I won't pretend to have seen many Louisville games. I was more intrigued by Clinton-Dix than Pryor for the following reason: I instantly put any safety labeled ballhawk above any safety labeled in-the-box on my board. Is the in-the-box, hard-hitting description accurate for Pryor? As in, is that his forte and he's not much to speak of in coverage? I'm sure it's somewhere else on this board, but could you give us a little more insight as to what you see in Pryor over Clinton-Dix? Do we need to be concerned with headhunting penalties and stuff like that with this guy? The way I'm looking at this pick is the exact same way I looked at Richardson last year. I was surprised with the pick, especially with Star on the board. I think most of us wanted Star. But my reaction then was "if they're taking this guy over Star, they must see a really good player and a really good fit, so I'll take the wait and see approach before I judge it." I kind of think the same thing here.
For those with the misconception that Pryor is strictly a box safety ... http://nfl.si.com/2014/04/16/2014-nfl-draft-position-rankings-safety-calvin-pryor/
I like Deone also. If you are going to go safety shouldn't you get the best one on the board if he is available Idzik.
That was good to read. I'm getting more excited about the pick the more I think about it. Still would have wanted Cooks, but that's more because I probably read too many fluff pieces about him wanting to prove that he's great. I'm hoping we can still land a high-end WR in Round 2, maybe even trading up. Lee, Matthews, Robinson, and Latimer all intrigue me.
I shared a similar conundrum but I was so fixated and biased toward getting my mancrush, Cooks, at 18 because I viewed him as the BPA at 18 and also view him as the legitimate second coming of Desean Jackson (only with even slightly better speed, agility, size, [though not by much] and minus the selfish, negative attitude baggage problems) because I thought we could address our Safety issues by drafting either Bucannon (wrong), Ward (wrong again) and or Terrence Brooks (still possible) on Friday (not at all familiar with Huff). Landing Lee now is a long shot so I have my day two target sights fixed on WRs Donte Moncrief, Robinson, Matthews and Latimer as well as a legit, situational pass rushing OLB, like Jeremiah Attaochu, and TE Troy Niklas who, unlike the players ranked ahead of him, is bigger, stronger and will be able to immediately fill a complimentary role to Cumberland in two-tight end sets as the 6'7" 270lb Niklas is an awesome inline blocker to further help our running game and also possesses excellent hands. Other 2nd to late round DB/Safety possibilities might be Brooks, Philip Gaines, Vereen and Mo Alexander...
I specifically stayed off TGG last night to avoid the pure stupidity that I knew was going to run rampant. I'm honestly surprised at how little of it there was. Nonetheless, people feel the need to be uneducated. A few things here: Pryor is not an "in-the-box safety" so labeling him as such means you just haven't done your homework. Someone just posted the quote, but he said that he played all over the field after the coaches saw how much of a playmaker he was. I dunno, but to me, a playmaker in the secondary was the biggest need for this team. I think we all WANTED to go with the flashy receiver. Hell I wanted Cooks over Pryor, but that doesn't make this a bad pick. Which brings me to my next point... Do you know how ignorant you sound when you say "waste of a pick" or something along those lines? A waste of a pick? Why, because it's not the person you would have taken? Firstly, get over yourself. Second, it takes almost no effort to see that this kind is going to make a difference in an area that we need a difference-maker. How can the top-rated or second highest-rated safety in the draft be a WASTE? Either do your homework or choose your words more carefully. Here's the biggest thing for me: we are building a young defense and they are already very good. Mo is 24, Sheldon is 23, Snacks is 25, Coples is 23, Demario Davis is 25, Milliner is 22... toss in guys like Douzable, Bush, Allen who are all in their early or mid-20s. Now Pryor is 21. These are all guys who were either already starters on a dominant run-stopping defense or played big roles. And the oldest one is 25! This group can be together for a long long time and they will only get better... hopefully. I can't stress enough how important that could be for our long-term success. It reminds me a lot of the Steelers, Ravens and Pats during their dominant defensive runs. Bottom line is we have more than enough options available in the second round to address the WR position. I would be happy with almost any of the guys left on the board. We have decent TE options too. We have the picks to potentially move up and grab a guy we want. We are in very very good shape heading into day two of the draft.
From what everyones saying is that he is a big time hitter and good stopping the run.He isn't that fast and has some issues in coverage.Sounds kinda like Laron Landry
And I seem to recall Laron Landry working out prettttty well in this defense. If we have a young Laron, we are in good shape.
Laron was very overrated 2 years ago, I have much higher expectations for Pryor than to be the 2012 Laron landry.
Hm. Well, I did see both Rex and John say that they felt Pryor fit their system best of the available safeties. I hope no one here considers me a FO Homer, but on that I will defer to them. I was frankly expecting them to go wideout, hoping they would go Cb. I posted just yesterday that I would be okay with going wideout, but I think that was somewhat subconsciously based on the expectation they would do that. But as several have pointed out in this thread already, the Jets have made a number of moves upgrading the O in FA. We shall see if they go wideout with the second round pick. That brings up the other consideration, which is that this draft was deep at wideout. On the other hand, an above average percentage of first round picks went Wr, add in TE, and that has shaved the numbers of availability by the time the Jets pick in the second round. Perhaps a trade up? Probably not. As for corner, and back to going safety.... Given the situation with wideout, I am mildly positive about this pick. I would have preferred Cb, but two of the top three cb prospects were gone by 18. That left Dennard, but apparently Rex and John preferred Pryor. This means there's still a hole at starting Cb, with dwindling options to fill it. And I have to think that if they did not have the hole at Cb, they might not have gone safety in the first round. But the hole was there, and going safety was second best to getting a top Cb prospect. Since I don't pretend to know much about the prospects themselves, and accept that there were limited options at 18 given previous picks, I am mildly positive here.
Agree 100%. I really think Rex has more to say about the draft than the the jets admit. I also believe that Rex really believes year after year that a certain defensive player IS the best available. The only real reach IMO was Coples in 2012 because I never thought he had a motor. Give Pryor a chance--Safety is a need area for the jets and they could have done worse.
You stole my thunder, my feelings exactly. Great post. I will add one more misconception stated by some members after the pick. It was Rex and Company that selected him. Dead wrong. It was BPA all the way and Idzik and Company had him on top..and rightfully so. Rex might have loved Pryor, but if he wasn't BPA AT THE TIME there was no chance the GM would have leaped frog the board to make Rex happy.
I think Idzik is in charge and it's more coincidence who they are picking. I really believe, I also think the Coples pick was great. I am expecting a big year out of him. One of the reasons I am not as concerned at corner is b/c of the ferocious pass rush I expect w/ the DL getting better and Coples getting better,
I don't get the implication that Rex prefers trading up. Sure they did that with Sanchez, but Rex can't tell himself that worked out well. It does sound like Pryor was who they wanted. But that means who they wanted at 18. And also to be clear safety was a need.
Bear in mind that you don't know what the Jet's draft board looked like - he could have been their 5th best player overall. For example, last year the Jets made known that Milliner and Richardson were two of the top 4 picks on their draft board. Just because many draft pundits said Pryor should have gone from #13 to #17 does not mean thats how the Jets rated him.
According to today's Newsday Idzik was the one who initially scouted Pryor and he told Rex he saw a guy who " plays like a Jet." Idzik is in charge but he's smart enough to draft BAP in a deep draft. Some of these guys with fourth round grades are as good as the players on the first day just more proven and with better numbers. It looks like Idzik wants to win and isn't interested in going backwards so he can fire the coach and get his own guy. He might even be telling the truth when they both say theu love working together. One guy I'd love to get is the Iowa TE. I think NEP could be his final destination because he could fit into their scheme. I like him because he's big and can block and catch. We have three 4th rounders I'd take him fairly early even in the 3rd round.
