Jermaine Johnson II advocated for New York Jets to draft former FSU teammate Jordan Travis
Jermaine Johnson and Jordan Travis shared one year in Tallahassee. Now add the Meadowlands. The two former Florida State stars are teammates, again, but this time with the New York Jets.
And Johnson had something to do with the Jets using a fifth-round pick to select Travis last Saturday during the final session of the NFL Draft. New York possibly reached for Travis, considering the quarterback is recovering from a broken leg.
Johnson wasn’t bothered by the Travis injury when he messaged Jets coach Robert Saleh to talk up the former Seminole.
“I mean just knowing (Travis), I texted coach Saleh and I was just like, ‘Dude, we need Jordan Travis,’ like, ‘we need him,'” Johnson told NFL.com. “It’s a perfect situation for us, perfect situation for him.”
We’re not sure if Johnson’s message swayed Saleh either way. But Travis was the eighth quarterback off the draft board. After teams selected a record-tying six in the first round, the next quarterback — Spencer Rattler — didn’t go until pick No. 150. The Jets landed Travis 21 slots later. Round six featured two quarterbacks (Joe Milton, Devin Leary), and then round seven had one (Michael Pratt).
College football fans knew all about Travis’ heartbreaking end to his season. He led Florida State to an 11-0 record, then suffered a gruesome leg injury. With no Travis under center, the College Football Playoff committee left out Florida State from the final four-team bracket. Still, Travis earned ACC Player of the Year after throwing for 2,756 yards, with 20 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
“I watched the game where he had gotten injured,” said Johnson, the Jets’ first-round pick in 2022. “And my heart just shattered because … he had … some of the most dynamic quarterback play I’ve seen in college.
“I know how the draft goes, I know how all that stuff goes, so I was like, dang, it definitely hurt him, but I know he can still ball,” Johnson said. “And obviously, he’s still healing up at an awesome rate. I’ve seen the videos, he’s sending me videos, I’m encouraging him and whatnot. So I have no doubt in my mind that he’s going to get back to who he is and even progress from there.”
Travis and the Jets will have the luxury of allowing him to learn this season. Aaron Rodgers, after missing all but four plays last season, is back. New York also signed veteran Tyrod Taylor as Rodgers’ primary backup. They traded Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft, to the Broncos.
It didn’t cost that much for the Jets to gamble on Travis. If he turns out to be their QB of the future, then the team got him for a bargain. And if his game doesn’t translate to the NFL, then Travis only cost the Jets a lower draft pick.
Of course, he’ll always have Johnson in his corner. The defensive end has it all planned.
“He gets to sit behind Tyrod and Aaron,” Johnson said. “And learn from Tyrod’s perspective and Aaron’s perspective. And then also I mean they have a killer quarterback just in the stable learning from those guys. So it’s good for everybody and I just thought it was perfect for both sides, so why not. Sure enough when the opportunity came around they grabbed him.”