Looking back at some of the biggest draft busts in NY Jets history
By Ian Roddy — 4/13/2024
With the 2024 NFL draft less than two weeks away, the football world has turned its starving eyes to the incoming rookie class.
While the excitement of draft season and the opportunity to upgrade is undeniable, one thing that terrifies any NFL fan to their core is watching their favorite team pick someone they believe to be a bust. So while Jets Twitter wages war over whether an offensive lineman or pass-catcher would be the smarter pick at 10, we’re taking a breather to look back at some of the biggest Jets draft busts of all time.
These names come in no particular order or ranking, and we’re keeping it to one player per draft class. It’s only right for me to include a trigger warning for Jets fans, because you will see names you may have tried to suppress from your memory.
Vernon Gholston, DE, No. 6 overall (2008)
Ohio State’s Vernon Gholston had an incredibly impressive pre-draft combine, including a 4.68 40-yard dash and 37 reps on the bench press. The Jets were fooled into believing those measurables would translate into him being a dominant pass-rusher off their edge for years. Gholston never recorded a single sack nor forced a single fumble in his NFL career, and he finished with 42 total tackles over three seasons.
The Jets learned a valuable lesson from Gholston: don’t overreact to workout numbers.
Christian Hackenberg, QB, No. 51 overall (2016)
Christian Hackenberg. A name Jets fans still cringe at to this day. This is due in large part to the fact that essentially the entire fanbase knew how bad of a pick it was the moment it was announced at the podium.
Sure, the former Penn State Nittany Lion had some promising tools, but scouts and analysts alike agreed that his accuracy was simply not good enough to compete in the NFL. Apparently, GM Mike Maccagnan didn’t get the memo, because he pounced on Hackenberg with the team’s second-round pick.
The result? Hackenberg was gone within two years and never even saw an NFL field. Frustratingly, many players drafted in the next 30 picks after him have gone on to play prominent roles in the league, including Joe Thuney, Justin Simmons and Javon Hargrave among others.
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