Jets will do?

As of today (Dec. 20), the site currently has the Jets taking LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. with the fourth overall pick in its consensus mock draft.

Stingley Jr. was mocked to the Jets in 34.8% of the mock drafts included in the site’s data sample, which is by far the highest portion of any prospect.

Following Stingley Jr. are Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux (15.1%) and Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton (14.8%). The field makes up 35.3% of the other selections.

Stingley Jr. played only three games this year before a foot injury ended his season. He was ranked as the nation’s top recruit in the 2019 class by Rivals.com and burst onto the scene with a dominant freshman year at LSU in which he recorded six interceptions and 15 total passes defended.

Injury issues are the main question for Singley Jr., as in addition to this year’s foot issue, he was limited to seven games as a sophomore due to a leg injury. Stingley Jr. also saw a production dip in his second year and declined once more over his small sample of appearances in 2021.

With the eighth overall pick, NFL Mock Draft Database currently has New York selecting Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.

Stingley Jr. is actually the Jets’ most commonly-mocked player at the No. 8 slot as well, leading the way with 12.3% of the picks. However, since he goes off the board at No. 4 in the consensus mock (the first slot where he is the most commonly mocked player), the Jets go with their next-most commonly mocked player at No. 8, which is Linderbaum with 10.3% of all picks.

Hamilton follows Linderbaum with a 7.7% slice of the pie at No. 8. The field makes up 69.2% of the picks.

Linderbaum is currently the top-ranked FBS center at Pro Football Focus with a 95.2 overall grade. He has given up only seven pressures on 426 pass-blocking snaps this season (1.6% rate).

The Jets will take on the Jaguars this week in a game that will have an enormous impact on how the draft order shakes out.