After addressing the needs on the offensive side of the ball with their first two picks, the New York Jets moved over to defense in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday.
The Jets selected Cal safety Ashtyn Davis with the 68th overall pick in the draft, which was acquired from the New York Giants in the Leonard Williams deal, and also Florida defensive end Jabari Zuniga with the 79th pick — their original third rounder.
The Jets also had the 101st pick, which they acquired from the Seahawks trading down in the second round, but traded that pick to the New England Patriots for the 120th and 129th pick, as well as 2021 sixth-round pick.
Davis was a walk-on at Cal, who was attending the university on a track and field scholarship and was even the Pac-10 110-meter hurdles champion in 2017. Yet, he quickly proved his worth on the football field, too, being named Cal's Most Valuable Special Teams player as a redshirt freshman, and again his sophomore season.
The Jets have two safeties in Marcus Maye and All-Pro Jamal Adams, but Davis brings versatility and depth to the position.
In a conference call following the announcement of the pick, Davis said he has played every secondary position in the defense, and also some weakside linebacker. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams should have no problem figuring out a role for Davis.
Davis said he's best at "deep defense," but can also play "inside out," per Connor Hughes of The Athletic.
"I'm looking forward to manning some people up," he said. "I think that's in the cards for me."
Zuniga, meanwhile, struggled to stay healthy during his time at Florida, but when he was on the field he showed plenty of promise. He accumualted 18.5 sacks and 34.5 tackles for a loss in 42 games, including14 tackles, seven for a loss, and three sacks in just six games with the Gators in 2019 before a high ankle sprain sidelined him.
"One of my main reasons of coming back [senior year] was to improve my on-the-field performance," Zuniga told reporters on a conference call. "So when I got injured, it was definitely great adversity that I had to overcome. So, I just had to make the most out of my beginning of the season."
The 6-foot-3, 264-pound pass rusher is still a bit raw, having only played one year of high school football before he went to Florida to play in the SEC, but Zuniga's confidence was summed up rather quickly during his conference call.
"I definitely consider myself the steal of the draft," he said. "I feel like I can do a lot on the football field and I'll show that next year."