New York Jets: Joshua Jackson the right choice at No. 6

If the New York Jets stay at No. 6 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, they should avoid the temptation of taking a quarterback and go with cornerback Joshua Jackson.

In 2017, the a lot of people were focused on the lack of a pass rush for the New York Jets defense. The coverage in the secondary was almost as bad as their pass rush, and they need to settle that in the 2018 NFL Draft.

In their second mock draft of 2018, Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus has Iowa cornerback Joshua Jackson going to Miami. PFF gave him an overall grade of 96.6. If the Jets are going with the best player available philosophy and they don’t trade out of the no. 6 pick, he might be the guy.

Jackson was a one-year wonder in terms of production, but what a year it was. He led the nation in interceptions with eight and pass breakups with 26. When you look at other analytical data, his performance is off the charts as well. According to Pro Football Focus Elite, Jackson has allowed a catch rate of 44.3 percent, a 40.2 passer rating, and 0.88 yards per coverage snap.

Adding Jackson would be an instant improvement from 2017. The catch rate allowed, passer rating against, and yards per coverage snap were all lower than both of the Jets starting cornerbacks. In fact, his passer rating against was better than all four Jets cornerbacks who had more than 200 snaps in coverage.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Post-Super Bowl edition

Bowles wants to play an aggressive style of defense, but he needs guys in coverage to play man and jam players at the line. Jackson can help provide the pass rushers more time to get to the quarterback by staying with his man longer. If the Jets want to blitz more, then they should draft Jackson at no. 6. the addition would make perfect sense for their game plan.