Without any knowledge of roster cuts/additions before the draft, if Mike Iupati and Golden Tate are both on the board at #29, who would you take? I've been all about building the trench depth (either OL or DL) early in the draft, but I'm really liking Tate in this Offense, especially with the uncertainty of Leon's explosiveness when he returns. I think Tate gives that big-play capability, and Schotty would love his new toy.
As long as you're strong in the trenches, you'll always field a competitive team. Although Tate does have good hands.
Wow, really? Is he graded that much higher at that spot? I have no qualms if that's the case. Also, would Iupati have to be groomed? Or would he immediately replace (thus, upgrade) one of the current G positions?
He could step in right away. If we have him on the bench early and bring him into the starting lineup later, or even next season, I wouldn't be too mad about it though. Iupati is a solid, long-term investment.
As well as Brandon Moore's played, he'd be instantly replaced by the much more athletic Mike Iupati. I consider Damien Woody to be the weak link on the line, but Iupati should play guard.
The Jets have been extremely lucky the O-line has been injury free. Face it, our depth at O-line is mediocre. Faneca and Woody's best days are behind them and adding a stud like Iupati would keep Sanchez and the offense in great shape.
^ Even if Iupati doesn't start, he'd add great depth and obviously be a future replacement, ready to step in without a drop-off when that time arrives.
I'd almost hope that Iupati would be able to be a reserve for a year (take Wayne Hunter's role though most likely) just so the Jets can teach him about different spots on the line. That way, when he's starting his 2nd year, he'd also be the guy we'd look to in case D'Brickashaw went down. To me, the best backup Left Tackle option was always a guy who was already a starter, be it at guard or Right Tackle.
I was just going to say something like this, at worst he could fill Wayne Hunter's role, provide great depth, and move into a starting job in at least a year, and hopefully never look back.
I'd love for the Jets to make those picks. Even the alternate picks look pretty good. I guess that would be the best case scenario. I'm not sure I would want to draft OL in round 1 and not have him start right away.
He'll only be here one more year (no way we keep hin in 2011 with 8.4 mill salary and only 1.6 guaranteed) might as well make him get some rests in those games where we've built a comfortable lead!
I disagree with the notion that Woody is the weak link on the line. I'd say he's an old link on the line. Iupati is an instant NFL starter no matter where he goes in the NFL but for that reason, the Jets may pass him over for a need rather than a luxury pick. If we drafted Iupati, he would likely be brought in as Faneca's eventual replacement. I see Faneca giving the team one more year before hanging up his cleats because of the potential. Iupati would serve well in spot duty and in case of injury in that case. Again, not a necessity but a luxury. Though, I'd love to have him. As for Woody, we do need to seek his eventual replacement and I think we need to this year. An offensive line that knows one-another and can predict each other's movements is a necessity to the success of a team. Woody is a great right tackle for us and has done well this year, but we need to anticipate his retirement as well.
look at it this way, if we go on to draft Iupati, we have 4 of our 5 OL positions under the age of 30, with Moore having a solid 3+ years left in him. It also means our entire left side of the OL would likely be together (and elite I might add) for about 8 years (that makes D'brick and Mangold 34, and 33 respectively. So yeah I think thats an investment worth having.
I don't think so. Their interior line started to suck when Chris Kemoeatu got injured. I think they should take a left tackle and move Max Starks over to right tackle. USC's Charles Brown is a real possibility.
