FLORHAM PARK — Much of the excitement surrounding Joe Douglas’ pre-draft press conference centered around Aaron Rodgers and the blockbuster trade that the New York Jets general manager was able to agree upon with the Green Bay Packers.
The trade for Rodgers catapulted the Jets into true championship contenders heading into 2023 with a roster already full of bright, young talent.
Even with a trade for the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, the Jets, and their front office remain committed to improving the team through the NFL Draft – an event that starts in just two days. Now, improving the team by having Rodgers as the signal caller shifts the focus a tad on who and what New York could eventually target.
To Douglas though, the way to continue their dominant draft record is to remain consistent with their philosophy.
“It’s never going to stop being that way here,” Douglas said regarding building the team through the trenches. “I think we have a really good culture in place. There is a standard in terms of the effort that our lines need to play with. We’re going to take every opportunity to add those types of players.”
New York’s commitment to the offensive and defensive lines was one of the first things said by both Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh when they were first introduced. To a point, Gang Green has greatly improved from where they once were in regards to their focus on the trenches. The resources pulled from the draft have also been considerable in recent years. Mekhi Becton, Jermaine Johnson, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and Quinnen Williams are all players that dominate inside that have been drafted in the last four years.
It’s a big reason why, even when the team finished 7-10 in 2022-23, there was still tremendous room for optimism.
The belief was that the Jets were just a quarterback away from being true title contenders. With Rodgers now in tow, the recommitment to the trenches is important to keep their former MVP quarterback upright and healthy heading into the season.
So much is the focus on the trenches that when the Jets announced that Kyle Stickles, the Make-A-Wish recipient fighting osteosarcoma, would announce the team’s first-round selection, he joked saying “I feel like the team builds around the offensive and defensive lines” while adding that rookie prospects like Paris Johnson and Broderick Jones would make a lot of sense for the team.
There’s plenty of history to back Douglas’ claim that winning through the trenches is the best way to establish a dominant culture in the NFL. Even with a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback like Aaron Rodgers now a part of the franchise, that won’t change the thought process from New York’s brass.
