Ok we got Conner, he'll save us from Terminator, bla bla bla... looking back at the draft and at the needs of this team I'm pretty pissed A. Jones and Cam Thomas aren't on this team. I think they would've been great for our team and we could have really beefed up our DL. Plus being on a team with Shaun Ellis and Kris Jenkins would've really helped them (veteran leadership). Oh and most important of all, in the 5th round!? That's a bargain!!! Oh well... time will tell I guess. Any of you have the same feelings (about other players as well)? PS I'm not saying Conner is a bad pick, just that I thought there were better options...
In situations like that it's almost always something that the teams know and random people don't. I remember a few years back Brandon Siler fell all the way to the 7th round and everyone was baffled, even the ESPN analysts. Turns out he'd failed some drug tests and it never hit the media. Not saying those players wouldn't have been good options, because they would have, but there could be a lot more to these stories. And Connor should be a legitimate player for the Jets, which is all one could ask from a Rd 5 or later pick.
A power running team with a 39 year old full back drafted a back-up long term replacement. He's going to play this year and be a big part of our future. It was a very good pick for round 5. There is a reason why playes like Cam Thomas fall. Yes he's big and seems stout at the point of attack, but the scouts have access to medical records and personal interviews that we do not. Getting pissed over a 5th rounder is silly because we know so little about why so many teams passed on him so many times.
^ good point. Connor is going to be a ST guy and a FB. He is going to do a lot for this team in more than one way. I can see him getting carries as well. With Rex and Schotty, anything can happen. Those who fall usually don't pan out. The 5th round isn't a place for great success in the draft anyway. The difference here is that FBs normally go in the later rounds while depth JAGs are found at the other positions.
When the only legitimate rant you have is regarding how the team used its fifth round pick, you know the team is in really good shape
I was totally dumbfounded that we didn't take Thomas in the 4th, and instead went with McKnight. I thought for sure when we traded up, it was for Thomas. Then we did it again in the 5th for Conner, and again, I couldn't believe it. Looking back, I still would have preferred Thomas over at least Conner. But that's not to say Conner, or even McKnight, won't be great picks. In fact, after watching Conner catch the ball at the Jets mini-camp, I'm feeling very good about him as a receiving option for Sanchez down the road. Hopefully, McKnight can fill Leon's role well this season. If we happen to get Douglas back, I think we'll be good until 2011.
At first I was expecting Cam Thomas to be the pick and was a little confused by the Conner pick, mainly because I didn't know who the hell he was. Now I really don't care. I'm happy with Conner and I think the ST part is an added bonus. Even though it isn't a high profile position, we were able to get the best player at that position in the whole draft. Not bad in the fifth round. I think we'll be able to tell at the end of the year how important it would have been to get another D lineman. Maybe we have someone step up and fill the void. Maybe not.
Every time I see this name, I can only think of everyone's man-crush on Arizona Cardinals bench all-star Gabe Watson.
Good points. Any player from round 4-7 that can positively contribute and make an impact is a good selection. John Conner is probably the safest 5th round pick in the draft, and he played a position that the Jets needed to address with Richardson hitting 39. As far as players like Cam Thomas and others falling into the later rounds, I will give Tannenbaum and our scouts the benefit of the doubt. I don't know how many scouts the Jets employ, but I'd bet we have dozens of guys watching all of these prospects very closely. They also spend time with the players in private interviews and workouts that guys on ESPN don't see. Also, Kiper and all those draft experts have to look at 100s of players each year. They can't possibly spend as much time looking at each player as a team's scouting department can.
Wow. I was scouring for vids of him right after the draft, but came up pretty empty. This just got me excited.
Give me a few minutes to dig up an old thread - I found a lot of great clips of him while he was at Kentucky.
Here's one of my posts from around draft time: This thread is also a great read - a lot of good discussion going on. http://forums.theganggreen.com/showthread.php?t=56218
That was my thought as well.... didn't he fall from projected 1st rounder to UDFA? You know a guy is garbage when that happens.
Damn that block was nasty. I am a fan of this pick. I'm still not sold on McKnight but what's the point of bitchin now, they're Jets and I'm rooting for them to be superstars!
