Most people believe that you must wait three years to grade a draft, so I was just wondering what you guys thought of the 2009 draft. Mark Sanchez, QB, Southern California Round 1, 5th over all Height: 6-3 Weight: 225 The scouts like Sanchez’s arm and accuracy. He is mobile and can make throws on the run. He is supremely confident and has shown he can lead. He has handled the pressure of playing for a national championship contender at U.S.C. and of playing in a large news media market like Los Angeles. So he should be able to handle New York. The only glaring negative is that he made only 16 starts at the college level. Thirteen of them came last season as a redshirt junior. Trojans Coach Pete Carroll had said that Sanchez should have stayed for his final collegiate season. Shonn Greene, RB, Iowa Round 3, 65th over all Height: 5-10 Weight: 227 The Jets gave up three of their four remaining picks on Day 2 to trade up for a tailback from Sicklerville, N.J. Greene lacks outstanding speed, running 40-yard times of 4.62 at the scouting combine and 4.55 at his pro day, and Coach Rex Ryan said he must improve his pass blocking. But he is powerful running between the tackles. He has the ability to break arm tackles and has some elusiveness. Ryan said Greene had great vision. After leaving Iowa to work on his grades at a junior college in 2007, he returned in the sixth spot on the depth chart. He ended up being a full-time starter for the first time and rushing for school records of 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns. He became a consensus first-team All-American and the Doak Walker Award winner as the nation’s top running back. Matt Slauson, G/T, Nebraska Round 6, 193rd over all Height: 6-5 Weight: 316 Slauson was thrilled to be coming to the Jets, where the offensive line coach is his former head coach with Cornhuskers, Bill Callahan. Slauson is not known for his power, but he is known for giving a constant effort and being versatile, having played guard and tackle. He has also been working lately on his snaps. There was some doubt whether he would be drafted or have to try to make a team as a free agent. He could contend for a reserve role. I look @ it as we got three starters out of three picks. Mark Sanchez and Shonn Greene have been very good playoff performers. Obviously, Sanchez has the four road playoff wins. I wasn't happy with the pick at first, but he grew on me especially after consecutive trips to the AFC Championship. Greene had his first 1,000 yard season last year even with the Mangold's injury, Slauson's injury, and WFH retardedness. Matt Slauson has become a decent LG. I am happy with what he has done with the team. I don't think anyone ever expected him to become a starter. If I had to give this three pick draft a grade, I would probably say B+ to A- range.
I would give it a B/B+. I really like Mark as our QB and this teams future and think that Slauson is a quality starter that many here underrate simply because he’s not a Probowler. I have a good feeling about Mark entering his 4th year and I think he will surprise many. Slauson was average with basically one arm and a LT who extremely underachieved and also a 3rd string center for a few games. With time to heal, he should be a quality starter. Shonn Greene is what kept this from being an A because I dont think he’s lived up to expectations. We gave up a good amount of picks and he is still just an average back. He will never be more than that because his skill set limits him to being just average. He is a great #2 and does his most damage in that role; I just dont believe he’s lived up to his workhorse/#1 back expectations. Overall a solid draft. 3 for 3 on starters is great, but so far none of them have been consistently great. We lost depth in this draft too which is another reason it isnt an A. B/B+
I mostly agree with you other than I think Greene can be a very good #1. His great vision makes up for his lack of break away speed. I don't think I have ever seen someone take him down individually. I think he is one of those backs who can really thrive in an offensive scheme like the 49ers and Jets. He had a disappointing season and still finished with over 1,000 yards. A 4.2 average is not bad. If the line plays to potential, he can be a very good back. Greene's success is the key to Mark's success. If Greene plays well, so will Mark. Lots of PA.
I dont know how someone can realistically give this draft anything close to an A I think our best pick in the draft is Slauson Id say a fair grade for this grade is around a B- maybe a C+ because Sanchez can hopefully still become a pretty good QB, and Greene will be a decent middle of the pack back. I can honestly say in retrospect if I could redo our draft, Slauson is the only pick id keep the same
Greene’s vision is not even above average. Why do you think we didnt use him in goal line situations? Because his vision to find those small holes is lacking... And Greene doesnt break many tackles. Its not really an opinion, its a fact, so idk what games you are watching where the 1st contact rarely brings him down... He will never be a very good #1. The only way he’s sees great success is if the OL is top 5 and he’s splitting carries.
I will agree with this for the most part, but looking back at the draft, I dont see who else has really played up to their pick in either draft position of around 5 or 14. At 5, the only player remotely close would be Brian Orakpo who was taken at 13, and at 14 I would NOT rather Josh Freeman in the slightest and besides that, the only player thats sort of played up to their draft position is Brian Cushing the roid user. So looking back at it, and considering the fact that we trade raped Cleveland, I would still probably pick Sanchez. If he was developed correctly and given an offensive coaching staff that built an offense around his strengths and wasnt half retarded, it would be interesting to see where he would be now... As Trent Dilfer said, if you wrote a book about how to not develop a young QB, you could just title it NY Jets.
He very rarely goes down on first contact. I don't know if you're watching the games. Just because someone is not AP doesn't mean he is bad. His vision is very good. If it wasn't good, he would never have any success, because he doesn't have break away speed or an amazing O-line. He takes what he can get by finding holes. That's all he can really do with his speed. He had a decent season despite having a line that underachieved and was hit with injuries. To say he has no greater potential is not fair.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2011/broken-tackles-2010-part-ii So those are the stats. Its not opinion that Greene doesnt break tackles. He just doesnt. He’s not a bulldozer, so dont make him into something he isnt. 8th lowest out of all qualifying RBs... Im not making this up. And his vision isnt “very good”, its barely average. Once again, its proven by the fact that he doesnt play on short yardage situations. You may be complacent with a RB that will just take what he’s given and never make something out of nothing and create a game changing play, but for a ground and pound team, we need more than that. Dont make him into someone he isnt.
Greene is a great #2 but an average #1. If this team had a slightly better RB ahead of him, he would be 10 times for effective, he's excellent at beating up on 2nd half defenses, but doesn't do much more than that. He'd be phenomenal on a team like the Chiefs, Chargers, or Raiders.
LT ran the goal line situations because he was one of the best in the league at it. I'm not trying to make him into something he isn't. I'm just saying that he can be better than you're saying. I'm not much of a stat person, so I didn't even look at the link. I'm going on what I have seen. When I watch him, I see someone who runs the ball hard. I can guarantee you that with a good O-line, he could put up 1,200 yards a year. I am also in favor of bringing in another running back. I'm not a Greene homer by any means. If T-Rich was there @ 16, I would want him more than anything. If Forte or Rice became FAs, I would love them too, but I honestly don't think that RB is a weakness on this team. I'm happy with him so far in his career.
This draft is a B- to me. It will drop down to a C- if Mark can not retain the starting job. On the other hand, if he can eliminate some of his mistakes and produce the same scoring numbers with less mistakes it will jump to an A. Green is an average back that fits a power running mentality and slauson is a adequate starter who showed immense will to play through injury for is team last year. In any draft 3 starters is good. 3 in 3 picks is great. This draft grade will change over the next season or so as Sanchez's place in Jets history becomes more solidified. He will be remembered as a very good qb and a winner or a massive loss on investment that set us back 4+ years at Qb. How ever it turns out determines the final grade.
From the eyeball test I just assumed they were both a little below average and didn't realize they were ranked that low. LT & Greene = 3.7% & 5.0% @ breaking tackles ... WTF
Yep, hard to ground and pound when you do not get yards after contact. Our team was dead last as a whole in breaking tackles... Which is also not good.
Sanchez has to be a good starting QB for this draft to be anything higher than a C+ IMO. He has shown flashes of that, but I don't think anyone should be convinced he is quite yet. The grade is all on how Sanchez plays out.
You shouldnt have even responded if you didnt look at the link... If you arent going to try and see the whole picture, then whats the point? I dont like relying on stats at all, but when it comes to tackles broken, I will definitely trust stats rather than your “eye test”... Ignorance is bliss I guess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_NFL_Draft -- Checking out that draft, I can't believe how wrong I was about Aaron Curry. Really thought he was gonna make a bigger impact for Seahawks. Packers hit two homeruns that day w/ Mathews & Raji. As for the Jets: Sanchez - Incomplete - Not confident giving a grade here because I'm still unsure where the ceiling is. Was expecting a slow start from his lack of games in NCAA. New OC incoming also. Think I'm gonna have to revisit this topic next season. Greene - B-. Think he's good to throw into a RB by committee group. Except for the Steelers, there doesn't seem picks in the 3rd round to me from others that blew me away. Kinda disappointed that after this much time he still doesn't have decent ability to catch and I wish he'd be a better pass blocker. Doesn't have to excel @ everything like Marshall Falk but it would be nice if was more well-rounded. Even if Greene was able to take the pounding of being an every down back, he's lacking the talent/skill to be on the field every down. Slauson - A+. Drafted in the 6th round and starting on the OL. Slauson is NOT pro-bowl but considering where he's drafted & how much he's making the Jets did an incredible job with this pick. With turnstile-Hunter and D'Brick having bad years, Mangold missing games & Vlad not ready to step up, fans should be more appreciative of this guy.
I give it a C+ right now. When you have a 3 pick draft, all 3 picks better be hits. And while all 3 have been solid contributors, none have lived up to their potential the way we had hoped.
The 2009 draft is bordering on a disaster at this point. If Sanchez doesn't make it with the Jets that draft comes down to a rotational runningback and a below average starting offensive lineman who will only be a plus as a backup. That's the kind of stuff disasters are made out of a few years down the road. Throw in 2008 with just one piece left in place in Keller and you get a really sorry picture. If Sanchez proves out the Jets will be ok but if he doesn't 2008/2009 are going to bite us really hard in the ass along about 2013.
I hate to paint a target on my head in my first post, but that draft might go down as one of the worst in team history. When you draft a quarterback in the first round, much less in the top five overall, that's supposed to be your franchise guy. That's supposed be your leader for at least a decade. Four years in and we already have a controversy. And if he doesn't improve this year, its gonna get serious. Don't get me wrong, I'm pulling for Sanchez, but as of right now id call that pick a bust. You could say the same shit about Greene. Second round's extremely high for a running back in today's league. Especially since we gave up picks to get him. Im with the guy above me, at best Greene's part of a RB by committee club. He's not a bellcow back. Really I see him as more of a Michael Bush to our non-existent DMF. A back up thats good enough to step in if the 1 gets hurt. I remember being STOKED after that draft. Rex's first year and we got our franchise QB and star back, not to mention a killer defense. 3 years later, and our top 3 picks they're really starters by default at this point. i could easily see McKnight having a breakout year and winding up with more yards than Greene, getting him tossed to the bench. I don't want even wanna think about could happen with the QB situation. But yeah looking back, unless Greene and Sanchez drastically pull their shit together, its bust city man.
