Rashawn Gary intends to meet with the Jets, along with a handful of other teams prior to the draft.
Each NFL team is allotted 30 pre-draft visits with prospects, but players who grew up in the geographic vicinity of a team are exempt. Since Gary, who grew up in New Jersey, will be making a pre-draft visit with the Jets, New York does not need to use one of its 30 pre-draft visits.
Many evaluators are split on where Gary will go off the board. He has desirable traits, but they never matched his production at the University of Michigan. Based on potential, Gary is a top-15 pick, but his underwhelming stay in Ann Arbor may cause him to slide in the first round a bit.
At Michigan, Gary played inside due to his frame, standing at 6-foot-4 and 277 pounds. He projects to be moved outside at the NFL level and edge rusher remains one of the Jets’ biggest needs.
Gary’s potential really began to show in 2017 during his junior campaign, when he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors with 66 stops, 12 for loss and six sacks in 13 starts.
In his junior season, when it was a foregone conclusion that he would enter the draft, Gary had a down season. He recorded 38 total tackles, including 6.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks in nine starts.
Gary sat out the last three games of Michigan’s season due to a shoulder injury; he also forewent the Wolverines’ bowl game. After participating quite well at the combine, Gary is deciding to sit out Michigan’s Pro Day.
It is hard to see the Jets warranting the use of a top-5 pick on Gary, but they could be doing their homework for a potential trade back.
Right now, the Jets’ two top options with the No. 3 pick are clearly Nick Bosa and Josh Allen, but they are going to visit every avenue possible in order to improve their pass-rush.
