The Jets are set to begin another crucial draft as they continue their rebuild under Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh.
Unlike last year, when New York entered the night with Zach Wilson at No. 2 seeming like a certainty, Gang Green can go in a few different directions on Thursday, but the team's two top-10 picks will be pivotal towards building an eventual contender.
New York has missed with some top picks in recent years, including trading up to take Sam Darnold at third overall in 2018, only to have Darnold turn in three lackluster seasons before being traded.
The Jets will hope their plethora of picks can turn out like these five, which are among the best in franchise history:
Al Toon
The Jets didn’t miss on this top-10 pick, taking the wide receiver 10th overall out of Wisconsin in 1985. Toon turned in eight seasons, all with the Jets, and earned three Pro Bowl selections and a spot on the 1986 First Team All-Pro squad along the way.
Toon led the league with 93 receptions in 1988, his last Pro Bowl season, and his 1986 campaign saw him win AFC Player of the Year. His career was cut short by concussions, but he still did plenty to earn a spot on this list, becoming one of two players in league history to play less than 110 games and still collect more than 500 receptions.
Darrelle Revis
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Gang Green felt it was getting a standout cornerback when it drafted Revis 14th overall in 2007, but the team likely didn’t know it was acquiring an island.
Revis quickly became one of the top corners in the NFL and one of the best players in Jets history on the defensive side of the ball. He went to four straight Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2011, and was First-Team All-Pro in three of those seasons. He helped Rex Ryan’s defense suffocate opponents and led New York to two straight AFC Championship Game appearances, while leading the league with 31 passes defended in 2009. Revis made a return to the Jets in 2015, when he earned the final Pro Bowl selection of his career.
Mark Gastineau
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Incredibly, Gastineau remains the last Jets player to be drafted in the second round and make a Pro Bowl. The defensive end was discovered with the help of Connie Carberg, the first NFL female scout, and was drafted 41st overall in the 1979 NFL Draft.
Gastineau spent his entire 10-year career with the Jets, playing in 137 games and compiling 74.0 career sacks. He led the league in sacks two years in a row in 1983 and 1984, and was named to five straight Pro Bowls from 1981 to 1985.
Freeman McNeil
This No. 3 overall pick turned out a tad better for the Jets than Darnold.
McNeil, taken third overall in the 1981 NFL Draft, McNeil turned in three All-Pro and three Pro Bowl seasons, blossoming into one of the greatest running backs in franchise history. He spent all 12 of his seasons with Gang Green, was a 1,000-yard rusher twice, and finished his career with 8,074 rushing yards, which is the second-highest mark in Jets history, behind only Curtis Martin.
Joe Namath
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High expectations typically come with a No. 1 overall pick, which Namath was in 1965, though Namath was also drafted by the Cardinals of the NFL. The Jets won the bidding war, and their history was changed because of it.
There was the Super Bowl III performance that led to a stunning upset of the Colts, an AFL Rookie of the Year selection and the first-ever 4,000-yard season in 1967. Namath led the league in passing yards three different seasons, led the league in touchdowns in 1972, and earned five Pro Bowl selections. Broadway Joe is arguably the greatest players in Gang Green history, making that draft pick a home run, to say the least.
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