LOL I am seeing the light. Its a rare sight I know. I will be critical if Zeke Motta becomes a Jet though. Might be the worst safety I have ever seen play in my life.
I think it's going to be a call on the best value available at three positions, LB, WR, and OT. Wherever they see a good fit, they'll go.
I agree the top 3 needs LB, WR, OT. I just don't see too much value for a RT in the late teens, if the Jets just miss the playoffs. Reiff is probably the only OT that would be available. If I had to guess right now.....Burfict, Upshaw, Te'o would be the top 3 targets. Upshaw's versatility makes him very desirable in the Jet's scheme. I hope we don't draft a WR in Rd 1, with all the talent available in Rd2/3/4.
Burfict and never look back, although Upshaw would be tempting. Bart Scott is about done. I'll take my chances on getting a OT in Rd 2, like Matt Reynolds.
I'd tend to agree. Burfict has the chance to be an impact talent and has speed and intensity sorely lacking in our LB Corps. Him and Harris would be deadly together. What I gather from Upshaw is that he is solid but not the impact pass rusher we'd be looking for. Reiff is good too, but RT is the easiest position out of the 3 to fill in free agency. As WW said, WR is ridiculously deep this year in the draft and we'd be better served looking that way in Round 2 or even 3.
I strongly doubt that we enter the 2012 draft with the holes we currently have. Common sense and crossed fingers say that we're not going to add yet another free agent wide receiver, so I'm guessing that Tannenbaum is going to push hard to fill holes at tackle, safety, tight end and outside linebacker in the off-season. I'm always an o-line guy, so I gotta say the priority is on the right side of the offensive line. I don't feel comfortable going into the 2012 draft needing to draft a right tackle, especially with an aging Brandon Moore entering a contract year. I think the smart move is to shore up that side of the line with somebody like Kareem MacKenzie. If you do that, you can draft a guard or a tackle on the second or third day to take over on the right side in 2013 (hopefully). More importantly, the Jets can then trade up to get their marquis wide out or linebacker in the first round without screwing themselves.
Something about letting McKenzie go in his prime, seeing him win a SB with the Giants and bringing him back for the twilight of his career doesn't sit right with me. I'd rather go young with an early pick.
I'm not married to McKenzie, but with the current state of the offense and more specifically the offensive line, I definitely don't feel like we can gamble on an unproven player. I don't think we can accommodate a learning curve at the position. When we needed to replace Faneca, we gambled: Slauson or Ducasse, cross your fingers. That was a sound gamble, because we had four other outstanding linemen. When we needed to replace Woody, we gambled: Hunter or Ducasse. Still a pretty sound gamble, since Hunter demonstrated some ability last year. Riskier, though, with only three outstanding linemen. Now we need to replace Wayne Hunter. Brandon Moore's skills are diminishing as he enters a contract year and we've got no good prospects on the bench. I don't like a gamble here. I want a proven commodity.
I see what you're saying. If we found a suitable RT in FA and drafted a guard to groom for RG it would be optimal.
Keep in mind if we draft a RT we could kick out Hunter as the 6th OL... a job he's excelled at over the years. Also I think Turner should get a shot to replace Moore... and if he doesn't he too can be an additional linemen. Man how I miss the good old days of the jumbo packages... (and also see Mulligan on the bench or, even better, another team)
Yeah, I just think filling that hole gives us the versatility in the later first we need. I'm still a die-hard o-line guy... I just don't like being forced to be. If we sign a good tackle and all our prime targets are off the board by the time we pick (hopefully at the tail end of the first), I wouldn't mind seeing the Jets draft DeCastro out of Stanford and trade away Brandon Moore while he still has value. The o-line gets younger, we've improved the offense, we've gained something for a player we wouldn't be willing to re-sign a year later and we've drafted for value, not need.
I was trying to find a decent reason for the Jets to consider drafting David DeCastro. But it would be harder to get anything in a trade involving Brandon Moore.
We get nothing for him in 2013. I don't know the man they call Meat personally, but Brandon Moore is a fool if he doesn't demand a trade or a new contract before the 2012 season starts. The man's been a top tier guard for years, he's been underpaid throughout his entire career and earning potential will only diminish with time. I'm sure there are a few teams out there willing to cough up a mid-round pick and sign Moore to an extension something shy of what we gave Faneca. I'm not saying this is going to happen. Maybe Meat loves New York and hates money. Maybe he wants to retire a Jet. But I could see a variety of plausible scenarios that involve Moore playing for a different team in 2012.
But now in that argument, you are making a strong case to keep him. B. Moore's status/future is very tricky. I agree w/you -- the guy has been a top tier guard for years. And we have him on the cheap ---- so it would be foolish NOT to keep him. It doesnt help that DeCastro has been mocked in many drafts going in the 20s of the first round --- right about where we would be.
In regards to Moore, I think he has been fairly iffy himself this year. Now granted the last few weeks he has certainly picked it up big time. Probably because he is finally getting healthy from the injury that caused him to miss almost all of TC. But he won't be getting near Faneca money with more than half of this years performances would have him grade out as an average guard. He will be able to make far more money than we can offer him, but he wont be setting any kind of record deals.
