Don't forget Duane Brown. Brown is too old at this point and his cap savings is substantial... I wouldn't bat an eye if the Jets lost Fant, McGovern, and Brown. If I know Joe Douglas he's looking at Center and Tackle as positions of need. I'm not certain the Jets won't decide to use their 1st round choice on an interior lineman like O'Miley Cyrus either. But Tackle seems most obvious. It's also becoming obvious to me Joe Douglas likes to take players from the senior bowl that have high RAS scores. He took 4 players from the senior bowl last year Johnson, Ruckert, Mitchell, and Clemons and all of them had high RAS scores and all of them turned out to be good mid to late round draft choices. So when I look at guys like John Michael Scmidtz and how impressive he was at the senior bowl, knowing Center is likely a position of need, I think if he scores high on the RAS evaluation he'll definitely be a target for the Jets in the 2nd or 3rd round. Broderick Jones and bona-fide 1st round guys I can definitely see as a target in the 1st. The Jets really suffered a lot of injuries on the OL in 2022, so Joe Douglas will also be paying special attention to how these kids take care of their bodies and how durable they've been in the past....
This guy should absolutely be targeted but no way he lasts into Round 3. He may even be off the board by the time the Jets pick in Round 2.
When it comes to Schmidtz I'd say all bets are off. Schmidt is not as highly touted as Linderbaum was last year, but Schmidtz has better size and really impressed at the senior bowl. So I could see him going anywhere from the late 1st to early 3rd. It's not unheard of for good players to slip. Look at Jermaine Johnson from last season. People thought of him as a top 10 pick initially and instead he to late 1st round and teams really didn't know why he slipped. But Schmidtz and when it comes to the Jets interest I think how he looks in the combine will ultimately check the final box. Douglas likes highly athletic guys. Schmidtz outwardly appears to be extremely athletic given his 310 pound size but JD likes guys with a RAS score 9.6 or better....
Connor Hughes doesn't think McGovern is coming back. Targeting a Center on Day 2 like Schmidt or maybe even Tippmann if Schmidt is gone makes sense. I also wouldn't want to go into the draft with a glaring hole at C so I hope they have some depth lined up in case the board doesn't fall favorably https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/2360/connor-mcgovern SNY's Connor Hughes doesn't expect the Jets to re-sign free agent OL Connor McGovern. McGovern's exit interview with the team "didn't include discussions of a contract extension," according to Hughes. Moving on from McGovern wouldn't come as a surprise with the Jets clearing cap space to land a veteran quarterback. The Broncos have been linked as a landing spot for McGovern.
