How Quincy Enunwa’s story could inspire this draft class

Five years ago, Quincy Enunwa was the ninth player drafted by the Jets out of 12 total draft picks.

Now, he is the only one from that draft class left on the team.

“It’s a really good feeling, obviously, anytime you can outlast [guys], especially guys that were drafted ahead of you,” Enunwa said. “I’m proud of the work I’ve put in to get to where I’m at now.”

Enunwa’s tale is one of hope for draft picks who may feel overlooked this week. He was the 29th wide receiver drafted in 2014. The Jets drafted two receivers ahead of him, two guys who are long forgotten — Jalen Saunders and Shaq Evans.

After a rookie year spent mainly on the practice squad, he broke through in 2015 and has been slowed only by injuries. He signed a four-year contract worth up to $36 million in December and is a key piece of the Jets offense now.

“The draft process is interesting to me because I feel like a lot of guys have talent, but they’re not always in the right situations,” Enunwa said. “You could see there’s a couple of guys that might have happened to. I think I landed in the right situation and I’m happy I’m here.”

After missing all of 2017 with a neck injury, Enunwa was limited to 11 games last year because of ankle injuries. All of the wear and tear on Enunwa has new Jets coach Adam Gase preaching to him to be smarter about when to fight for every inch and when to go down and live for another down.

“It’s a fine line with him,” Gase said. “He is a physical player. He’s a big man. When he gets to the secondary, he’s a tough guy to bring down. We were on opposite teams last year and he carried about 12 guys on his back for about 10 yards. At some point, you’d like him to go down. When you know it’s getting too many, just going down and saving yourself for the next play because we’re going to need him.”

Enunwa said he understands Gase’s message and embraces it.

“Honestly, as I’ve gotten older and kind of smarter, I’ve learned from other guys, it’s not too far off from where I want to get to,” Enunwa said. “Obviously, I want to make as many plays as possible, but I was able to see the film and see plays where a lot of times it’s a lot smarter to get down.”