The Jets signed Stone Smartt in free agency in early March then used their second-round selection in April's NFL Draft to take LSU star TE Mason Taylor (No. 42 overall). Tyler Conklin, who had 170 catches from 2022-24, departed in free agency and signed with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Smartt (6-4, 226) went undrafted in 2022 before signing with the Chargers and played mostly as a backup TE and on special teams. Last season was his most productive when he played in 15 games and caught 16 passes for 208 yards. Jeremy Ruckert (6-5, 250), one of several Ohio State players now with the Green & White, will be entering his fourth season and has had mostly a blocking role to go with 35 receptions and 264 yards in his three campaigns.
"Ruckert could take the next step," GM Darren Mougey said in March, about six weeks before the draft. "Feel good about adding Stone Smartt. He's an athletic guy with some upside."
After several OTA sessions and ahead of next week's mandatory minicamp, Taylor, the son of former NFL player Jason Taylor, has garnered positive reviews. He is LSU's career leader among the Tigers' tight ends with 129 receptions, 1,308 yards and 6 TDs over his three seasons in Baton Rouge.
See Justin Fields, Garrett Wilson, Quincy Williams and the rest of the Jets on the field during the third week of OTAs within the voluntary portion of the offseason program.
Taylor has caught several balls in OTAs and drawn compliments from HC Aaron Glenn for his blocking.
"I think he's been doing an outstanding job in that aspect," Glenn said. "And it's not just the pass catching, because that's what you guys see, that's what you guys really think is an aha moment, but it's the blocking to me is what really gets me going.
"Because I know what he can do in the passing game, but for him to come out and do the things he's doing in the run game, even though you can't do a lot of running because it's not a physical part of the season, but him understanding exactly what he's supposed to do and the position, the body language, the leverage, all those things, man I really love that when it comes to the run game."
Offensive line coach Steven Heiden, who was a blocking tight end during his 11 seasons in the NFL, said last week that he sees tight ends playing the role of sixth offensive lineman. In that respect, Ruckert has plenty of pro experience, having done much of his work in the NFL adjacent to the trenches.
"That's another player that I think he's improved quite a bit," Glenn said. "That's another player, actually, that I had a chance to talk with face-to-face and told him about the things that he needs to improve on. He wants to be good. He comes from a really good program [Ohio State], and we have a number of guys [QB Justin Fields, WR Garrett Wilson, C Josh Myers] from that program. And I've stressed him pretty hard throughout this camp because I think there's a lot of meat on the bone with that player. Good size, long arms. I think he can help us in the passing game. Obviously, he's going to be a really good blocker for us, but there's some technical things that he had to improve on, and he's doing everything he can to improve on those things."
