The Jet's need players to step in now, not stop gaps and role players. IMO, the first 4 players could be starting day 1. The Jets will have a new OC and Sanchez isn't going anywhere, so let's get him some protection and weapons. The Offense is going to be the focus of this draft but not in Round 1. I would have loved to draft DeCastro, but his stock is on the rise and we might lose out. ROUND 1 WHITNEY MERCILUS, DE/OLB, Illinois.....A terror rushing the QB, you can't stop him. Has a good motor and is so quick. IMO,our biggest need on the team next to a solid RT. Jet's get a big player that makes plays and keeps him from going to New England or Baltimore. Maybin is a situational player, Mercilus is built for more reps. ROUND 2 MATT REYNOLDS, OT, BYU.....A perfect RT in the NFL. Could have declared last year and stayed at BYU. Excellent pass protector that has quick feet and doesn't let rushers burn him. Needs to work on getting a little stronger in the rushing game, but not a real weakness. Could step in right now and play. ROUND 3 KEVIN ZEITLER, OG, WISCONSIN.....Everyone knows the Badgers have always had solid O-Lineman. Zeitler may have been their best lineman.....even with Wagner & Konz. DeCastro wasn't an option, Zeitler could be just as good in the NFL. Solid player that equal plays the run and pass very well, very smart player. Zeitler may not last to mid/late Rd 3, we have to move up. Zeiter goes to LG and Slauson moves to RG next to the rookie Reynolds. Slauson had a great year and is the most underrated Jet's O-lineman. ROUND 4 BJ CUNNINGHAM, WR, MICHIGAN STATE.....I won't take Cunningham out of any of my NY Jet mocks, he's my favorite WR in this draft for our offense....don't want to Jinx it. Perfect #2 WR!!! ROUND 5 BRANDON TAYLOR, S, LSU.....Watching LSU's secondary, especially later in the season, Taylor was making a lot of plays. Started slow but has come on. ROUND 6 ISAIAH PEAD, RB, CINCINNATI[......Great runner that has great hands out of the backfield. LT is probably gone and we need another player on the roster...Greene, McKnight, Powell & Pead would be solid depth. Greene could use some competition in training camp...Powell and Pead will push him. ROUND 6 JAKE STONEBURNER, TE, OHIO STATE....See ya Mulligan. Very good receiver from a weak QB. Solid blocker.
Excellent mock. Nails everything we need and would set us up great for the future. I'd almost like to double dip at WR if we could and forget a S. Rather grab one in FA over any late round guys. But I'm assuming that you believe we will sign someone in FA this offseason correct?
With the way things are finishing this year, odds are that we will have a shot in the 1st round at some guys we thought we'd be missing out on. However, we will miss out on 1 of the top 3 OT (Reiff from Iowa will probably be taken just before us). Vontaze Burflict/Michael Floyd will certainly be available & maybe even David DeCastro to make things interesting. Some guys are comparing Whitney Mercilus to DeMarcus Ware............I'll take it. I've just become very skittish of guys going from full-time hand in the dirt college DEs to up & down 3-4 rush OLBs (did someone say they saw a Ghost?). Great stuff WW85, ------- but very surprised you think PEAD will go in the 6th --- even w/that knee injury. He'll be gone by round 4.
I don't agree with addressing OLB in the first round, and I think the Jets would be over drafting Mercilus in the 1st round. If he is available in the second round, then I think the Jets should take him, but he isn't a first rounder to me. I like Reynolds, but he is 25, and for that very reason I would not draft him if I was the Jets. I would rather see the Jets draft Levy Adcock with that same pick if they choose to pick an OT. Adcock is a great pass blocker, and an average run blocker. He seems like a decent RT that is ready to start from day 1. I would love to take Zeitler in the 3rd round, but I really am not sure at this point if he will be there in the 3rd round. He might be, but he also might not be. He is good enough to move up to the late 2nd round or Early first round. I like Lucas Nix as a pick at OG if Zeitler isn't there. I think taking Cunningham in round 4 is an over draft by 1 round. I think Jeff Fuller will slip to the 4th round, and I would pounce on him there. Taylor in Round 5 is another over draft, IMO. I think he is a round 6 or early round 7 player. I wouldn't hesitate to draft Pead in round 6, even with having a lot of RB's on the roster, but I think he is a round 5 player, or maybe even late round 4 player. Stoneburner isn't coming out of the draft, but he if did, he would be an absolute steal in the seventh round.
Appreciate if you hit the enter key every so often, it's tough to read your post. Mercilus is the best pure pass rusher in this draft. I expect his combine #s to vault him into a mid Round 1 pick. Stoneburner hasn't decided yet and he was very upset about the one year bowl ban. He will make his decision after the Gator Bowl. You under estimate Cunningham, I've seen his entire body of work and H.S. career, he's light years better than an overrated Nick Toon.
Adcock walks like a duck --- he looks very heavy on his feet. Plus that beer gut he has just doesnt scream athleticism to me. Even if he available in the 3rd round, I'd say PASS.
There we go, its readable! Why would we not want to address one of our biggest weaknesses in round one? There should be a couple very good options available
Good job for a mock coming out prior to FA. It hits on all the areas needed and player values seem to fit. Not getting a WR till the 4th hurts us a little, but great job.
I would either address the need in Free Agency or stick with what you have. Maybin and Westermann can provide good enough pass rush from that OLB position, and if the Jets really want to, they can bring back Thomas to play the run. I think that the only player at OLBworth taking in the 15-20 range, where the Jets will be drafting is Courtney Upshaw, and even then I would rather draft some offensive line help. The defense has been very good this year, and it really doesn't need much upgrade except for safety, IMO. The OLB position is passable for at least another year. The RT spot is our biggest weakness. Wayne Hunter is going to get Sanchez killed like what happened to Theismann. Sanchez might not be great, but you can't afford to get your QB possibly injured, by an incompetent douchebag, who has no business starting at any position.
I agree with the fact that we NEED OL help, but OLB is a clear need and has been for a few years now. Maybin is a good situational passrusher and we all know what we say about his weight and an offseason. Westerman is a decent all around player, but is nothing special. Pace is most likely gone after next season so a very good pass rusher is desperately needed. Relying on FA to solve this hole is not smart. The only semi realistic option I see is Cliff Avril. Mario Williams is going to cost a TON, which we dont have. Signing Avril could mean we pass on a much needed safety. So drafting an OLB in the 1st or 2nd round is probable and a smart move. BTW, really like Cunningham- could be a very good #2 for us and because this class is so deep at WR, we could get him in the 4th which would let us address other areas
The Jets right now have approximately 8.8 million in cap room right now. Lets say you cut Moore, Hunter and Smith, and don't renew the contracts of LT and Bryan Thomas. Right now the cap value of each of them is. Bryan Thomas: 3.7 mil LT: 1.325 mil Eric Smith: 1.5 mil Brandon Moore: 4.460 mil Wayne Hunter: 2.5 mil Total Cap Value: 13.485 mil Add on the 8.8 million in cap space and the Jets have 22.285 million to theoretically spend if they make those moves. Even if they don't cut Moore, they will almost certainly make those other moves, and they would have 17.825 million to spend. There are a couple other guys that might not be back next year, so there are a lot of possibilities, but the Jets most likely will have the money to go after a OLB and Safety. Mario Williams will want around 14,000,000. Cliff Avril will want around 4,000,000 or 5,000,000. Laron Landry, who is the top safety available will want around 5,000,000. Theoretically, the Jets could go after Williams and Landry, and still have money to spend on some other needs like a Veteran OT to give us some depth, or some Linebacker depth, or some more safety depth, or whatever other needs the Jets have. I know what the scenario I just did is a long shot, but its certainly possible.
Pretty good, Taylor is an interesting player. He was solid his first few years on campus but never really showed anything special, but he really took off this year. Also Taylor can cover people, but he is only 6 feet so he doesnt have great size The running back pick makes more sense if Tomlinson doesnt return, though I probably would have used that pick on the defensive side of the ball
I'm very on board for Reynolds, Zeitler, & Cunningham rounds 2-4. Mercilus is a question mark though. All the stuff you said about him was right, but I'm not sure about his ability to do anything other then rush the passer in this system. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly confident either Upshaw or Burfict will drop to where the Jets will wind up going, and I think they'd rank higher on my wish list if they were all available at once.
Maybin and westerman don't provide consistant enough pressure which is exactly why we are loooking at a rush linebacker. One would hope in a first round pick we can find a player that is adpet at both pass rushing and settign the edge on run plays, somethign that Maybin sinply will never be able to do and Westerman is less than average at. As for a RT, taht can aslo be addressed in FA and probly for alot less than a 34 OLB can. Also its something that can be addressed in the second round with a guy like Reynolds as was done in this mock. Just because someone is not taken in the first does not rule them out as a day one starter.
Harrison Smith> Brandon Taylor! Can see Cunningham in round 5 so a Smith in round 4 and Cunningham in round 5 would be marvelous.
I based selecting Mercilus on the assumption Upshaw would be gone, if he was available I wouldn't hestitate to take him over Mercilus. I've cooled some on Burfict, our needs at OLB and RT are critical. Also, while Burfict is a model citizen off the field, he continues to be out of control on the field and the NFL isn't going to tolerate his on field behavior. Burfict needs to grow up and control his emotions on the field. No question he's a huge talent...risk/reward.
Yep. He was doing good with this early on and he has cut down on the nonsense penalties but he is still playing way too aggressive for his own good so much that he takes himself out of plays. He pulled a vanishing act late in the year for ASU. Then again Erickson is an awful talent coach so who knows what Burfict could be under the right personel(Rex Ryan) Burfict might fall out of round 1 pending on who enters the draft. Had Te'o stood in the draft, Burfict would have been an early round 2 lock IMHO. He needs a huge combine to shoot himself back to round 1.
I don't see Cunningham in Rd 5, but you never know. I like Taylor's upside better than Smith. Taylor has really come on this season. What's up with your boy Tyler Eifert is he declaring?? I think he's a hellva player.
Eifert should not but he has the makings of being an Jared Cook esque player. Hell of a threat and great hands just needs to work a bit more on the blocking. Could be a round 3 grab if he declares this year and a round 2 grab next year. He isn't Kyle Rudolph(Complete package TE) but he is quicker than Rudolph and shiftier. Wanna put him on the Aaron Hernandez level but I don't think he can match up size wise so Jared Cook could be the better comparison. EDIT: Ok Eifert is bigger than Hernandez......the things you never know.
