The Jets addressed two of their glaring needs in the draft Friday night, taking a tight end and a cornerback.
Gang Green selected Texas Tech tight end Jace Amaro in the second round (49th pick overall) and Maryland cornerback Dexter McDougle in the third round (80th overall). Those were two positions that were very thin for the Jets and had to be addressed in this draft.
Now, Jets general manager John Idzik enters the final day of the draft armed with nine picks to add some depth to the team’s roster.
Idzik said he feels good about the Jets’ first three picks. The team took safety Calvin Pryor in Thursday’s first round.
“We’re very happy with the three players we selected so far,” Idzik said. “We’ve stuck true to form. We’ve stuck to our board. We went into this draft feeling as though it meshed up well with us. By that I mean some of the areas that were deeper throughout the draft we felt could really help us as a team.”
On Friday night, Idzik said he tried to trade up in the second round. The Jets reportedly were trying to move up to take wide receiver Marqise Lee, who ended up with the Jaguars, but could not pull it off.
Instead, they selected Amaro, a 6-foot-5, 265-pounder considered one of the top tight ends in the draft. He caught 106 passes for 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns last season for the Red Raiders.
“I felt like I fit really well there,” Amaro said of the Jets. “I honestly thought I was going to get picked in the first round [by] them. It didn’t happen and that was something that was disappointing because you go into the second round and you don’t really know who’s going to pick you. That was the place where I wanted to play at was in New York and to be a Jet, and I’m just glad it happened in the second round and it’s something that I’m very fortunate for.”
The Amaro pick gives the Jets another boost to an offense that was 25th overall and 31st in passing in 2013. After adding wide receiver Eric Decker and running back Chris Johnson in free agency, the addition of Amaro continues Idzik’s rebuilding.
There are questions about Amaro’s blocking, but he is an extremely productive receiver. Amaro said he is not worried about his blocking ability.
“Honestly, I think that’s one of my best assets and if you really watch my film very closely that’s something that you can really see,” Amaro said.
Amaro, who was the third tight end taken in the draft, said he felt he was the best tight end in the draft, even better than North Carolina’s Eric Ebron, who was taken 10th overall by the Lions.
“Going into the draft and for me leaving early I always felt I was the best guy,” Amaro said. “I was the most versatile. I had the record for the most receiving yards ever for a tight end ever. I think that’s something that needs to be put into a lot of play.
“I think that we’re very similar, but he ended up being a top 10 pick and I didn’t. The only thing that I can do is show them why I should have been there. That’s really all I have to say about that.”
McDougle is a bit of a mystery because he missed most of his senior season after injuring his shoulder onSept. 14 against Connecticut. McDougle, who is 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, had three interceptions in the three games he played. He had three interceptions as a sophomore in 2011.
The Terrapins honored McDougle with the inaugural Dexter McDougle Ultimate Team Player Award last year for the way he still attended every meeting and practice and traveled to away games despite his injury ending his season.
The Jets had to select a cornerback after letting Antonio Cromartie go this offseason and failing to add any big names in free agency. McDougle could compete for playing time with Dimitri Patterson and Kyle Wilson to play alongside last year’s first-round pick, Dee Milliner.