Jets LB Zaire Barnes shares one thing in common with Joe Klecko – Both are sixth-round draft picks
Published August 8th, 1:09 EDT
by Bo Marchionte
Canton, OH – I love the NFL preseason. While most yawn at the idea of watching back-ups play while the household names roam the sidelines, it’s one month out of the NFL calendar that gives long shots a chance to make their case for the final 53-man roster.
Every season at every position late round or undrafted college free agents surge past players considered more valuable in the month of April during the NFL Draft, but somehow when the heat of summer is yielding towards the upcoming fall in August these players rise to the occasion.
The first preseason game of the year between the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets brought the opportunity to gauge some players making their debuts in the 2023 preseason opener at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“These are great reps I’m getting and I’m not going to get these all the time or every day,” Zaire Barnes said. “These are very rare reps.”
Selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Western Michigan Barnes, a first team All-MAC linebacker made the most of those reps in his inaugural introduction into the National Football League. Barnes looked comfortable and appeared much larger than his 6-foot-1 and 233-pound frame.
Against the Browns, Barnes registered five tackles (four solo) picking up where he left off with the Broncos in college. Hi senior season at Western Michigan he averaged 7.75 tackles per game and getting to the ball is one of his top qualities.
“That was one of the things I do best is get to the rock,” Barnes said in the locker room of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. “Left a few tackles out there but for the most part I felt I did solid at that. Learned a lot from today and got a lot to fix. Great experience playing out there with the guys.”
Typical for any rookie or veteran that despite how well the performance might have gone, the film will reveal better alternatives for success. Capturing the success and turning it into production is the key towards etching a career out in the NFL.
His 13-tackle performance against Ohio standout but his overall ability to be a factor in the passing game (9 PDSs), in 2023, provide the Jets with a talented late round prospect with upside. Watching him in his No. 53 jersey, his speed was reaction time and speed was evident.
“For the most part it was just normal jitters,” Barnes said prior to the game. “I just reminded myself of what I’ve done before. Once I got a few snaps I felt I was getting into my zone.”
With three more preseason games left for the Jets, Barnes will have ample opportunities to build off his first game. The urgency to get to Week 1 will build as fans are anxious to see Aaron Rodgers and company get going against the Buffalo Bills on September 11th.
The Jets were playing in the Hall of Fame Game due to both Joe Klecko and Darrelle Revis being enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Revis was the 14th pick overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. It just so happens Klecko was the 144th overall pick in the 1977 NFL Draft, a sixth-round pick, just like Barnes.
Klecko achieved the ultimate individual achievement in his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Barnes may never reach that level as a sixth-round pick. That is the crème de la crème of outcomes.
Perhaps a career like Jets sixth-round pick in 1978 of defensive back Bobby Jackson who played eight seasons in New York. The Jets sixth-round selection in the 1989 NFL Draft was none other than Marvin Washington.
This article isn’t being written to say Barnes is following in the footsteps of Klecko to the Hall of Fame, it’s just a reminder not to write this Mundelein, Illinois native off. The reason the preseason is so special is guys like Klecko then and Barnes now can earn the trust of the coaches and possibly become a contributor at the highest level of professional football.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
