Draft Pick Profile - Denzel Mims (5/6)

Mr Denzel Mims. But first things first, let's talk about where the Jets were on the clock and how they actually acquired Mims, because originally they had the forty overall selection, which they traded to the Seattle Seahawks, and the Jets slide back eleven spots to fifty nine. They pick up an extra third round pick, pick one on one, which then turned into a couple more picks, and we'll talk

about that on a later episode. And on fifty nine, Denzel Mims, who was slotted or projected even to be perhaps the third or fourth receiver off the board in some mock draft, is there for the taking at fifty nine. Yeah, this whole thing was fascinating the way it played out.

Greens because the Jets too clear areas of needs. Uh two of the four you would say would be tackle and receiver, and they addressed tackle with the selection of Mackay Beckton Thursday Night, number eleven overall, and they had all the receivers on the board at that pick eleven, and they opted to go Beckton there. And ironically the first receiver came off the board a couple of minutes later when the Raiders threw an Old L. Davis curve at you and went for the speed receiver in Henry Ruggs,

the fastest white out in this draft class. And then Jerry Judy Fell I would say, to Denver number fifteen overall, and a lot of people were awfully surprised that Ceedee Lamb not only went to the Dallas Kyleboys, but it happened at number seventeen overall, so setting the stage for Night to Greens. We knew there was gonna be a run on receivers, and the Jets and Joe Douglas were

sitting at right dead center. In the middle of the second round at number forty eight overall, we saw t Higgins start to night the Clumson product go to the Cincinnati Bengals and Joey Burrow with the thirty third overall selection.

Michael Pittman, former teammate of Sam Donald at USC's at USC, he goes thirty four to the Indianapolis Colts and Philip Rivers would be thrown him the football in then we saw a little bit of a gap right and the next receiver off the board Jacksonville want Laviska Chennault with forty two overall, and then Penn State alum kJ Hamler

goes to the number of Rouncles at forty six. So on night to Greens, you had four receivers come off the board in round who before Douglas gets on the clock at forty eight overall, and at that point he says, I have a number of players I like if I moved down and the Jets moved out, And then when the Jets moved down, I'm sure a lot of Jets fans were thinking, oh my god, the Jets are gonna miss out on a receiver, because I know a lot

of Jets fans were clamoring for a receiver. And then you think about who was off the board or who came off the board rather in those eleven spots, Chase Claypool goes forty nine overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who might end up being a tight end because Claypool had said that he would be open to playing tight end. And then a little bit of a gap, and then the son of Jets wide receivers coach Sean Jefferson, two picks before the Jets are on the clock, gets elected.

That's Florida wide receiver Van Jefferson. He goes to the l A. Rams And then at fifty eight over all, you're probably assuming that the Vikings aren't going to take another wide receiver after they took Justin Jefferson in the first round. And then lo and behold, Denzel Mims is there for the Jets at fifty nine. And I just

want to reiterate this. I was speaking to Dane Brugler of the Athletic and we were doing our draft recap segment of Bruegler's draft board, and he said, if Denzel Mims went twenty nine and not fifty nine, nobody would have batted an eye. So the fact that the Jets were able to get Denzel Mims at fifty nine, I think it just shows what great value the Jets got

in Mims, and it's a good point. I think there's an overreaction there when Joe d moved back because a lot of people, and I know you were getting this on social media too as we're creating content at the same time, a lot of people wanted Douglas to take Mims with the forty eight overall selection greens um So you have to always let it layout a little bit. So he comes back and he still gets Mims, and

then he gets additional draft picks. And the Jets again, as we entered this weekend, we knew they had multiple holes and the other point of the processes you want to increase the depth on your roster, not saying Mims is gonna come in and be a depth piece. He's going to be expected to contribute immediately for this team. But where the Jets I think got really sold on Denzel Mims was when you were down in Mobile, Alabama covering the Senior Bowl. Because he was the top receiver.

He separated himself from everybody else who was down there that week. And there is no better time to have a great final audition per se before you go to Indianapolis than those practice sessions when people watch you run routes one on one against some of the nation's top prospect and in terms of the Senior Bowl, it's the last time that players are wearing pads until they get drafted by their respective team and then go to training

camp and everything of that nature. And before E. A and I breakdown Manned and talk about his collegiate road and what he did at Baylor, let's hear from the Jets personnel on what they like about Denzel Mims. Denzel is going to be another big, fast athletic target for us on the outside, and he's got the ability to play inside in the slot and when we need him in certain packages and situations. What we need, like I said, a big fast guy who ran four three eight. He's

a former track champion. This is the guy who's been extremely productive with the three consecutive seasons of fifty catches or more and showed really well at the Senior Bowl, came on the scene there, and then it took it to another level when he got to the Combine running four three eight. We've got a lot of upside with him. Still, we feel like there's still development with him, and you know, we're really excited about having him and adding him to the mix with what we have in terms of guys

that that Sam can use his weapons. Just a really impressive player. You know, he's got you know, outstanding highway and speed for the position on the balls in the air lookout, because this guy can really play above the rim in that regard, and he has really good body control and stuff. So he's got nice size. He's a good red zone target. He's a good target for Sam.

I think the game's gonna translate really well for him because I mean, you know, the coverage gets tighter at the next level, but but he's still gonna be you know, almost six three and running four three, so he's gonna I think he's gonna be at an advantage. Uh, the way he uses his body to to position himself to to make contested plays, and you know that that's really

gonna work to his advantage. I like when guys playing an All Star game and they they played at a high level for his good competition, and he did just that at the Senior Bowls. He showed off his his wingspan, he's catching radius, and you know, he had a good week and you know, against good competition. I thought he flashed deep speed, He showed courage in the middle of the field and did a good job down in mobile and for us, I think that means a lot. We're

really excited about it. Now. This is a player that in August or September, even October, he would have been well below the radar. But in November and then obviously when Baylor got into their bowl game against Georgia and the Sugar Bowl, and then the Senior Bowl and then the Combine, this player has been on a rapid rise

up a lot of draft boards. I would say that, you know, he worked his way up to the area where he was taken in the second round, and you know, he brings a lot of size, a lot of vertical speed. And the thing about him to me was just the fact that you know, as a rookie, he can run a hitch, a hook and a go and a and a back shoulder fate and a defense will have to

respect that. Teams will have to respect that height, weights being on the perimeter, and hopefully that will help our offense in terms of the running game and maybe opening up some options for other receivers, because this guy has to be respected in terms of being a vertical threat.

We're going to keep improving with them too. I think there's there's a room for growth with what he's already brought to the table, and and you know as a coach that that makes us excited and be able to help him grow over the years and see how how far we can take him. The rout tree, I'm not is not a concern for me with him. I think he's got the ability to to learn. You know, that was one of the things that just going through our process of and being able to pick up things when

our coaches met with him. It's really a lot of times where you have a younger player coming in, you have a whole offseason go through. But we're not gonna

have that more than likely this year. I mean, if you do, it's gonna be a limited time and we're gonna have to get him caught up as fast as we can when we're able to do the virtual stuff, and you know, by the time he steps on the field hopefully has a good grasp of that, which I feel like you will, and we'll figure out how far he goes mentally, and then we'll take advantage of what he knows and you know, allow him to do the things that he does really well as much as possible.

He a A couple of things really stand out to me. The first thing you mentioned Henry Ruggs and the speed that he offers at four to seven, well, Denzel Mims not far behind four point three eight forty yard dash at the combine. But more than that, he's the only player e A over the past three seasons in the n C Double A to have at least eight receiving touchdowns and each of the last three seasons and in two of those he eclipsed the A thousand what the

thousand yard mark. It's pretty impressive how far he has come since after his freshman year when he went into Matt Roull's office, who was the coach at Baylor who did a fine job, uh, you know, taking that program and really lifting it up after everything that Ed had been through and he's now the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. But Mims went into rule and actually actually asked him if he could switch back to cornerback because he had played on both sides of the ball in

high school. And you just saw the guy continue to develop over his collegiate career. Sophomore year really broke broke out Green sixty one catches more than a thousand yards, a thousand and eighty seven receiving yards, and the eight touchdowns. Then he had the eight touchdowns again as a junior, and then last season sixty six catches a thousand, twenty yards receiving and twelve touchdowns. That's the kind of production you love because not only is he putting up yards,

but he's putting the ball in the end zone. The NFL is all about scoring, and he was a dynamic red zone target. And you mentioned his speed. He's a long strider, doesn't look like he's moving that beast, but he just jumps up on you and he can win contested battles greens because he's six three two seven pounds. Yeah. He I think what really stands out to me also

the average fifteen point seven yards per catch. And Joe Douglas and Adam Gates in Indianapolis at the combine had talked about adding explosive, dynamic playmakers and Denzel Mims certainly fits that bill. And what I just want to talk about his background as a high school player in danger Field, Texas. I mean, this guy was a four sport athlete, he played baseball and then gave that up because of an arm injury. Then he was a football player. He was a track runner. I mean, this is a guy who's

a freaky athlete. And he was the number sixty eight rated receiver in his recruiting class. And he had some other offers like from Arkansas State and Texas State and Texas Tech. But Denzel Mims actually grew up a Baylor fan, so once the Bears offered him a scholarship, he committed to them and under twenty four hours. And he also has some DNA and where in his family. He has several cousins who played college football, including David MAM's who played at Texas State. And I just want to circle

back to the Senior Bowl. He really did put on a show there and I feel like I don't remember which personnel member of the Jets said it, but he was somebody that maybe you didn't really hear about a lot in the beginning of the season, and he knocked the pre draft process out of the park, which led him to the number fifty nine overall selection. Yeah, you really did. There's a guy who ace the off season. He goes to mobile he takes care of business there

and then he follows it up at the combine. The four point three eight was what tied for third bastest among all wide receivers this year, and the six point six six second three cone drill let all whiteouts this year. Um, he's got long arms too, thirty three and seven eight seven eight of an inch, which right, yeah, I'm really glad you mentioned that, because, um, that's the same arm length as Tristan Worth's. Yeah, so that means And Joe Douglas pointed this out, and so did Phil Savage and

Rex Hogan and Chad Alexander and the like. Everybody talked about his catch radius. So in the National Football League where you're not getting free all the time because everybody's so highly skilled and there's so many athletes on the on the field, Um, that means that if you're throwing a ball and it's in his vicinity, he has the ability to get it. And that can be a quarterback's

best friend. And we'll talk about it later. But the Jets are getting bigger on the outside and they've gotten faster on the outside, and that's gonna be key for Sam Donald as he moves forward. And one last athletic number before we hear from Denzel Mims himself, thirty eight and a half vertical jump. Mean, this guy's got bunny. So he's clearly a freak athlete and he has the

production to back it up. And without further ado, let's hear from Denzel Mims himself, that's not What was that moment like when he got the call from the Jets tonight? I was unbeliev feeling. You know, it was always something I've been working in my tail off since I was eleven and twelve, and just to get the call from the Jets, it was very excited. Um, He's a dream come true and it's something I've been working for, working

hard for. What kind of interaction did you have with the Jets during the pre draft process and did you have a feeling that hey, this might be my professional team. Um. We had a few conversations, and you know, I always thought, you know, I always thought, um, I was be a Jet one day, you know, and the back of my head. And when I actually got the phone call, I mean,

I was very excited. I was very happy. What do you think about now you're gonna be working under the tutelage A wide receivers coach Seawan Jefferson also Heinz Ward is a member of this staff. Is well, those are two guys who really thrived at the highest level in the National Football League. I mean it's gonna be amazing.

You know, You've got two great coaches, and um just to play for them and get taught to learn a lot of things from them, and they teach me a lot of things to help my game, and I mean it's very exciting. I'm they's gonna be I' gonna be very happy to play for him. How were you used at Baylor? How do they take advantage of your skill set? And maybe how did you develop over the time you were there? Um well, I developed a lot, you know,

from my firstman year always to my senior year. I grew up in mature it as a man on and off the field, and um, I just knew the game I was. I was talking the game of football, the actual details of everything on the football field. And you know the way they used me. You know, they knew

I needed the ball in my hands. You know, I make a lot of I make a lot of plays when I got the ball in my hands, and they know I need the ball, and um, when it comes down to crunch time, they know that I with the ball because I'm gonna make the play and try to help my team out to get the wind. It sends out how much pride do you take in making a contested catches because you know at this level there's gonna be a lot of traffic around it? Almost definitely. I

mean I take pride in a lot. You know, I work on in a lot, and um, I know that at the next level is a lot of great corners, and I know that you're gonna always have separation. So I mean, he's gonna be a lot of and I mean I feel like I can come through with him. What kind of field did you get before the Jets offensive system when you talk to the coaches, Um, it's gonna be a great field. You know, we've got Sam Donald,

and I mean, that's a great quarterback. And I can't wait to get to work with him and make think a lot of things happen with him. Have you had an opportunity to watch Sam over the last couple of years.

He's just twenty two years old. He's already got two years of professional experience under his belt, and uh, he is a very accurate past or when given time, and he can make plays on the run almost that I mean, I had had time to watch them and just to actually be playing with him and be on the same team as him, in the same office with him, and when he's unbelievable. What about this receiving corps have taken a look at the Jets a little bit in that aspect.

Brashott Perriman coming over former first round pick himself and in two thousand and fifteen, and this team has one of the better slot receivers in football. Jamison Crowder. Um, it's gonna be it's gonna be great to play with them, you know. Um, there was an unbelievable guys. They're very talented, a very great football players, and um, just to play with them and learn a lot of things from him,

he's gonna be very great. Do you take pride in the fact that Joe Douglas selected you obviously wanted to be in the National Football League. But with that being said, the Jets general manager said, we have to surround Sam Donald with more speed and explosive playmakers. Yeah, almost definitely on me and the most definitely got player, playmaker and grace Be you know, and can't wait to get to work with him. I'd like to ask guys this, after they get drafted, what kind of scouting report would you

give yourself scouting report? Yeah, Um, he's a great guy. He's an unbelievable player, football player. I mean, he makes plays, he's fast, he's physical, I mean he's got everything. Is um that you wanted to receive it, and you're really happy tonight. But one thing that is stuck out to me about you and McKay Beckton said that last night as well the Jets first round pick, is that you carry a chip on your shoulder. Don't you almost definitely,

almost definitely carry a chip on my shoulder? I mean, and he's he's gonna always be there. What do you think about coming to New York? I can't wait to come. I can't wait to see the big album. I'm ready for it turns out. Congratulations, We appreciate your time. Thank you. Yeah, let's take a look now where Denzel Mims can fit in to this Jets roster. And you think about the kind of remaking of this receiving corps. Jamison Crowder's and trenched in the slot, but at the end of last season,

the Jets had Robby Anderson. He now goes to the Carolina Panthers, and now the Jets have for Shot Perriman, Denzel MIM's. They signed Josh Doson in the off season. Clint j Noton was a question mark. Maybe he'll return. And I think the Jets and Joe Douglas really have a different brand of receiver on this roster right now than the end of last season. Yeah, they do. You know, Braxton Barrios and Vincent Smith. We should add them into the mix as well, and we'll have to see how

the chart all shakes out. But when you say different receiver, I think the one thing that you look back at with the Jets season in particular their passing game was maybe the lack of ability to get the contested balls. Um So in Perriman and Mim, now these are guys that you're going to expect to win it when it's in the air, when it's up, and they have that good size speed combination and actually rare size speed combinations.

Now for Mims, it's going to be how quickly can he make the transition to a National Football League offense. He was asked to run a lot of vertical routes at Baylor because you have a freaky athlete, so let him run. Let him go down the field and take the top off the defense. There were all a lot of cornerbacks and college football who could run with him.

Now it's going to be and Adam Gates thinks he can handle it, and they would not have taken him in the second round had they thought he couldn't handle it. But it's gonna be about developing a different route tree because he's gonna be running a lot different system on Sundays than he did on Saturdays. Well, I'm glad you mentioned that because at the Senior Bowl that was one of the questions heading into the week. How big of

a route tree does Denzel Mims possessed? And I think that a lot of the football world was pleasantly surprised at what Denzel Mims could do, especially in the one on ones. And the other part is Adam Gates told you and me and the media this that he thinks that Denzel Mims has a lot more room to grow. And even though Denzel Mims not the pre draft process out of the park and he's shown tremendous growth even

from the end of his bailor career to present. There's so much more that he can do that Sean Jefferson and Hines Ward and Adam Gates are gonna try to get out of him where he can be a Day one contributor and potentially a Day one starter for this team. Awesome points about Sean Jefferson and Hines Ward. What better room would you want to enter the National Football League under than a pair of guys who were so productive on the NFL level. So I think this is the

perfect spot for Mims to wind up. And I know he was pissed Greens, and make no mistake about it, he was upset that he was the thirteenth receiver taken in this deep draft class. But this might be a blessing in disguise because he's gonna come in and get the opportunity to play right away and contribute right away. He's gonna be asked to do a lot of things, and the Jets have a lot of confidence in him. And the other thing that I liked about the kid

is he has said that he loves to block. I know their body styles are different, but what better person to learn how to block at the receiver spot for Denzel Mims and Hinzward. Hindeward was obviously notorious as a blocker on the outside for the Pittsburgh Steelers for many years. And I really like Denzel mims answer where he told you, you know, I want to earn my stripes first as a blocker, and then the ball will come to me.

That was the second edition of the Draft Pick Profile series presented by Verizon E A and I will break down each Jets traffic and next up we're going to the third round with Cal safety Ashton Davis.