And you wouldn't sign up for that in a NY minute after all the sucky QBs the Jets have had? I sure would.
Oh, I'm not suggesting I wouldn't jump all over him on the 3 pick. Just that he's not the obvious 1 pick in a draft that has Jadaveon Clowney and a few other superstar prospects around. He's Matt Ryan to Jake and Chris Long.
I can see Ebron in green and white already ! Baby Jimmy Graham'ing .. He's the type that make a QB better.. gotta get him first round he'll most likely be available at 18 unless someone jumps for him. Players like that are rare nowadays
This is probably right but only if the Jets adequately support Geno next year. A vet would be a better choice if the weapons are going to keep dropping out like they did this year.
I wouldn't call Ebron a " baby Jimmy Graham''. Amaro has more traits similar to Graham than Ebron. I'm not dissing Ebron, he's a great player, but Amaro is a more athletic TE in the Graham mold in what he can do catching the ball and getting downfield.
The reason that the great pass-catching TE's of recent fame have helped their teams out so much is that they were not 1st round picks. When you can add an impact player in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th round it makes a big difference for the team because that's on top of the 1st rounder. Jimmy Graham - 3rd round (#95) in 2010. Rob Gronkowski - 2nd round (#42) in 2010. Jordan Cameron - 4th round (#102) in 2011. The idea that taking somebody like Jace Amaro in the 1st round is going to dramatically help the Jets is just that: an idea. He's much more likely to come in and do well but not improve the team very much in the process. You have to get value on your picks, and spending a 1st round pick on a position that is a complementary position is not a particularly good way to do that. If Amaro turns out to be a great two-way player, helping both the passing game and the run game, like Tony Gonzalez did for KC in the late 90's then you have a different equation in place. If Amaro is Jimmy Graham then spending a 1st round pick on him is not going to help the Jets as much as we think it will.
You can spin it any way you want. If Amaro steps in and is as productive of a player he was in College he will be worth the 18th pick. Getting value for your picks is easier said than done. The Saints lucked out getting a player of Jimmy Graham's caliber in Rd 3, it's "Monday Morning QBing". If the other 31 teams knew Graham would be one of the best TE's in the NFL he would have been a 1st Rd pick, even the Saints didn't know.
You can't point to the 1st round TE's that have made a huge impact in the NFL after Gonzalez in 1997. They just aren't there. I'd argue that this is because you need to be a Hall of Fame caliber player to make an impact at a complementary position in the NFL. Taking a good player at a complementary position in the 1st round is just giving up value on the overall roster. What the Jets should do is get the best player available on the 18 pick and go hunting for a TE in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounds. They should do a better job of mining talent in those rounds than they have done historically. Reaching for a TE in the 1st because the scouting department is incapable of finding a valuable one in the later rounds is a mistake. It's possible that Ebron is worth the 18 pick. That's because he is seen as a superior player across the board with some minor flaws that need to be worked out. It's nearly inconceivable that Amaro is. That's because he's a WR in TE's clothing at this point. He's not the whole package and TE's taken league-wide in that range over the last fifteen years or so haven't been worth the pick. Tony Gonzalez was clearly worth the 13 pick. Nobody taken above the 20 pick at TE has been worth the selection since Gonzalez. It just isn't a position that you get impact out of at that point in the dracft.
You're wrong, Vernon Davis I don't think you can look at one certain player, TE or not, and say he isn't worth a 1st Rd pick because other TEs have failed in Rd 1. Most uneducated Jet fans will shit the bed or jump off the balcony at RCMH if Ebron's name is called. I think you have to look at each player individually, not their position, Vernon Davis was a very high pick. More than half the players drafted in Rd 1 most years weren't worth being drafted that early. At least half of the WRs drafted in Rd 1 in recent memory, were either busts or not worth the value when they were drafted. I don't think the Jet's OC looks at the TE as a "complementary" position as you called it. Amaro is a Wr in a TE's body, the new NFL. Looking for a Tight End in a later Rd (3 & later) this year probably won't upgrade the position over Cumberland, Jimmy Graham's don't grow on trees. I will agree Tight Ends usually don't grade as high as other positions when it comes to ranking them, but there are exceptions.
Vernon Davis wasn't worth the 6 pick. He's a big name but his accomplishments don't match the name. He's averaged less than 50 catches a year in the NFL. That's a shade more than 3 catches a game. He had one big year in 2009 that skews things some but he's mostly been a complimentary player. He's been to two Pro Bowls in 8 years. That's not what you are looking for out of a top 6 pick, particularly at a complimentary position.
I agree with some of what you say, but do disagree in a few areas. I wouldn't say that Vernon Davis hasn't made an impact in the NFL or for the 49ers. Has he put them over the top? No, but one player at any position, except possibly QB can't do that. Traditionally, TE has been a complimentary position and one could find excellent TEs in the middle rounds. A large part of that, however, is due to the fact that most of them were used primarily as blockers, perhaps mostly because the NFL was a run first league. Even with a few who excelled as receivers like Todd Christensen, John Mackey, Kellen Winslow, Mike Ditka, Shannon Sharpe, Antonio Gates and Ozzie Newsome, most were considered complimentary players. That has changed, however. TEs are now considered a huge weapon in passing attacks, and great safety valves for their QBs (especially young QBs). While I'm not that high on Amaro, and not sure if I'd want the Jets to take him, I don't think he'd be a "reach". Everything I've read about him has him rated as a middle-to-lower 1st round prospect. He could rise after the Combine. As I see more of his play, my opinions may change, but for now, I agree that Ebron is the superior prospect of the two. There's no question that the Jets Scouting Dept. needs to do a better job of finding talent in the middle and later rounds. That doesn't mean that there are TEs in the middle rounds of this draft that could be very effective for the Jets however. Feodorowicz might be one. Arthur Lynch has looked very good in some games for GA, but exceedingly pedestrian in others. He particularly came up small for the Bulldogs at the end of this season dropping two passes at the end of the game that hit him right in the hands. The Jets need a serious upgrade at both TE and WR. Getting Ebron or possibly Amaro and then a Beckham, Landry or other excellent WR prospect in the 2nd and/or 3rd rounds could work much better for the Jets than taking Lee, one of those other WRs and then Feodorowicz. I know they're probably going to have to have a lot of luck as well as acumen in evaluating talent to come out of this draft with anywhere near the talent infusion the team needs. If Ebron is as good as I think he is, he would be an impact player for the Jets, both in their passing attack and their rushing attack. No longer would opponents know that the Jets were going to have to bring in another OL (jumbo TE) to effectively run the ball in short yardage, or that when said jumbo TE was in the lineup, opposing Ds didn't have to worry about covering them. That will make the Jets offense less predictable and more successful.
The thing about TE's is that the NFL has changed a lot in the last decade and a half. Before that finding a TE who could catch 50 to 60 balls a year and block was a pretty big deal. They were a complimentary player but they complimented everything you were trying to do on offense. Nowadays it's not enough to catch 50 to 60 passes and block well. That just makes you a complimentary player, albeit a good one. Now to be a major factor in an NFL offense you have to catch 75+ passes and block well. Either that or you better be an an extraordinary offensive talent. Like Gronk extraordinary. If you're just going to be Vernon Davis good you're not going to have a major impact on your team's offense most years. You won't hurt them but you're not going to be the reason the team is going to the playoffs.
You said "nobody was worth a pick 20th or higher since Gonzo"....that's so wrong it isn't even debatable....so give it up. Vernon Davis is and was every bit worth a Top 10 pick. Davis is an elite TE, injuries have caused some of his #s to not be as high. Davis is one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL.
