Devin Lloyd, Utah, NFL Draft, Mock, NY Jets Targets
Devin Lloyd, Utah Football, NFL Draft, New York Jets, Getty Images

These 2022 NFL draft prospects are tailor-made for New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas

Over the past week, I’ve been delving into the drafting tendencies we’ve seen from New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas. We’ve learned a lot about how much he values athleticism, age, and leadership.

It’s time to bring everything together and identify the 2022 NFL draft prospects who are the most perfect matches for Douglas’ tendencies.

Here are Douglas’ two strongest tendencies over his first two drafts:

  • Team captains: Of Douglas’ 19 draft picks from 2020-21, ten of them were team captains in college (52.6%). That’s an extremely high rate; for reference, just 29.0% of the top-200 ranked prospects in the 2022 draft class (rankings via NFL Mock Draft Database) were team captains.
  • Top-tier athletes: Douglas drafted seven players with a Relative Athletic Score (RAS)* of 9.0+ from 2020-21, tying for the most in the NFL over that span.

*RAS is a 0-to-10 rating that takes into account a player’s performance in various testing drills relative to their height, weight, and position. When multiplied by 10, the player’s RAS indicates where their athleticism ranks all-time among players at his position; i.e., a 9.0 RAS ranks at the 90th percentile.

I examined all prospects on the consensus big board at NFL Mock Draft Database and identified the non-quarterbacks who met both of the following two criteria:

  • RAS of 9.0+
  • Was a team captain in college

Without further ado, these are the 2022 NFL draft’s tailor-made “Joe Douglas guys”.

Board RankPlayerPos.SchoolRASCaptain?
1Aidan HutchinsonEDGEMichigan9.88Yes
7Kyle HamiltonSNotre Dame9.33Yes
14Jordan DavisDTGeorgia10.00Yes
20Devin LloydLBUtah9.59Yes
28Zion JohnsonIOLBoston College9.75Yes
36Breece HallRBIowa State9.96Yes
43Travis JonesDTConnecticut9.40Yes
52Jaquan BriskerSPenn State9.14Yes
65Chad MumaLBWyoming9.77Yes
75Alec PierceWRCincinnati9.82Yes
76Troy AndersenLBMontana State10.00Yes
99Josh PaschalEDGEKentucky9.70Yes
100Damone ClarkLBLSU9.87Yes
120Zamir WhiteRBGeorgia9.82Yes
123Zyon McCollumCBSam Houston State10.00Yes
136Charlie KolarTEIowa State9.12Yes
142Pierre Strong Jr.RBSouth Dakota State9.34Yes
156Bo MeltonWRRutgers9.25Yes
161Tycen AndersonSToledo9.49Yes
170Chris PaulIOLTulsa9.45Yes
174Daniel BellingerTESan Diego State9.67Yes
175Thomas BookerDTStanford9.88Yes
183Matt WaletzkoOTNorth Dakota9.95Yes
206Mike RoseLBIowa State9.06Yes
209Malcolm RodriguezLBOklahoma State9.27Yes
233Nick ZakeljOTFordham9.83Yes
247Micah McFaddenLBIndiana9.47Yes
271Matt HanningsenDTWisconsin9.33Yes
332Baylon SpectorLBClemson9.13Yes
333Ryan Van DenmarkOTConnecticut9.44Yes
370Andrew OgletreeTEYoungstown State9.35Yes
410Bryant KobackRBToledo9.72Yes
459Jack KoernerSIowa9.19Yes
483Jason PoeIOLMercer9.47Yes
516Tony AdamsSIllinois9.74Yes
597Michael Griffin IISSouth Dakota State9.11Yes

Could Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis or Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd be higher on the Jets’ board than many think?

Among players who have been frequently mentioned as options for the Jets with one of their two top-10 picks in the first round, only Michigan edge defender Aidan Hutchinson and Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton qualified for the list.

While the list doesn’t feature many players who the Jets might consider with one of their first-round selections, it features plenty of under-the-radar names to watch closely beyond the first round.

Connecticut defensive tackle Travis Jones, Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker, and Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma are three players to watch on the second day of the draft. Don’t overlook Montana State linebacker Troy Andersen or Cincinnati wide receiver Alec Pierce.

Jet X Offseason Tool 2023 4

Among well-known prospects, the two players who most narrowly missed the cut were Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave and Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum. Both players were team captains but posted RAS marks of 8.68 and 8.83, respectively.

Keep in mind that some players did not complete enough testing drills to qualify for a RAS, so there are a few prospects not listed above who may have qualified if they did participate in a sufficient amount of testing.

Alabama tackle Evan Neal, USC wide receiver Drake London, and Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean are the highest-ranked prospects who were team captains but did not test enough to earn a RAS.

It will be interesting to see whether Douglas continues to uphold the trends he showcased over his first two drafts or if he shows some malleability and simply tosses these tendencies out the window.

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Michael Nania is one of the best analytical New York Jets minds in the world, combining his statistical expertise with game film to add proper context to the data. Nania scrapes every corner, ensuring you know all there is to know about everyone from the QB to the long snapper. Nania's Numbers, Nania's QB Grades, and Nania's All-22 give fans a deeper and more well-rounded dive into the Jets than anyone else can offer. Email: michael.nania[at]jetsxfactor.com - Twitter: @Michael_Nania
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Rajat Gupta
Rajat Gupta
1 year ago

Interesting analysis. Where do some of the more common names mentioned fall according to this analysis e.g. Sauce, Thibodeaux, Travon Walker, Jameson Williams, Garrett Wilson, etc? Do you think JD ends up not taking many of the people that are being mocked because of the trend?

Jonathan Richter
Jonathan Richter
1 year ago

I’m tired of mock drafts, let’s get this show on the road already! Good article. Can’t wait to see which of these guys become Jets.

JetOrange
JetOrange
1 year ago

Based on this list, I can see Douglas picking up additional sixth round picks. Very impressed on what JD did last year in the sixth. Looking at Alec Pierce WR at 38, new guy Matt Waletzko OT in the fifth. Hold on to this list and check it against the draft and UNDFA’s

Jimjets
Jimjets
1 year ago

Fascinating !!! So many players on this list who will be available to us especially in rounds 2-5. I’ve bern coming around to the idea of Sauce at 4 Jermaine Johnson at 10 – if he’s there and taking 2 wr later.

Jimjets
Jimjets
1 year ago
Reply to  Michael Nania

It’s a perfect storm. So many picks. So many needs. So many options. We have to help Zach more but on the other hand a defense that could actually get off the field on occasion would help him. The line is already better the Tight ends are going to be huge and overall the team is already quite a bit better. I have a couple other thoughts. The first five picks have to be impact picks this year. They have to be five players that help us THIS year. One other thought I had was that if we do trade down with Pittsburgh we give them 10 for 20 and Diontae Johnson – that solves the receiver issue and we still have two first round picks .

Peter Buell
Peter Buell
1 year ago
Reply to  Michael Nania

I mentioned in another post that if Philly has thier sights set on someone high, with the depth in this draft I might consider trading #4 to Philly for #s 15 and 18 giving us 10, 15, 18.
We could easily get, in no particular order Drake London wr, Devonte Wyatt dl and Trent McDuffie cb in round 1.
round 2 cb Kaaor Elam and S Lewis Cine.
rounds 3/4 Chad Muma LB, Darrien Beaver LB,
round 5 Jerome Ford rb, DJ Davidson DT