The New York Jets made their first surprising selection of the 2025 NFL draft.
With the No. 73 overall pick in the third round, the Jets selected Florida State cornerback Azareye’h Thomas.
NBC draft analyst Connor Rogers immediately speculated that this addition could mean that veteran Brandon Stephens is switching positions.
Another 20 year old prospect
Over 300 snaps in man coverage the last two years (which Glenn loves)…disruptor
My question is…are they going to play Stephens at safety? https://t.co/3rNRK8yLJ2
— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) April 26, 2025
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The Jets signed Stephens away from the Baltimore Ravens on a three-year, $36 million contract in free agency. Stephens was expected to play the cornerback position. However with a third-round pick being used on a corner, questions have been raised.
A Position Change Would Allow the Jets to Get Their Best Players on the Field
Stephens, 27, entered the league back in 2021 as the No. 104 overall pick in the third round.
Reporter Nick Faria of Jets X-Factor revealed that Stephens’ “original position” coming out of the NFL Combine in 2021 was safety.
The Jets have one starting safety locked in with Andre Cisco. The former Syracuse product signed a one-year deal with a maximum value of $10 million. However, the other starting safety position is up for grabs.
Tony Adams signed his restricted free agent tender this offseason. If a game were set to be played this week, Adams would be the starter. The season doesn’t start for months, so there is time to figure out what the secondary will look like.
The cornerback room has three starters written in pen: Sauce Gardner, Michael Carter II, and the aforementioned Stephens. If Stephens jumped to safety, that would open the door for Thomas to be a starter at corner as a rookie.
Jets Landed a Steal and They Should Trust Their Coach on This One
Dane Brugler of The Athletic had Thomas ranked as the No. 6 corner in this class and the No. 51 overall player on the big board. In “The Beast,” he was graded as a second-round draft choice.
One of the big questions with Thomas is his lack of elite speed. According to “The Beast”, Thomas ran a 4.58 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. That would have been ranked as the second slowest time at the 2025 NFL combine at the cornerback spot.
However, Glenn explained why he isn’t worried at all about Thomas’ 40-yard dash time.
“I would tell you this, a while ago, I really started to look at play speed a little bit more than time speed. I had a guy, Brian Branch, last year that ran like a 4.58 [40-yard-dash] also, but his play speed was like 4.3 & I think everyone knows how he plays.”
AG said watching players run on tape means more to him than watching players run in “underwear at the Combine.”
“Football is football. He plays the brand that we want to play.”
NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY followed up by asking about the GPS chips and if that’s how they compare play speed versus time speed.
AG said people can use that, but ultimately, for him, it’s just about watching the tape.
“There is a lot of people that they say they run 4.5 or 4.6 then when you see them run against 4.3 receivers and they’re in their hip pocket, that tells you right there that they can run. So I don’t really need that to see a player run. You just watch the tape, and that tells you everything that you need to know,” Glenn added.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini asked #Jets HC Aaron Glenn about new rookie CB Azareye’h Thomas’s 4.58 40-yard dash at his Pro Day.
“I would tell you this, a while ago I really started to look at play speed a little bit more than time speed. I had a guy Brian Branch last year that ran like… pic.twitter.com/NBXHHIeNPG
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) April 26, 2025
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If you are going to trust Glenn with anything, it should be his evaluations at the cornerback position. Glenn played 15 years in the NFL at the highest level. If he sees Thomas as a perfect fit, we should probably take him at his word.
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