Smith's a package player and nothing more. I love the way Ryan used him and Ihedigbo last season. Darren Sharper is a possibility. In that PFT report, it sounds like he'd like to play here. He'd only be a stop-gap at the position, but he'd certainly be an upgrade over what we have...plus, we'd be able to draft a mid-round safety to develop under him.
Putting a JAG back there might work out okay, but just imagine what Rex Ryan could do with an absolute playmaker. Actually we don't have to imagine since we've seen what he's done with Ed Reed. Putting a playmaker like Thomas back there could really change our defense massively. Rex Ryan has pretty much been trying to recreate his Baltimore defense here or is at least using it as a blueprint, so I think he'll go for a safety with massive playmaking potential. If Thomas is close, we'd be stupid to not get him.
I vote for C Mock 3 1st Round: Earl Thomas, S, Texas 2nd Round: Cam Thomas, NT, North Carolina 4th Round: Freddie Barnes, WR, Bowling Green 5th Round: Andre Dixon, RB, UCONN 6th Round: Adrian Tracy, 3-4 OLB, William and Mary 7th Round Jeff Byers, OL, Southern Cal Yes that is indeed a shameless combo of the two mocks. But I think this is easily the best Jets mock around, granted its very unrealistic at the top, and possibly a little early for barnes... but I think if things went this way 97% of Jets fans could walk away as happy as possible.
Kiper and McShay are polar opposites on where Thomas is going with their latest mocks. McShay has him at #10 to Jax. Kiper has him at #27 to Dallas. I'd almost rather him go at #10 so that we don't lose half the fanbase to aneurysms when he falls just far enough to get pulled two picks prior to us. Of course if he falls that far, I can see a trade up to get him.
I'm guessing he goes somewhere in between those picks. Somewhere just out of reach of trading up to get him. I can also see trading up if he falls past 25.
Just seeing Earl Thomas being picked by us was almost enough to select the first option. I also love the Cam Thomas pick and I think he could be great coming off the bench for Jenkins and as insurance for Jenkins. I'd still heavily consider addressing the OLB position in that area though. The 2nd draft isn't bad, but I don't see RB as a big enough need to address it in round 1 (has nothing to do with the player).
I'm still against trading up and I doubt E. Thomas falls to us, but if he did I'd have no problem with the Jets taking him. He'd be a steal at that point. But I still think our running backs are more important to the overall success of the team than the safeties. Think back to the AFCC (I understand if you don't want to). That loss had a lot more to do with our running game than our safeties. When we control the clock, we don't need a superstar safety and I think the second mock fills that spot more than adequately. They're both good drafts. But it comes down to wanting to see what Rex can do with Thomas squared or see what Sanchez can do with Mathews and Barnes.
