I don't think drafting Wilson was drafting BPA no matter what Tanny said, I think Rex was in love with the idea of having three press corners pin the field to free up safeties and LBs for his jailbreak blitzes.
Wilson was drafted because Rex could not shut down Peyton Manning in the second half of the AFC championship game no matter how much pressure he tried to apply. Rex probably figured that the best CB on Boise State had seen all kind of spreads in college and would adapt well to facing the spread in the NFL. Then the Jets got the Steelers instead in the AFC championship game. They could have gotten the Ravens and the story would have been the same. You don't win games at CB. You win games upfront and then if the CB's don't fall down on the job they stay won.
It was an overreaction from Rex/Tanny to respond to the AFC Championship loss the past year. Not as egregious, but similar to the reactionary move of drafting a kicker with your first pick after your kicker misses 2 key field goals in a playoff game. Now to be fair to Kyle Wilson, at least he's still on the Jets from the 2010 draft class: Kyle Wilson, Vlad Ducasse, Joe McKnight, John Conner.
Drafting Wilson and trading for Cromartie were moves made after the AFC championship game loss to Indy. But Wilson was not the BPA and we passed on needs to take the perceived BPA. My point is that it's okay to take a player based on need.
I don't disagree with either of these posts, just wanted to add that in the previous season Rex had success with Strickland covering the slot against New England, busting those bubble screens, until Belichick sent an OL (I think it was Mankins) to headhunt Strickland and basically take him out for the season. Rex needed a dedicated slot man to cover Welker. That never really materialized, although Wilson has become a decent nickel corner.
the BPA approach always makes sense to me, especially when you have as many areas to improve on as the Jets do.. the secondary needs a couple of upgrades, our receiving options could use a couple of upgrades, our Oline could use a high quality upgrade, there isn't a TE on our roster who can block, our LB corp doesn't have much depth, etc.. I'm totally fine drafting BPA early, and then hone in on needs after the first couple rounds have passed. If the scouts have a similar grade on say a CB and WR in round 1, i would go CB though. It's just a little harder to find starting quality CB's that can handle press.
I understand your thinking and you have some good points, but I disagree. Following are my reasons why. First, there's no disputing that the Jets need a ball-hawking FS. The problem is that there aren't any truly great ones in this draft, and I'm not all that sure that a Clinton-Dix or Pryor will wind up being all that much better than a Dion Bailey or Brock Vereen, and the latter two will be available in probably the 3rd - 4th round area, and Vereen possibly lower. I also doubt that Clinton-Dix or Pryor will be the BPA at #18 and I wouldn't want the Jets to reach. Second, imo they've already drafted too many 1st round CBs over the last 5 years or so. Rex needs to be able to put together a top-flight D without having two first round CBs. What I think the Jets need at CB is a ball-hawking type CB, and neither Revis, nor Milliner, nor Wilson have been that. That's why I like Gilbert a lot, but I doubt he'll be available at #18. I don't think Dennard is that type of player, and don't think Fuller or Verrett would be the BPA at #18, and am not sure that either of them have the ball skills I want in a CB, either. Third, I think you glossed over the LB positions too much in the making of a great D. The jury is still out on Coples and I'm not a big fan of his. I think the Jets need a faster, truer OLB. Davis is hardly proven yet either, and this is probably Harris' last season as a starter, and maybe his last with the team. The Jets need a speedy LB either at OLB or ILB who excels at coverage. I think there's a good chance that the BPA at #18 could be a LB, and that shouldn't be ignored. Fourth, and perhaps more importantly, it doesn't matter how good the D is, they can't stay on the field forever. The Jets have to develop their offense. That has been clearly proven over the last several seasons. They need to be able to score more points and sustain drives to keep the D more rested. They also need to help their young QB develop, and to do that, he needs some weapons at receiver. Decker and possibly Ford will help, but they need additional help and speed at WR and a 2-way TE. I think the smarter GMs draft to the strength of the draft. This draft is strong and deep at WR, OLB and CB. While they could pick up a very good WR prospect in the 2nd-4th rounds, they may not get one who is a perfect fit for the WCO with YAC ability and speed. They have that opportunity in the first round with Cooks, Beckham and Lee, and I think they would be very foolish to pass up that opportunity even to take a stud pass rusher, and I've been a strong and vocal advocate of getting a stud pass rusher for 10 years or more. Just as they can add a quality WR prospect in the 2nd-4th rounds, they can also add quality OLB and CB prospects in those rounds. They may also have the opportunity to draft their future LT or RT in this draft, and if so, it would be very hard to pass that opportunity up. I think for the Jets to be truly competitive going forward, they HAVE to address the offense this draft. Their D should be even better this coming season than it was last even if they don't add another player because Richardson, Wilkerson, Coples, Milliner and Allen, should continue to improve, they'll have Barnes back, and hopefully Davis will continue to improve. The only starter they lost was Cromartie, and with the addition of Patterson and perhaps another FA CB following the draft or TC or a mid-round CB in the draft, and the D should be at least as good as last season, if not significantly better. If they add a pass-rushing OLB threat, it could take a huge step forward even if they didn't address the FS or CB positions any further. The offense on the other hand, can dramatically improve with improved blocking on the OL, continued growth and development by Geno and the additions of Decker, Johnson, Ford, perhaps some additional OL help, and another high round WR and TE in the draft.
We haven't agreed a lot lately, but we are in total agreement on this point (that upgrading the FS position is more important than upgrading the CB position).
with the needs at safet, cb AND olb AND PROBABLY AN INSIDE lb, WHO SAYS WE There is absolutely no arguing this unless omeone just likes to argue. This post is 100 accurate. And the combo of AC's OBVIOUSLY diminished speed and ability to cover one on and one With Rex's stupidity in not giving him help, lead to an absolute disasterous season for Cro. About as bad as a corner can have
Perhaps others feel differently, but imo we have seen more of Allen than of Walls in terms of talent. Without a doubt the Jets currently do not have top talent at safety, but I would rather play Allen and Landry as starters than start Walls at Cb. Brad said above yuo can't win games at Cornerback. I don't agree, but we all should agree you can certainly lose games there. Of plaeyrs currently on the roster, as among Milliner, Walls, Allen and Landry, Walls stands out as the weakest potential starter. And of course I know Wilson is currently on the rosters, and some might argue he is better than Allen and/or Landry. But Wilson has shown he is not up to playing outside corner. So he doesnt count in this analysis. It is also relevant that Ryan's manner of constructing his defensive schemes depends on having quality corners who can play man coverage. We can argue all we want that a more safety oriented D might work better, using strong and free safeties in more "classic" roles. But I don;t know why the Jets should in effect force Ryan to come up with a different approach to Defense. Let him do what he knows best how to do.
When Milliner struggled, Rex benched Milliner for Walls multiple times during the course of the season. However, he never pulled Cro no matter how aweful he played. Using the eye test, it did look like Rex was being loyal to a fault w/ regards to Cro.
I have a question. Why is Walls penciled in at outside CB over Wilson? IMO Wilson is a better player. So what am I missing?
Could we be confusing more talent with playing time? Again he's has the least amount of playing time of the bunch so this is not unexpected. I have a hard time believing that anyone would argue that Wilson is better than Allen and/or Landry. I think you are selling Rex short. Just like he uses varied fronts, I think he can produce a quality defense with varied defensive personel. In Baltimore he produced top defenses with at least one HOF type talent at every level of the defense. In his first couple of years here, he was quick to recognize that the talent was in our secondary, more specifically Revis, so he produce a top defense heavily dependent on our CBs. Now the talent level has shifted to our front 4, I have complete confidence that he can produce another top defense with a great front 4 and good LB corps and average secondary. The issue last year was that for most of the season Cro and Milliner were not even average; they were terrible. You can hide or protect average but you can't terrribe.
I will leave my opinions on whether or not Wilson is the better player out of this and just say that Walls's size, speed and length makes him more ideal for the boundary while Wilson's size and quickness makes him the more ideal nickel back. Plus Walls seems to not have any restrictions in his neck movement.
That is true. Strickland got hurt in Colts game too and then PM picked on Coleman I think. Strickland was signed in March by SD and Wilson was drafted in April I think.
From what I have seen, Wilson is a average to above average nickel corner. The few times we saw Wilson on the outside, he had trouble sticking with a receiver, turning his head to locate the ball, and doesn't have size as a way to disrupt WR. If we plucked him and tried to place him on the outside, I see it creating a hole at nickel corner and having a weak #2 corner
It was Lowery he picked on. The thing is Lowery's coverage was not that bad. PM was just on and dropping dimes and we were not getting anywhere near him with our rush/blitzes.
It might be Lowery. I think the picture I have in my head is Drew Coleman diving for a ball and having it be just over his fingertips. Whether or not he was out there for Strickland I don't remember, I just remember him missing.
