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On Wednesday, we broke down some of the Jets’ current 16-man practice squad.
Today, we have some more thoughts.
Slot corner Jordan Clark, who spent last year on the Jets’ practice squad, doesn’t have ideal size or speed, but still makes a lot of plays with his feel for the game. With the Jets’ 2026 second-round pick, nickelback D’Angelo Ponds, missing most of camp with a calf injury, Clark got extra reps this summer and took advantage of them.
Rookie linebacker Jaden Keller flashed in camp in an area that the Jets need help with- linebacker pass coverage. He ran a 4.51 forty at Virginia Tech’s Pro Day, so he has good range. Look, perhaps there were good reasons he wasn’t drafted or signed after the draft, and he had to go to the Jets rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, earning a contract. But while the Hokie program is in better shape now with coach James Franklin, the last few years have been somewhat dysfunctional in Blacksburg, so maybe the Jets got a steal here who wasn’t used right by a struggling program.
Watching wide receiver Malik McClain in camp, he looked like a draftable player. He was a four-star recruit out of Alabama, who started at Florida State, and then had stops at Penn State and Arizona State. Sometimes these serial wide receiver transfers lose a little juice with scouts because they keep starting over in new offenses and have to keep getting used to new quarterbacks, and it hurts their production, but this guy has a nice size-speed ratio and is good at high-pointing the ball. He is also a good blocker and special-teams player. Perfect receiver to have on your practice squad with so much potential to develop not just as a receiver, but as a potential special-teams standout.
It was a little surprising that cornerback Sam Womack wasn’t claimed on waivers in a league where so many teams need the position, especially his hometown Detroit Lions. Womack made a lot of plays in training camp and the preseason.
Keep in mind, Womack was a drafted cornerback, a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 draft. He had five picks and 41 PDs in college at Toledo.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but watching Womack this summer, to me, he looks like a solid NFL backup cornerback, worthy of a regular roster spot.
So perhaps the Jets were fortunate nobody claimed him, but might need to be careful not to lose him once other teams start losing cornerbacks; he could be a guy another team looks to steal off the Jets’ practice squad.
The Jets brought back Kohl Levao for a third year on the practice squad. He is a true road-grader as a run blocker, who still needs a little more seasoning as a pass protector. Not that it matters, but while he’s listed at 6-6, he’s actually 6-4 7/8.
Another second-waive practice squad addition this week was QB Bailey Zappe. A 2022 fourth-round pick of New England, he also had stops in Cleveland and Kansas City. He is 27 and has nine NFL starts, so if something happens to Geno Smith, he could be a better option at the beginning of the season than Cade Klubnik, who is super-raw and could use an NFL redshirt year for further development.
September 3, 2026
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