6 2015 NFL Draft Picks Who Could Be Opening-Game Starters for the New York Jets

The NFL draft is where teams look when they are trying to build for the future.

Forget that. Why wait for the future when there are plenty of players ready to contribute right now?

The New York Jets took an aggressive approach to the offseason by seemingly going all-in with big-name signings like cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie and a high-profile trade to acquire wide receiver Brandon Marshall, but without a starting quarterback, will it all be for naught?

Fear not, Jets fans; there is a quarterback who could come in and contribute right away, and his name may be familiar to you. There are also players at a handful of other positions who could be instant starters.

Here's a look at some of those players.

Brandon Scherff, OG, Iowa

Justin Hayworth/Associated Press

No one will doubt that Iowa's Brandon Scherff is the best offensive lineman in the draft. The doubt creeps in when the discussion begins over which position he will play when he reaches the NFL. 

Most seem to be in the camp that Scherff's mauling ability in the running game and the holes in his pass protection make him a better fit at guard than his collegiate position of left tackle.  

The Jets are in need of players at both tackle and guard, so they could have the luxury of drafting Scherff and letting fate run its course by seeing who he would usurp for a starting role.

It could be the guard spot, where he'd be competing with Brian Winters, Oday Aboushi and Willie Colon. He could compete for the right tackle spot, where his main competition would be Breno Giacomini. Scherff has a good chance to dethrone any of them in training camp.

There are many predictions for where Scherff will be drafted, but mostly, he's being projected as a top-10 pick. If the Jets want him in their lineup, they'll have to use the No. 6 pick to get him. Given the fact that he'd be an immediate starter, he'd be worth the pick. 

Shane Ray, DE, Missouri

Consensus picks often become that way for a reason. If everyone agrees that a particular player should be drafted by a certain team, it usually means that player is a perfect fit to that team in that spot.

With three out of four NFL.com draft analysts predicting that the Jets will select Missouri defensive end Shane Ray with the No. 6 overall pick, it would seem like he's exactly what the Jets need at the position.

"The Jets aggressively addressed the secondary in free agency, but there is still a need for a dynamic edge-rushing presence," Daniel Jeremiah says.

"The Jets have not had a legitimate outside pass-rusher in years," writes Charley Casserly. 

Indeed, Ray is an explosive athlete off the edge who can get into the backfield in a hurry; he has the straight-line speed to beat tackles to the corner and the natural bend to get past them. The questions lie in his lack of size, at only 6'3" and 245 pounds with 33⅛-inch arms, as well as his lack of experience in a 3-4 system such as what the Jets run.

That being said, it would be impossible to argue that he is not an immediate upgrade over current starter Calvin Pace. If the Jets can add Ray to their defense, they'll have locked up a player who could immediately add some teeth to the Jets' pass rush.

Damarious Randall, FS, Arizona State

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

The New York Jets may have signed safety Marcus Gilchrist to a four-year, $22 million contract this offseason, but they are not all set at the safety position. That's especially true considering that Gilchrist and 2014 first-round pick Calvin Pryor are redundant as players given their similar skill sets.

That's where Damarious Randall comes in. The Arizona State product has the speed and nose for the ball that are so often attributed to a deep-coverage safety, and he is not afraid to come down into the box and make tackles in run support.

NFL.com's Lance Zierlein says Randall is "undersized" for a safety, but look at New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty, who is one of the league's best free safeties and stands 5'10" and weighs 195 pounds; Randall checked in at 5'11" and 196 pounds at the scouting combine.

Advantage: Randall.

Even if it takes him some time to fill out his frame, Randall could immediately provide a rangy presence on the back end of the Jets' defense.

Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

If you were going to build an offensive tackle, he would probably look a lot like Andrus Peat.

At 6'7" and 313 pounds with 34⅜-inch arms, the Stanford product has all the length of an edge protector with the ability to redirect edge-rushers around the quarterback. He also has the strength to move his man off the ball and open holes in the running game.

There are some issues with his technique, but his ceiling is astronomical. Even despite the holes in his game, NFL.com's Lance Zierlein called Peat "one of the most game-ready offensive linemen in this year's draft."

Zierlein also adds that Peat has the foot quickness to play left tackle but the mauling demeanor to play on the right side. Thus, he could take over the starting right tackle spot from Breno Giacomini this year and eventually man the left tackle spot whenever D'Brickashaw Ferguson decides to hang it up and retire.

Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota

John Raoux/Associated Press

Much like Andrus Peat, Minnesota's Maxx Williams is pretty close to what a prototype tight end would look like if you were to draw up the perfect blueprint.

At 6'4" and 249 pounds with 33½-inch arms, Williams has the size to create mismatches in the passing game, which was his primary role in college. He has the straight-line speed to cause problems on seam routes, as evidenced in a 4.78-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. He also has the leaping ability to cause problems in the red zone, as evidenced by a 34½-inch vertical jump.

With 61 catches for 986 yards and 13 touchdowns in two seasons with the Gophers, 21.3 percent of Williams' receptions were touchdowns—that's better than one in every five catches.

Williams may be a close approximation to Jets tight end Jace Amaro in terms of skill set, but the Jets could find some very interesting ways to use both Amaro and Williams on the field at the same time to give defenses more than they can handle over the middle.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Saved the best/most important/most obvious for last.

But would Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota really be an opening-day starter?

Yes. At least he would be in Chan Gailey's offense. That's the same Gailey who constructed an offense around the highly limited Ryan Fitzpatrick when the two were an item with the Buffalo Bills, and the same Gailey who built the offense that allowed former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart to earn the nickname "Slash" by taking advantage of the full breadth of his skills.

That's exactly what Gailey would be doing with Mariota, who some scouts are concerned will never reach the lofty heights he achieved in college when he hits the pro scene ("We can see certain characteristics on tape, but they don't play the same game that we play in the NFL so we can't see things we need to on tape," said one AFC QB coach, via Lance Zierlein of NFL.com). They say Oregon's offense is too simple, they say college coverages are too easy to read, they say Mariota hasn't had to fit passes into tight windows.

But if Gailey is his coordinator, none of what they say will matter. Gailey will make Mariota feel right at home right from the opening kickoff.

Unless otherwise noted, all scouting combine information and draft notes provided by CBSSports.com and NFL.com.