Gang Green Nation
The back half of the draft has some hidden defensive gems for the Jets to consider
In my previous article, we looked at five offensive players flying under the radar that the New York Jets could look to target in the 2025 NFL draft. We now turn our attention to some of the defensive players the Jets could look to target in the upcoming draft.
Like the previous article, this won’t feature the top-end sexy names you’ll see in the first round of mock drafts. However, none of these players should be slept on in their ability to become difference-makers at the NFL level.
This was truly hard for me to narrow down to five players. Because of that, I’ve tried to narrow it down to players who could be culture and scheme fits, as well as positions of need for the Jets.
Yeah, I know. After listing two Syracuse Orange players in the previous article, it seems absurd to list another one here, right? As I mentioned, however, the leadership and talent evaluation of their coaching staff has been excellent. Multiple Syracuse players are flying under the radar in terms of their potential draft projection. One of those players is EDGE Fadil Diggs.
Diggs is versatile - whether based on his pre-snap position or deployment. Diggs was one of 15 EDGE players to have at least 100 coverage snaps. While his 53.5 grade suggests he is a liability in pass coverage, Diggs displays a high football IQ, especially when playing in a zone or spy role. He was also asked to drop in coverage at the Shrine Bowl and performed well there.
Diggs shines in his ability to get after the passer and ball carriers. He displays a tremendous football IQ in knowing what the play call will be after the snap. That type of ability is extremely hard to find in a rookie prospect, especially along the defensive line.
Diggs’ 15.0 pass rush win rate is tied for 30th among 128 qualifying players. Meanwhile, his pass rush grade in true pass sets is 48th, at 75.2. Diggs wins extremely well with a power rush, but his rip move might be his best asset. Here he displays it at the Shrine Bowl, where he would have destroyed the quarterback if it were a real game.
His run-stopping is considered underwhelming from a statistical lens, but Diggs’ average depth of tackle is 1.1 yards, meaning he is consistently providing pressure at the line of scrimmage, disrupting plays.
A big reason why I’m higher on Diggs than most is his current draft projection. At the moment, Diggs is projected to be a seventh-round selection. At that price tag, it’s impossible not to want to take a shot on a 6-foot-5 edge rusher who should only continue to impress throughout the pre-draft process.
One player who has really stuck out to me when watching...
