NJ’S FLORHAM PARK — An overview of recent events surrounding the New York Jets:
1. Front-office casualty: The news assistant general manager Rex Hogan is no longer with the Jets shocked members of the scouting community.
According to people familiar with the situation, it broke on Wednesday while the entire NFL world was gathered in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl. However, his departure actually happened right after the season. The fact that it remained silent for three weeks added to the mystery. Hogan’s absence from the Senior Bowl, one of the biggest scouting events of the pre-draft season, aroused curiosity.
Hogan was a key contributor to draft and pro personnel decisions during his nearly five years of collaboration with general manager Joe Douglas. Under former general manager Mike Maccagnan, Hogan served as the Jets’ director of college scouting from 2015 to 2017. He then returned to the team to take up the No. 2 position in the football operation following a two-year stint with the Indianapolis Colts. Douglas did not discuss any possible changes during his season-ending news conference, but he did stress the importance of “reflection” and “learning from some of the decisions that didn’t work out.”
One was selecting Zach Wilson, a former quarterback for BYU, with the second overall pick in the 2021 draft. Hogan was well-known for being a fervent supporter of Wilson throughout the draft process. He made scouting contacts at BYU while serving as the University of Utah’s director of football operations in the past. A different team executive who personally knows Hogan speculated that it might have played a role in his dismissal.
