Only 1 of 10 NFL.com experts thinks the New York Jets will beat the Baltimore Ravens, and Jets fans know him well
The New York Jets‘ 2022 season opener is closing in quickly. Just eight days from now, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens will charge into MetLife Stadium as 6.5-point road favorites, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
Predictably, not many media members around the NFL world are optimistic about the Jets’ chances of winning this game. Look no further than NFL.com. Out of 10 experts on the website, 9 of them chose the Ravens to win, and 7 of those 9 predicted that the Ravens will win by double-digits.
Only one of the 10 predictors at NFL.com thinks the Jets will come out on top, and it is a man who has been one of the Jets’ biggest supporters in the national media: draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah. He sees the Jets pulling out a 24-23 victory.
Jeremiah’s Jets support is no coincidence. He has ties to the organization’s head decision-maker. Jeremiah spent four years working for the Ravens’ scouting staff alongside current Jets general manager Joe Douglas. Jeremiah was a personnel assistant for Baltimore from 2003-04 and a west coast scout from 2005-06. Douglas was a scout from 2000 to 2014.
Earlier this week, Jeremiah said this about the state of the Jets’ roster health:
The Jets roster is in much better shape than it was a few years ago. They didn't have 50 players worthy of 53 man roster spot a few years ago. Today, they had 6 players get claimed off waivers.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) August 31, 2022
“The Jets roster is in much better shape than it was a few years ago. They didn’t have 50 players of 53 man roster [spots] a few years ago. Today, they had [7] players get claimed off waivers.”
During the 2022 NFL draft, the Jets had a strong tendency to draft players who were ranked highly on Jeremiah’s board. Each of the Jets’ first four picks was ranked higher on Jeremiah’s board than the slot he was drafted in, suggesting Jeremiah sees the game very similarly to Douglas.
- CB Sauce Gardner: Chosen 4th, Ranked 2nd on Jeremiah’s board
- WR Garrett Wilson: Chosen 10th, Ranked 4th on Jeremiah’s board
- DE Jermaine Johnson: Chosen 26th, Ranked 9th on Jeremiah’s board
- RB Breece Hall: Chosen 36th, Ranked 28th on Jeremiah’s board
For each of their first three selections, the Jets drafted the highest-ranked player on Jeremiah’s board who was still available. Hall was the third-ranked available player at No. 36, trailing only a quarterback (Malik Willis) and a linebacker who surprisingly fell to the third round due to injury questions (Nakobe Dean), so Hall was also essentially the Jets’ No. 1 option based on Jeremiah’s board.
Jets fans are crossing their fingers that Jeremiah’s green crystal ball will correctly predict the future once again come Sunday afternoon.
