2018 NFL mock draft: Updated 4-round projections after Week 12 Draftwire - By: Luke Easterling | November 29, 2017 9:54 am ET Link: http://draftwire.usatoday.com/2017/...-updated-4-round-projections-after-week-12/6/ I am not going to post the whole thing but I have listed the Jets picks below. Three QBs and three pass rushers are off the board before our pick. Not a bad haul for the good guys: 7. New York Jets | Saquon Barkley | RB | Penn State Quarterback is the bigger need by far, but I’m not sure there’s one left on the board in this scenario that would warrant passing up Barkley. His numbers haven’t been huge this year, but he’s still got a rare skill set and the ability to be a three-down weapon at the next level. 39. New York Jets | Jarrett Stidham | QB | Auburn 52. New York Jets (from SEA) | Mitch Hyatt | OT | Clemson 71. New York Jets | Michael Gallup | WR | Colorado State 103. New York Jets | Tyquan Lewis | EDGE | Ohio State
If you are going into the draft in search of a FQB and have identified one in the class you grab him in the 1st round. Not only because he may not fall to your 2nd round pick but for that 5th year option. As much as I love Barkley, this is not risk I would take given our current status. Now if I was comfortable with what I have at the QB position for at least for 1 more year or thought there wasn't much separation between Stidham and the rest of the class, I would certainly go with this approach of grabbing a great skill player and see what QB falls to the top of the 2nd.
If it fell that way, I'd prefer OL help. Then again, if the entire first round fell that way, we may be able to trade back into the 1st for an OT. I just don't see all of the OTs going that low.
Hyatt is an RT only. He doesn't have the strength, technique, or footwork for LT. That would be an awful pick unless they were just giving up on Shell. Hard to justify taking a 3rd rounder for depth or to potentially compete for the spot on our line that hasn't been the biggest issue. Much rather see C or LT there or earlier. Pass on Hyatt for someone like Isiah Wynn, whose damn near identical to Beachum when he was healthier on Pitt, or grab Desmond Harrison from West GA. Small school kid with NFL-like traits and tenacity. He'll be a riser. Let Shell have another season at RT and replace BEachum at LT and grab someone like Billy Price where Stidham is for C. Boom OL looks hella stronger going into 2018
Love the other picks though. Stidham has a high ceiling, and Barkley is a full on stud muffin RB. Gallup has been lighting it up in FCS this year and looks like can develop into a spectacular #2 WR in the NFL with refinement to his routes and break off the line. Don't know enough on Lewis just yet, but from what I've read he seems like he could be a nice fit in our scheme if Bowles used him in a hand-in-dirt type role
Aside from Barkley and Stidham, I don't know enough about the other guys to say if they're the best picks, but in principle, I like the picks. I agree with Legler that risking not getting the FQB is a HUGE risk, and I don't think Stidham lasts anywhere near that long. If Stidham is there when the Jets take their 1st pick, I say they need to grab him. BUT...if he and Rosen and Darnold are all gone by then and Barkley IS there. I would gamble on finding a very good FQB prospect with our 2nd pick. If that worked out it would really give them a solid foundation to build upon.
I would love Barkley if the Jets signed Cousins. Flip the first 2nd pick for another OL and the Jets are a new team.
The QBs I campaign for usually start out as unknown or "sleeper" picks in the fall and end up being top 10 picks by the time the draft rolls around. There's no way any scout or GM will give him a grade lower than the first after studying the film.
I believe all 4-6 projected QBs will be gone before the third round. This is by far one of the better classes of potentially good NFL QBs available in a long time. The difference between these guys is minimal, where one guy like Falk excels in accuracy, others have him in arm strength, some have a little better footwork than others but none of them look like they are huge projects. Jets need to grab one of these guys with the first round pick and use their 2nd round picks and double down on OL or OL and offensive skill position.
Absolutely! The only alternative to what you suggest would be if there was a better OLB/Edge available instead of the OL, although if we're talking about a stud LT, that would still trump the edge rusher for me.
I certainly am aware of that, and if they took Barkley as I suggested above, I would hope they'd try to trade back into the first to get the QB.
