Moug 'Feels Good' About His Roster Heading Into the Draft

Eric Allen

On the eve of his first NFL Draft as GM of the New York Jets, Darren Mougey has a clear vision for what he'll be looking for this Thursday through Saturday.

"I think there's a type of brand, I believe there's a type of a brand that we want our players to play with," he told reporters at the Jets' predraft news conference on Monday. "And it's a physicality, it's a toughness you're going to feel it. But smart, tough, aggressive, resilient players."

The Jets, at present, own eight picks, starting with the No. 7 overall selection in Round 1. Mougey is scheduled to pick twice Friday night in Round 2 (No. 42) and Round 3 (No. 73). The Jets also own five Day 3 picks a single in Round 4 (No. 110) and pairs in Rounds 5 (No. 145 and No. 162) and 6 (No. 186 and No. 207).

"I feel good about where this roster is at right now in April and I feel good about going into the draft and adding some good players that can help us win," Mougey said. "And after the draft, it doesn't stop. We'll be scouring the street list for workouts, the alternative leagues, potential trades and it just never ends. But feel good about where the team's at now and feel good about adding players that are going to help us in this draft."

If the Jets do not trade up/down in the opening round, most draft prognosticators believe they could ultimately make a decision that involves a top tackle, a tight end or a defensive tackle. If LSU's Will Campbell goes early, tackles Armand Membou (Missouri) and Kelvin Banks (Texas) could be on the board. Two Big Ten TEs Tyler Warren (Penn State) and Colston Loveland (Michigan) may both go in the top half of Round 1. There is consensus that this is an elite DT group and it's possible Mason Graham (Michigan) will still be available at No. 7.

When asked how he weighs need vs. best player available, Mougey emphasized staying true to the board.

"That's an age-old question needs versus [BPA]," Mougey said. "But we're always going to go in there and stack these guys how we view them as players and how they can help us and kind of let the board fall to us and just add players that we think can help us win good football players."

Since 2000, only two TEs (Vernon Davis, No. 6 in 2006 SF Kyle Pitts, No. 4 in 2021 ATL) have been selected among the top 7 picks of the NFL Draft. In that same time frame, seven DTs have been selected within the top seven picks, including two Jets in Dewayne Robertson (No. 4 in 2003) and Quinnen Williams (No. 3 in 2019). Offensive tackles have been taken nearly twice as many times in the top seven as TEs and DTs combined (16 to 9). Under a different regime, the Jets moved back a spot last April and selected Penn State T Olu Fashanu No. 11 overall. The last time the franchise took a T among the top seven was D'Brickashaw Ferguson (No. 4 in 2006).

"I think it's good," said Mougey of the T group while holding his cards close to the vest. "I think there are some players there who can play. I think it's a good group."

Over the previous 12 seasons in Denver, Mougey, 39, held several titles. Starting as a scouting intern in 2012, Mougey was a personnel and scouting assistant (2013), a college and pro personnel scout (2014), an area scout (2015-19), the assistant director of college scouting (2020) and the director of player personnel (2021). He was promoted to assistant general manger in 2022 before being paired at the Jets with HC Aaron Glenn in January.

"I'm sure there will be some nerves and it's definitely different being one who gives suggestions and one who makes decisions," Mougey said of his first Jets draft. "That's a different feeling, but I feel really good about the work we've put into this point. We've just been so detailed and have worked so hard about building the board and we'll continue to work through some scenarios and some strategy planning these next few days. But I feel really confident about where we'll be, the support group around me to make those decisions and feel really comfortable today about the draft in four days."

Jetcetera

In February, Jets GMDarren MougeyhiredRick Spielmanas a senior football adviser andRobbie Patonas co-director of player personnel. Spielman, who helped the Jets in the searches that concluded in the hirings of Mougey and HCAaron Glenn, served as the Minnesota Vikings vice president of player personnel from 2006-11 and GM from 2012-21.

"Fortunate to have Rick on staff. I knew I wanted to add some type of senior adviser to the staff when I got here, had a few different candidates," Mougey said. "And when I got here, couldn't get certain ones but was talking to all of them. Really got to know Rick a little bit through, but I heard a lot of great things about him. You look around the league and almost all these GMs have a lot of former executives or former GMs on staff, so something I wanted to do. Rick had some other options to join some other teams, and I had to really recruit him to get him to come here and glad I got him because he's been awesome. He's been through so many steps of the way and through this draft process he's been involved just like a scout, sitting in the room, hearing it all, bouncing ideas off so Rick's been great."

Paton, who spent the previous eight seasons with the Broncos working alongside Mougey in Denver, was a Broncos national scout in 2023-24. "Just another familiar face, a guy that I've worked with, always had a lot of respect for," Mougey said." He knows kind of the processes that I'm familiar with and some of the language that I speak. He can kind of help be a translator and he's been great."