Jace Amaro is a talented pass receiver, but will need to work on blocking.
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It took until the second day of the NFL Draft, but the Jets added a weapon on offense with the selection of Texas Tech tight end Jace Amaro in the second round.
And, almost as predictably, they went to the other side of the ball and added another defensive back with the third-round pick of Dexter McDougle, who battled injuries during his career at Maryland.
The Jets took Amaro, a pass-catching tight end who can stretch the field, at No. 49 overall. Amaro, who is 6-foot-5 and with 34-inch arms, can add some spice to a bland offense that finished second-worst in the league in the passing last year.
But Amaro was rarely asked to block at Texas Tech.
“Of course I am going to feel more comfortable at the slot right now. There were times growing up that I played in-line, so it’s not tremendously different,” Amaro said Friday night. “You obviously have your hands on the ground [playing on the line], so I think it’s just going to take me a couple of weeks and I will feel as comfortable as I do in the slot.”
McDougle adds depth at cornerback and gives them a fluid player for their sub packages.
He was limited last year at Maryland due to a shoulder injury that shelved him for a good chunk of the season. McDougle had shoulder surgery last fall, but said he would be fully healthy for workouts beginning later this month. When healthy, he can be a versatile part of the secondary. He has good speed that makes up for being just 5-foot-10.
But the story of the night was the pass-catching tight end and the dynamic he adds to the offense. One NFC scout, who spoke to Metro before the draft, raved about Amaro.
“He doesn’t go down easily. He’s difficult to tackle,” the scout said. “He can elude tacklers. At the college level, he was difficult to take down with just one tackler. [He] powers through well with his legs.”
His numbers last season with the Red Raiders certainly had to make the Jets front office salivate. In a pass-happy offense, he registered 106 catches for 1,352 yards, the most ever for a tight end at a BCS program.
Amaro had a pre-draft visit with the Jets and walked away wanting to be a part of the franchise.
“On the visit I felt like I fit really well there. I honestly thought I was going to get picked in the first round [by] them,” Amaro said. “It didn’t happen and that was something that was disappointing because you go into the second round and you don’t really know who’s going to pick you. That was the place where I wanted to play at was in New York and to be a Jet and I’m just glad it happened in the second round and it’s something that I’m very fortunate for.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
