Saturday afternoon’s Senior Bowl game went down to the wire, with TCU wide receiver Jack Bech taking home the MVP award after capping off an impressive performance with the game-winning touchdown as time expired.
Bech’s performance will garner a lot of headlines, but let’s recap some of the performances from some other players who could fill a potential need for the Jets…
TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
The tight end who has helped himself the most this week is Miami’s Elijah Arroyo, who impressed with his route running in practice and scored on a two-point conversion early in the game. However, Arroyo has created so much buzz, he’s now being talked about as a potential first-round pick. This might make him a non-option for a Jets team with other needs.
Fannin could be a good alternative though. He had a couple of nice plays in this game, showing good abilities after the catch, including on one play where he was ruled out of bounds at the one-yard line but may have been awarded the score if there was instant replay available. At this stage of their careers, Fannin offers more than Arroyo as a blocker, too.
DE Landon Jackson, Arkansas
With Jermaine Johnson returning from a serious injury and Haason Reddick set to depart after a disappointing year, the Jets will be looking to add some depth on the edge. Jackson is a projected Day 2 pick who some analysts felt had a disappointing week of practice. However, in the game itself, he was arguably the most dominant player on either team.
Jackson, who has excellent size, showed good athleticism in downhill pursuit to stuff a run for a loss. But it was as a pass rusher where he was most impressive, cleanly beating his man several times. He had two sacks, forced a fumble, set up another sack with clean pressure and drew a holding penalty.
LB Justin Barron, Syracuse
Barron’s college career saw him move from wide receiver to defensive back, before filling in at linebacker in his final season. He looks like he could fit perfectly into the kind of hybrid safety/linebacker role which has become increasingly popular in the NFL in recent seasons.
In Saturday’s game, Barron’s best play saw him stop a run near the line of scrimmage, but his size, positioning and movement skills stand out on film. Could he follow a similar career path to 2024 Jets MVP Jamien Sherwood, who was a safety at Auburn and profiles similarly to Barron?
DT Junior Tafuna, Utah
Other than Quinnen Williams, all of the Jets’ defensive tackles in the main rotation last season were on one-year contracts, so this is a position where they need reinforcements and an injection of youth. Tafuna is a player who could provide good value in the later rounds.
Tafuna, who was coached by former Jets star Sione Po’uha at the start of his college career, recovered a fumble and racked up a couple of sacks as he consistently walked his man back on the bull rush to collapse the pocket. Tafuna was invited to the Senior Bowl after having had a productive game against the run in the Hula Bowl, so he can contribute in that area too.
S Caleb Ransaw, Tulane
Another potential late-round pick who could provide some value is Ransaw, who transferred to Tulane ahead of the 2024 season after beginning his collegiate career at Troy. He can contribute in the box, as he had 10 tackles for loss over the past two seasons.
Ransaw had five tackles in Saturday’s game and was the only player on either team to record an interception. He was also in good position on two more incompletions in coverage.
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