I know, I know --- he's gone / let it go. But surprised this wasn't posted already. Decent read. Granted, - its Manish, but doesnt seem like a story the guy could make up. Granted though, probably planted by someone who wanted MM gone as GM. But sure sounds plausible. Looking back, - this was always MM's achilles heel, -- just trying to get too cute all the time, - especially with draft picks. https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/...0190606-ibvpp2gvyrgtrmvupyuooclk4e-story.html How the Patriots stole a player the Jets desperately needed right from underneath them; If it weren’t annoying enough that the Patriots can dangle the Super Bowl jewelry, the coach and the quarterback over the Jets, here’s the latest evidence that the Pats are an eternal nuisance to their divisional foes: The Foxborough Evil Empire might have stolen the Jets center of the future right from underneath Gang Green after it got too cute in the 2019 draft. Former Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan made one too many draft-day trades that could prove costly. The Daily News has learned that Gang Green was poised to draft Arkansas interior lineman Hjalte Froholdt in the fourth round with the hope of filling a gigantic hole in the middle of their line before Bill Belichick spoiled the party. Hasn’t The Hoodie done enough already to torture this star-crossed franchise? Lord Vader evidently shows no mercy. The worst part of this irritating tale: The Jets were positioned to grab Froholdt on the final day of the draft, but elected to trade down … twice. Gang Green entered day three with the third pick of the fourth round (No. 105 overall) before trading down 11 spots to No. 116 with the Saints, so Maccagnan could acquire a fifth-round pick (No. 168). Maccagnan, who was fired three weeks ago, wanted to get additional draft capital, but it backfired. The Jets had their eyes on Froholdt and Oklahoma offensive lineman Dru Samia, both of whom the team believed had the skillset to thrive at center, according to sources. It seemed like a good bet that the Jets would land one of the two interior linemen with the No. 116 pick. Samia was a standout four-year starter at guard who protected the past two Heisman Trophy winners (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray). The Jets believed that he could play center too. Maccagnan and Co. lost out on Samia by making the trade with New Orleans after the Vikings took him at No. 114. No worries, right? After all, only one pick separated the Jets from Froholdt, who came to America as a Danish foreign exchange student in high school. It’d be hard to mess this up. Alas, the folks decked out in Gotham Green did just that. Rather than take Froholdt at No. 116, the Jets inexplicably traded down again. They slid from No. 116 to No. 121 in the fourth round just so they could move up 11 spots in the fifth round (No. 168 to No. 157) in a deal with the Titans. Maccagnan evidently felt confident enough that Froholdt would make it down to him at No. 121 given the intel he had on the teams picking ahead of him. Well, he got bad intel. The Patriots, who had no immediate need along the interior offensive line, took Froholdt with the No. 118 pick. (New England acquired that pick the day before in a deal with the Seahawks). Froholdt, who played for Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema for three seasons in college, started every game at left guard for two seasons before moving to center at the start of his senior year. He moved back to left guard for the final nine games, but the Jets believed that he could become a quality NFL center. Froholdt didn’t give up a sack in his final two seasons and allowed only five pressures last season. His best game came against Alabama when he kept Quinnen Williams in check. Now, he’ll be learning from Dante Scarnecchia, who’s regarded as the best offensive line coach in the NFL. Figures. The Jets, who missed out on their top two choices entering the day, opted to address the offensive line in a different way. So, they settled on West Virginia blocking tight end Trevon Wesco at No. 121. But make no mistake: Folks on One Jets Drive were ticked off that Maccagnan made one too many trades rather than take a player who could develop into a foundation piece at such a pivotal position. The Jets, frankly, whiffed at such an important area of need after failing to land the top centers in free agency too. Truth be told, Adam Gase made it clear in the run-up to free agency that he didn’t want to pay a lot of money on two positions: running back and center. So, Gang Green was never really in on Mitch Morse, who landed a 4-year, $44.5 million deal with Buffalo. The Jets also never made an offer to Matt Paradis before he signed a 3-year, $29 million deal with the Panthers, in part, due to concerns over his surgically repaired leg. (The feeling in the building was that Paradis might miss all of the offseason). “The way that free agency and the draft (went), it just kind of worked out (this way),” Gase said. “We just didn’t acquire anybody else. I think we’re always looking to improve and create competition at every spot. Not just that spot, but throughout the entire offensive line. You just want to create as much competition in that room as possible.” The Jets’ failure to upgrade at center is baffling given that their entire offseason was geared toward helping Sam Darnold. Veteran Jonotthan Harrison, who took over for train-wreck Spencer Long in the second half of last season, is the leader in the clubhouse to start now. He doesn’t appear to have much competition, either. Jon Toth, Jordan Morgan and Toa Lobendahn, who each took snaps on Wednesday, have a grand total of zero NFL starts. Although Gase praised Harrison’s intelligence, energy level and decisiveness, it’s clear that the coach knows that he could have used an upgrade this offseason at such a key position. “He can take a lot off his plate,” Gase said about the impact that a good center can have on a young signal caller. The Jets were positioned to draft their center of the future before their eternal nemesis swooped in and got the better of them again. However, the Jets have only themselves to blame this time.
Yeah if this is true then it is another sign of incompetence. The second trade uggggghhhh. I am sure this happens on occasion but this was a real bad look.
As one of the most famous (if not THE most famous GMs) in the history of sports once said: "Addition by subtraction". No matter what else happened afterwards, the firing of Maccagnan was a major improvement in the Jets. Good riddance!
Fake news! How many great centers have the Jets had over the years? (Hint: quite a few.) How many Super Bowls have the Jets won with those centers? (Hint: not many.) Crying over the loss of a 4th round C prospect is not going to be the determining factor in the success of this team.
Mac had some true draft blunders, as we all know. This one was not it. They clearly need to upgrade the o-line though. Douglas knows it and hopefully he does. If not now, then for 2020. In the meantime, hopefully Harrison protects Sam well.
Macc trades down when he shouldn't and stands pat when trading down makes sense partly because he was too slow in making decisions. Yeah, not a good drafting strategy.
this article is a joke. the pats somehow stole a guy we passed on 5 times. i think we cna live without a 4th round mediocre lineman that likely won't last past his rookie contract like 50% of draft picks after the 3rd round
I have no doubts whatsoever that it's true. Trading down in the 4th round is stupid. At that point you address needs or take the BPA, you don't get cute or greedy trying to pick additional picks. I think Samia would have been a great pick at OG. He may be able to play C, but that's just typical Mac. Don't give a shit about C this year and hope that some guy you drafted in a lower round can develop and start in a year or two. I'm so glad the clueless dumbass is gone I hope that Mac never works in the NFL again unless it's for some team I hate so he can screw them up. Even if Paradis missed the entire offseason, he is a proven quality center. Mac should have signed him, or at the worst, traded down in the 1st round and then taken a center in the 2nd round. Eff Mac.
I respectfully disagree. You don't trade down in the 4th round if there are any players you like. It's just too risky, and we see what happened. The Jets missed out on both Samia and Frohold, and we have a very iffy center situation. I'm praying that Harrison doesn't get Sam killed.
I respectfully, but totally disagree. It's not fake news. I don't know Frohold, but Samia is a darned good prospect and I wanted the Jets to draft him anyway. Not signing Paradis, and not trading down in the 1st so he could grab a center in the 2nd round was totally stupid, and trading down twice in the 4th and missing on both players he was going to try to convert to C just compounded the stupidity.
LMAO and guys have the nerve to defend this man because Gettlemen passed on Darnold and he fell into our lap. Thank God we got a blocking Tight End.
Our center is fine. There was no need to trade up or down to get a younger version of what we already have. Here he is at the podium....trust me, we'll be fine. https://www.newyorkjets.com/video/jonotthan-harrison-communication-within-this-offense-is-a-big-key
Despite the media click batey articles if anyone listens to the Play Like a Jet podcast, they had a guy on who analyzed the value of Mac's picks and basically demonstrated how he was eerily similar to Idzik's hit rate. Basically after the first round Mac was the league's worst drafter and was even worse than Idzik in rounds 2-7 (although Idzik had 2 drafts and Mac had 5). Couple that with Mac missing on many free agents like Crowell, probably Trumaine Johnson and Spencer Long and I am so happy we decided to move on.
Just created this thread over in the Draft forum. @Brook! if ya think it should be here in the Jets sub-forum, feel free to move it on over - https://forums.theganggreen.com/threads/byron-murphy-what-could-have-been-manish.92491/
Just saying Mac made many worse mistakes/blunders. Talking about 4th Round blunders just seems odd to me, especially before any of the players play. That's why I think it is better to say the O-line still needs to be addressed.
I'm a bit confused by this. Do we need to reserve seats in Canton for both Hjalte Froholdt and Dru Samia or just Froholdt?
Successful NFL organizations have a record of building their team though the draft. This includes players drafted after rounds 1 + 2. Reserving a seat in the HOF for a 4th rounder is a pretty high unrealistic make or break expectation. But finding a capable starter or valuable depth player is reasonable. That's 1 way your football team can get good & compete...............
