Free Agent Signings: - We are not going to splurge this off-season on free agents, guaranteed. We do not have that much money left over from this past off-season, nor do we have that many big holes (probably 0 really BIG holes) to fill. CB - Will Allen: Not an amazing CB, but a solid CB opposite Revis who can cement that spot on our defense for good. A solid, cheap signing. WR - Devery Henderson: Some may not like this choice, but I think it is a good one for this off-season. He does not have the best hands or the best fundamentals at receiver, but if the Jets really want a guy who can come in and stretch the opposing defense every once in a while, this is the guy. A burner who averages 20 yards per catch over his 4 year career. Once again, not a glamorous or extremely important signing but one that adds another threat to this offense, even if he is used sparingly. Not a bad #3/4 reciever. We would have enough depth and quality at receiver with Coles, Cotch, Henderson, Stuckey, Smith, Clowney, Wright and Keller, who has evolved into a main target. I do not think we need anybody in the draft THIS YEAR, unless we can get a steal. But next year, we need to re-evaluate and most likely go out and get somebody. Position Changes: CB - FS, Dwight Lowery: I really want to see Lowery be switched from CB to FS. I like him a lot as a player, but he is just not fast enough to go one on one with these fast NFL wide receivers. He gets beat too often, and he cannot show off his true ballhawking skills when he is getting beat constantly. We move him to FS where he can play farther back, and patrol the middle of the field, and i think he will be very successful there. I would really hope to see this move made this off-season, I just do not see him fulfilling his potential as a CB in this system. I would not mind starting Elam or Smith again next year, but I would really think Lowery would be able to beat those 2 out and becoming a solid starting FS. DRAFT: 1st Round: CB D.J. Moore, Vanderbilt: This passing defense is clearly the weakest part to our team, and that is why I would plan to make some big alterations with it. Moore can battle it out with the newly acquired Allen for the #2 CB spot, and we would have one of the better 1-3 CBs in the league. Moore is an exciting CB who is very fundamentally sound and will not get beat deep very often at all in the NFL. Actually, he does remind me of a less physical, faster, Revis. Alternative Option: If LeSean McCoy is still around at this point in the draft, I would have a very tough time deciding if I wanted to go with McCoy or a player at a bigger position of need. But, I do think in the end I would go with McCoy because I think he is a very special player. So if McCoy is available here, he is my pick, not Moore. 3rd Round: (from New Orleans) NT Terrance Taylor, Michigan: Not a big need on this defense because we have Jenkins, but often I see Jenkins get tired at the end of games and Pouha is simply not the answer. Pouha is OK, but nothing more. The NT is the most important position in the 3-4 and I would love to be set there for the next 5+ years. Taylor has the perfect size and perfect run-stuffing abilities to be a very good NT in this league, and learning under Jenkins for a couple of years will only make him better. 3rd Round: ILB Scott McKillop, Pittsburgh: Not an extremely athletic LB, but he is athletic enough to play in this defense. He would compete for a starting job from day 1. He really is a less athletic Harris. They are the exact same size, McKillop is a very good run-stuffer, and always around the ball, and also McKillop is not bad in coverage either, which we do need help with on this linebacker corps. He would fit very will in our defense and Harris and him would be a force to be reckoned with for years. 4th Round: (from Washington) DE, Pannel Egboh, Stanford: Still a little bit slim at 6-6, 280 to play DE in this system, but he definitely has the frame to add 15-25 pounds and still play very athletically. Or, we could even decide to go the other way and if he proves to be a better athlete than he already is, he could become an OLB in this system. Most likely though, I seem him as solid depth to our defensive line and an athletic burst coming off the bench. 5th Round: OL, Kraig Urbik, Wisconsin: A big OL to add for depth at 6-6, 325. Can play all along the line, but mostly RT and RG. A smart player, who provides solid depth, which we are lacking right now, along the offensive line. 6th Round: P Kevin Huber, Cincinnati: The 6th round is a crapshoot, so if we can get a player that is going to be on our starting roster from opening day, this late in the draft, that is wonderful. Huber is one of the best punters in the past few years to come out of college, and would definitely be a big improvement over the crap we have had this year. 7th Round: RB P.J. Hill, Wisconsin: He has had a great college career at Wisconsin, and could come onto our team as a complete change of pace to Washington and Jones, or we could even look into developing him as a FB perhaps. Just a pick because I like Wisconsin and I have always liked Hill and hope he can have some sort of role in the NFL. Issues Not Addressed: WR: I never drafted a big play making WR. I personally, do not love drafting WRs in the first round, and Crabtree is the only WR I really like anyway. Some of the 2nd round WRs that I like, well, we don't have a second rounder. And after that I just felt we could get better and more important players with our picks. I think we have a ton of depth at WR already, and although we dont have 1 really great WR, I think the ones we have are pretty solid and we do not HAVE to look into getting another starting WR until after next season anyway, or we can hope Stuckey or somebody turns into something next season. QB: I would have really liked to draft a QB high in this draft and was looking at guys like Mark Sanchez in the first or Josh Freeman or Rhett Bomar in the 3rd, but, once again, decided that we should go in a different direction with those picks. I do think we need to really see if Clemens or even Ratliff has what it takes to take over for Favre after next season or else we may be screwed down the line. I really hope one of them can turn into a solid QB. OLB: I also would have liked to get another OLB hopefully in this draft because none of our OLBs are really doing very well right now. Pace has been slumping for a while and Thomas has had like 2-3 good games this whole season. And Gholston.......... yeah. But, I didn't feel there was a worthy enough OLB to get at the particular spots we were picking at in the first 3 rounds, and after that I didn't think it was necessary if we were only going to get an OLB for depth purposes. However, I really do think Gholston will be able to contribute next year, and if so, then I don't think we have anything to worry about.
I really like the direction of your draft and offseason although id like a more athletic mlb to play pass coverage and i dk how important a punter is hodges has been pretty good
Worrell Williams from Cal - he already plays in a 3-4 at Cal as in ILB. He is going to be drafted by a 3-4 team and his skill set and familiarity with the system will allow him to start/make an impact right away. I'd love to see Williams and Harris in the middle of our defense. Plus he can be had later in the draft than McKillop - in the 4th/5th (4th for us since we will be drafting near the bottom of each round). I have us taking him in my mock.
I was just throwing it out there...Worrell has the size. Personally, I prefer McKillop. I really like this guy.
I like the Lowery at safety transition. I dont think McCoy is going to be a first round pick. Also I would try to go linebacker like Spikes. I love the Taylor pick I think he could be really underrated going into the draft. I also like the Egbouh choice I think he could be really good as well
As far as the punter, I did not really know what to do with the last 2 rounds because we could go a ton of different ways, but right now even though Hodges has been a bit better than Graham was, he is still pretty bad and AT BEST in the lower 1/3 of the league as far as punters go. I think McCoy will stay at Pitt, but if he comes out he will probably be a mid-late first round pick, maybe he falls to the second, but i think getting him anywhere after the 20th pick is a huge, huge steal for any team. He is just an outstanding RB and I would love to have him in the late first with our pick. Worrell Williams is fine, but not that impressive, and McKillop, to me, is a very impressive linebacker. Yes, we could get Williams later in the draft, but that is just because he is a worse player than McKillop is. I think ILB is important for us this off-season and would definitely spend a 3rd rounder on an ILB. There is no reason to wait around until the 4th or 5th for another 3-4 ILB when you can get a better one in the 3rd, because, like I said, it is one of our bigger needs this off-season. Also, McKillop is not a liability in coverage, and I think he will fit very well in this defense, so I don't think we need to look to get anybody more athletic than him, unless we want to go with an ILB in the first, but I think all of the good ones (besides Lauranitis) will be gone by our pick. Lastly, Taylor did have a down year this year, but that may be a blessing in disguise for us. He was looked at as a late first or second rounder going into the season and now he will probably be drafted in the third or the fourth. Although that down year is concerning, everybody on Michigan had a bad year and Taylor definitely has the size and ability to fill wonderfully at NT, so I am sure a lot of 3-4 teams will be looking at him early on in Day 2. Hopefully, we will be the team to scoop him up.
That's your opinion. McKillop is a talented LB with the size to do well in the 3-4 but he is not familiar with the system and sometimes being good LB in a 4-3 doesn't translate to the 3-4 (Ex. Vilma). I've watched McKillop and while he didn't make INTs he did break up a lot of passes and I remember watching him bat a ball into the air and then be intercepted by a CB which is a great play. However I think the drop off from McKillop to Williams is minimal if not non-existent. Both are big guys who can stop the run and cover the pass well, but I give the edge to Williams because he doesn't carry the risk of not fitting in the 3-4. Williams would feel very comfortable in our defense from Day 1. And I wouldn't be 100% sold that Mauluga is gone by our pick. Laurinaitis and Curry are going to test better than him in pretty much every category, and so will Cushing but I don't see there being a chance that Cushing is taken before Mauluga. I think Spikes could be too depending on his combine/if he declares.
I liked it all, especially the lowery transition to safety. However, I don't understand your last pick. Exactly how could anyone be a change of pace, if you already have Jones and Washington? Also, isn't qb going to be a big hole, regardless of the Favre situation?
Great 1st round pick. There's not a lot of hype surrounding him yet because he played at Vanderbilt but he's definitely a 1st rounder if he comes out. I'd even argue he's better than Vontae Davis.
Because neither Jones or Washington are power runningbacks, which Hill is, so that is a change of pace from the running styles of Jones and Washington. And I do not really understand your last question. QB is not a big hole if the situation is that Favre returns as QB because.... We have Brett Favre. But if the Favre situation is that he does not return, then yes it is a huge hole. No matter what though, it will probably be a big hole in 2 years, when Favre will likely retire, unless Clemens or Ratliff really steps up next season as Favre's replacement.
