Third round draft picks usually aren’t the best at combine testing, didn’t have a good pro day or possible come from a non-elite football program, but can end up as impact players. They know how to play the game and many of these mid-round picks overachieve their draft position. Due to the fact that they may not have the fastest 40-time or didn’t bench enough reps at the combine, these athletes slipped into the third round, a round that nothing is guaranteed as far as a roster spot. They are not all Pro-Bowl caliber players but many have had a positive impact on their team’s success.
With a lot of talk about trading a draft pick for a guy like Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon (who is one off-field issue away from being suspended for an entire year), Jets general manager John Idzik needs to be mindful of potentially trading any of his two third round picks. The following players are from the past five drafts and are making an impact on either side of the ball for their respective teams:
2009 Draft
| Position/Player | Team Drafted/Current Team | Overall |
| OG – Luis Vasquez | San Diego Chargers(now Denver Broncos) | 78 |
| WR – Mike Wallace | Pittsburgh Steelers (now Miami Dolphins) | 84 |
| DB – Lardarius Webb | Baltimore Ravens | 88 |
| TE – Jared Cook | Tennessee Titans (now St. Louis Rams) | 89 |
2010 Draft
| Position/Player | Team Drafted/Current Team | Overall |
| S – Major Wright | Chicago Bears | 75 |
| WR – Brandon Lafell | Carolina Panthers | 78 |
| WR – Emmanuel Sanders | Pittsburgh Steelers | 82 |
| WR – Eric Decker | Denver Broncos | 87 |
| LB – Navorro Bowman | San Francisco 49ers | 97 |
| TE – Tony Moeaki | Kansas City Chiefs | 93 |
| TE – Jimmy Graham | New Orleans Saints | 95 |
2011 Draft
| Position/Player | Team Drafted/Current Team | Overall |
| RB – Demarco Murray | Dallas Cowboys | 71 |
| RD – Steven Ridley | New England Patriots | 73 |
| WR – Vincent Brown | San Diego Chargers | 82 |
2012 Draft
| Position/Player | Team Drafted/Current Team | Overall |
| WR – T.J. Graham | Buffalo Bills | 69 |
| QB – Russell Wilson | Seattle Seahawks | 75 |
| LB – Demario Davis | New York Jets | 77 |
| WR – Mohamed Sanu | Cincinnati Bengals | 83 |
| QB – Nick Foles | Philadelphia Eagles | 88 |
| WR – T.Y. Hilton | Indianapolis Colts | 92 |
2013 Draft
| Position/Player | Team Drafted/Current Team | Overall |
| S – Tyrann Mathieu | Arizona Cardinals | 69 |
| S – T.J. McDonald | St. Louis Rams | 71 |
| WR – Terrance Williams | Dallas Cowboys | 74 |
| WR – Keenan Allen | San Diego Chargers | 76 |
| TE – Jordan Reed | Washington Redskins | 85 |
The Jets have to be smart about trades as the deadline approaches (Oct. 29). They should keep as many draft picks as possible, unless the deal is for a low risk, high reward player, which most teams will not give up. Third round picks are particularly important because of the recent string of success teams have had with players in this round and the low cost contracts they receive. The Jets probably have two of them and will most definitely use the picks on players that could have an immediate impact with some phase of the team.
