Here's my best guess at the direction the Jets will go as of Jan, 14, 2010. Impossible to fill all needs, but some key areas are addressed. A few players are still hanging around from my previous mock. The Jets trade Kerry Rhodes for a 3rd Round pick in 2010's draft and a conditional pick in 2011. IMO, Rhodes will be traded......if we get a 3rd Rounder count your lucky stars. Jets resign Edwards and Sheppard to less lucrative deals. Leon Washington is back and good as new. From Everything I'm reading, the break is healing very well and shouldn't effect his play in Sept 2010. Jenkins is back in a limited roll in the rotation, which proved it can work...... less of a need for a NT with limited picks. Round 1) Brandon Graham, DE/OLB, Michigan......Graham is an excellent 3-4 OLB that can rush the QB, make tackles for a loss and has good coverage skills. Something our transparent draft pick from 2 years ago is unable to accomplish. Graham has been Michigan's defensive MVP the last 2 years and an All-Big Ten player. I've seen Graham play alot (I'm in Big Ten Country)...he has my blessing to be a NY Jet. Should be available toward the end of Round 1. Smart player that has a non-stop motor and loves football. Better than Woodley..that's a fact!! Iupati was a consideration but his stock is rising and is out of reach....Damn!! Round 2) Morgan Burnett, S, Georgia Tech.....Burnett has the skill to play either Safety position. IMO, he would be better taking over Rhode's FS position. Burnett is a ball-hawk and isn't afraid to make a big hit and is decent in coverage. Could go higher than the Jet's late rd 2 pick, but depth of the draft pushes Burnett down. Round Mid 3 ) (Rhode's Trade)Eric Decker, WR, Minnesota.....Decker has had a foot injury most of 2009 and it hurt his stock. A great possession receiver that Sanchez needs so badly. Decker has great hands, runs very good routes and is a QB's best friend. Decker had an outstanding 2008 and would have been a 2nd Round pick if he wasn't injuryed. Jet Fans will love this kid. Round 5) Alex Carrington, DE, Arkansas St.......I've been a big Carrington supporter for over a year. Had a quiet year, heard opponents double and triple teamed Carrington. Alex had a huge 2008 season. Quiet year and small school, should be available in Rd 5. A good developmental player that can fit in the rotation immediately. Round 6) Chris Hall, C/OG/RT Texas...Very versatile player, can play any position on the O-Line and is an excellent center..in case Mangold goes down. Round 7) Matt Dodge, P, East Carolina......Jet's punting situation is medicore at best. Rex will find a new punter in 2010...that's a given. Comments Welcome!!!!
I hate Graham in the first, I think he is a second round pick at best. Unless we are super super late in the first I can't see how a Dunlap, Cody, or Williams would fall past us. In addition if we do not have one of those guys I would like to see us take a WR Burnett im 50/50 on Assuming we dont take a WR I don't think Decker is the guy we want. Cotchery is a possession receiver. Yeah has had a drop or two but hes the most sure-handed guy on the team. I would rather Can't really say anything about the last 3 picks other than I would prefer to not draft a punter
I agree that the Jets need a slot receiver but I'm not a big fan of Decker's prospects in the NFL. I'm also a big ten guy as well (northwestern) and I've seen two very solid games from Decker against a solid NU secondary but he seems to never be able to stay healthy. Jordan Shipley would be more tempting at this theoretical 3rd round pick
I don't know about Shipley either I'm pretty sure he has a couple of medical redshirts (I know at least one) I'm glad he stayed healthy but having medical redshirts always should send up some redflags
I do not want to see a WR Rd 3 or higher unless it is BPA by a large margin, I just see other needs and we can find our new Stuckey in later rounds.
We did trade our 3rd and 5th for Edwards. I believe our 4th is a conditional pick that we traded to the Eagles for Shepherd. Do to injuries, I do not think that Shepherd met the P.T. requirements for us to lose the pick, so we should keep it. It would surprise me if they trade Rhodes.
Michigan LBs are a smart way to go considering they all do well in the NFL. You sure he's not too heavy to play standing up? Shawn Crable has been hurt most of his career so you can't count him out yet.
You're wrong on Graham, have you seen him play? He's right in the Jet's wheelhouse in late rd 1. An awesome talent that would fit in Rex's system. Go watch some film on Graham and get back to me. Best defensive player in the Big Ten. I'm certain I've seen alot more of Brandon Graham than most on this board. Rarely, I'm wrong about Big Ten player's ability in the NFL. Graham lead the nation in tackles for a loss with 26, also had 10.5 sacks. We already at #25..that's pretty late to me. Cody and Williams will be gone...long gone. Decker would be a perfect slot possession receiver. The Guy had a monster year in 2008..incredible numbers. Edwards, Cotchery and Decker would be a very good WR group. Decker could be Sanchez' 3rd Down guy.
I'm a fan of this. I don't know that much about Graham, but he impressed me when I saw him play. I like a lot of the Safeties in this draft and Burnett is one of them. I think I'd be more inclined to take Nate Allen at 25 and an OLB like George Selvie in the 2nd though. I'd be fine either way.
My biggest problem is I want a 3-4DE taken at the bottom or rd 2. I'm sure one between Jones and Alualu will be there and if we don't take him I'll be pissed! I like Graham and I think he'll be good value if we stay put at #25 (more or less) but I still think this year we have to trade out of the first and get an extra 3 in the process. I'd be happy to trade away rhodes for a 3rd this year and a conditional next year... but I think his replacement can be found in rd 3 or 4... we need a safety ala Jarius Byrd. Leonhard is a solid all round S and Smith is excellent against the run so even if we draft someone who's better is pass pro than the run I'm cool. All in all I think we need 4 picks in the first 5rds.. 5 if we trade Rhodes... and I want to walk away with a: RT,DE,WR,OLB and S if we trade Rhodes. Out of all these position I think OLB is the least important but I'd be ok to address it if we go BPA. Tanny you may go ahead and make my dreams come true
I just watched some more of Graham I am impressed I'm still not 100% chill with him as our first round choice. However, if he was I would really want him playing exclusively at DE I know thats where he played at Michigan. Call me a paranoid due to our Gholston experiment, but if we get a rush linebacker I want to see a guy who really has experience at that position, where they know the responsibilities of an OLB and pass rusher. For the moment I see him exclusively as a DE
Brandon Grahama is not a 3-4 DE, he would play OLB and be a damn good one, get this Gholston nonsense out of your head this guy has a motor and wants to play football. Gholston doesn't.
Good post. People have to move on from Gholston and not worry about another failure. I went on and on before Gholston was drafted that he doesn't have the passion and skillset to be an OLB. Graham has none of Gholston's characteristics. Brandon Graham is a well-rounded football player, he's not perfect, but Graham has shown passion and the ability to be a very effective 3-4 OLB.
Like I said I'm paranoid, if anything I hope Graham does the exact opposite of what I think and he performs amazingly. I'm just saying how I feel now, it might change in the next couple of months If Brandon Graham was selected in the first round (considering my thoughts on him now) Would I be thrilled? No. Would I be happy? Somewhat. Just in my opinion, I feel their are players who would fit the talent+need equation better than Graham. But then again in a few days from now where we pick in the draft will be different and my thought will have changed. Great part about the draft, nothing is cemented
I would love Graham late in the first. He is everything Gholston is not. High motore and plays better than his size and workouts will indicate. The compareson's to Woodly are not all that far off. I agree about Both Cody and Williams being long gone at 25. I would love to see Tate fall to our pick. As much as our staff loved Harvin last year I could see us targeting him. NOt sure about Burnett lastign deep enough into round two, but i'd take him if he did =D
Love getting Graham. Maybe we're overdrafting him, but that doesn't actually matter. It's not like we're hunting down needs here. Brandon Graham is a very good player, and Michigan has been trying their best to help out 3-4 teams these past few years. Burnett I like but don't love. Very good college safety and he was a ballhawk with 14 INTs in college. Decker is alright I guess...Good WR but I think I'd prefer a quicker guy in the slot. Cotchery is already a very good possession WR. Not really a fan of trading Rhodes. His versatility and skillset (plus his size) are ridiculously underrated on this board due to a down year (which wasn't even all down).
If you're looking for a guy who has a lot of experience at linebacker when looking for a 34 OLB in the draft, good luck. I'd say about 90% of the players looked at as potential 34 OLBs are college defensive ends. Hell, the best 34 OLBs in football were pretty much entirely college DEs. Ware, Suggs, Shaun Phillips, the list goes on, hell Calvin Pace was too. There are rare cases where players have come from 34s, but they are few and far between with how little it's run at the college level.
