The Jets already selected a quarterback by selecting Zach Wilson with the second overall pick.
Now they’ve drafted someone to help protect him.
New York sent the 23rd, 66th, and 86th overall picks in the 2021 draft to Minnesota in exchange for the 14th and 143rd selections. With that 14th pick, the Jets selected USC offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker.
Vera-Tucker won the Morris Trophy as the best offensive lineman in the Pac 12, after starting all six games at left tackle for USC in 2020. But when the Jets selected him, he was announced as a guard — which he played in his first three collegiate seasons.
The Jets also selected an offensive lineman in the first round last season, taking tackle Mekhi Becton at No. 11 overall.