After three exciting days, the 2021 NFL Draft is officially in the books, with the Jets adding 10 new players to the roster.
After Saturday's action, general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh met with the media to talk everything Day Three ...
SALEH: "Michael’s got tremendous vision, he’s got tremendous speed, burst. He’s got the ability to make people miss. He’s good on third down coming out of the backfield in the passing game, and he’s pretty stout in protection. For him to be where he was at 107 was a major surprise to all of us, including Joe and his staff. I felt like it was a no-brainer at that point. We went to bed last night already knowing that he was going to be the guy. He’s an incredible talent so we’re happy to get him.
DOUGLAS: "The board fell the defense’s way in the second half of this draft. …To follow (Carter) up with some young defensive players who can compete and hopefully be impact players for us moving forward."
SALEH: "We’re really excited about the opportunity these young men have to come in and compete and see if they can make an impact on this team. At the linebacker level with (Jamien) Sherwood and Hamsah (Nasirildeen), those are two very long, fast, versatile, athletes that kind of fit the mold of what we ask out of our linebackers, running, hitting, speed, and then the coverage ability of the corners … Competition breeds improvement, and there's going to be a great level of competition in that room so we’re excited …"
SALEH: "On the first day, the board fell that way. We take the quarterback, (Alijah) Vera-Tucker’s sitting there and Joe was aggressive getting him, which was awesome. Had no expectation to see Elijah Moore sitting there, and there he is sitting there in the second round. So that was a no-brainer. Then we go through and watch the third round unfold and we’re just looking at Michael Carter falling and we’re like ‘Holy cow, he might get to us.’ So we go to bed last night excited as heck because Michael Carter’s there.
"So it kind of fell that way, but the objective of this entire weekend has been to get better as a team, find a way to fill this roster up, because team’s win championships, not individual players, and I feel like we’ve done a really good job taking advantage of not just individual value but positions of need."
DOUGLAS: "I think I said in my opening statement that we were able to add 10 players in the draft, 11 players in unrestricted free agency, and we’re excited about these guys. We’re excited about the competition that we’re going to create. We’re excited about the depth that we added. I do feel like we improved ourselves throughout this offseason, and the offseason’s not over until training camp starts, so if there’s more opportunities that present themselves to improve this team, to improve this roster, we’re going to take it."
