Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq tore up the NFL Combine and entrenched himself as a first-round draft pick in February, and the Jets made that official on Thursday evening when they selected him No. 16 overall. New York has a new-look passing offense this year with Geno Smith back in town, and they desperately needed pass-catching help with a fairly barren skill corps after Garrett Wilson. Enter Sadiq. Let’s break down this pick from a fantasy point of view.
KENYON SADIQ
- Sadiq spent his first two years in Eugene backing up NFLer Terrance Ferguson before bursting into relevancy in 2025 with 51 catches for 560 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior. Anthony Amico noted he has an interesting profile as a TE because he had nine career rushing attempts and two career kickoff returns in college. Oregon’s willingness to use him as a return man perhaps should have foreshadowed his ridiculous athletic testing: He ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at 241 pounds and graded in the 98th percentile or better in both the vertical and broad jump. Truly a freak athlete. 241 pounds is small for a tight end, though Sadiq measured out well in PFF’s run-blocking grading in college, but his pass-catching ability is certainly his calling card. Draft pundits noted his explosiveness and after-the-catch ability while mentioning that he could become more dependable as a pass catcher after having some drop issues last season.
- The Jets took Mason Taylor in the second round last year. He, like everyone else on the Jets, struggled from an efficiency standpoint with just 5.9 yards per target, but he at least seized the TE1 job for New York immediately and earned a strong 17.7% target share in an injury-plagued Jets pass-catching corps as a rookie. Now, he gets pushed down the depth chart to TE2 with Sadiq in town, though Sadiq is capable of lining up all over the field (Taylor played 59.4% of his snaps in-line last year). Sadiq getting mid-Round 1 draft capital means he’ll sit atop the TE depth chart right away though, and he could immediately be the Jets’ second-best pass catcher with fellow rookie Omar Cooper Jr. (more on him here), Adonai Mitchell, and Isaiah Williams as the other contenders. Mitchell showed flashes last year in a full-time role with the Jets, but he has still only caught 43% of his career targets, and Williams projects as more of an impact special-teamer. Sadiq will get every chance to earn a big target share immediately; whether Geno Smith can actually get him the ball enough to warrant fantasy consideration is a different question altogether.
- The Jets project as one of the worst teams in football, and Geno was unplayably bad for Las Vegas in 2025. Ideally, a return to New York helps him regain the competency he displayed in Seattle, but it’s hard to get excited about any Jet for fantasy this year. Still, from a volume standpoint at least, Sadiq will have an opportunity to earn a major role right away, and he has the athleticism to turn any target into a big play.
OTHER JETS PASS CATCHERS
- Garrett Wilson remains the top dog in this passing offense and is unaffected by this selection. There was always a good chance that New York would add pass-catching talent, given Isaiah Williams‘ status as the WR3, but Wilson is the alpha in this aerial attack.
- Taylor gets a significant downgrade after a voluminous but inefficient rookie season. He will still see the field as the TE2 and could challenge Sadiq for early-down snaps, but the Jets hired a new man (Frank Reich) to control their offense this season and then immediately spent their top pick on a tight end despite an array of other team needs. That’s not a great sign for Taylor.
- Adonai Mitchell also gets docked from the increased target competition here, as does everyone else on the depth chart.
