Yeah if your team needs a good guard arguably more than any other position... and you make a decisive move to draft the best one in the entire draft.... How exactly does that get only a B+ grade. By definition you couldn't have done any much better right?
Yahoo LOVED our draft. Gave it an A+, called it "EXCELLENT" and said Jets fans should be excited. Their review is below: New York Jets Grade: A+ No, we're not joking. The Jets actually had an awesome draft. The Jets took a potential franchise QB in Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick, and then they went to work surrounding him with high-end talent. New York traded up to No. 14 to select USC guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, and with the No. 34 pick in Round 2 the Jets took Ole Miss wide receiver Elijah Moore. Moore has game-breaking speed and will give Wilson an excellent downfield threat. He easily could have gone in the first round. The Jets also found a quality running back in North Carolina's Michael Carter in the fourth round. New York has struck out in the draft quite often over the last 10 years, and the franchise has lost more games than any other team over that span as a result. The tide seems to be turning, though, which is exciting news for Jets fans.
FoxSports had a shorter description than the rest, but they also loved our class. Gave it an "A" and ranked it as the 5th Best Class from the Draft. Synopsis below: 5) New York Jets Grade: A Key Picks: Zach Wilson (QB, BYU), Alijah Vera-Tucker (OG, USC), Elijah Moore (WR, Mississippi), Michael Carter (RB, North Carolina) Analysis: Learning from past mistakes, the Jets picked Wilson and then used three picks to help him. Trading up from No. 23 to No. 14 landed the coveted Vera-Tucker (without giving up any first- or second-rounders). Four top-60-caliber players. Too bad they waited too long on cornerbacks.
EVERYONE (except my man Ouchy, lol) LOVED our draft! More love from the Washington Post...in their article: "Draft Winners and Losers: they list the NY Jets as the BIG Winner. He is what they had to say: Winners New York Jets: Give General Manager Joe Douglas a lot of credit. He drafted well last year and he was even more aggressive this year. The emphasis was on offense, and after choosing BYU’s Zach Wilson with the second pick to be the Jets’ quarterback of the future, Douglas was aggressive in trading up from the 23rd pick to No. 14 to land a powerful guard, Alijah Vera-Tucker. The Jets then selected a good wide receiver, Elijah Moore of Mississippi, in the second round. They caught an even bigger break in the fourth round when North Carolina running back Michael Carter fell to them. That’s a big infusion of talent on offense, with the aim of supporting their rookie quarterback.
Its about speed in the NFL. Been saying it forever watching mediocre slow WR's and Frank Gore the ancient run the ball. They got real value and some speed finally with Moore and Carter.
I don't get the "Michael Carter is a small back" stuff. Yea, he's 5'8" but he's 205lbs. He led the nation with over 30 missed tackles this year. Ray Rice and MJD were basically the same size. Oh, and a guy named Barry Sanders. Emmitt Smith was 5'9".
It is hard to judge for certain now of course, but if picks 1-4 hit, and say, one or 2 of the remaining picks from rounds 4-6 make the team and contribute, it is an A+ home run of a draft. Personally, have had many complaints about Jet draft selections up to, and including last year selecting a punter and unknown useless QB, wasted picks. Not this time. Have absolutely nothing negative to say, they did a terrific job this year, now it is up to these players to do their parts.
USA TODAY also loves our draft. Gives it yet another "A" grade, praises JD. New York Jets This draft will ultimately be defined by whatever success No. 2 pick Zach Wilson has in his NFL career, which NYJ GM Joe Douglas could have built for his former QB, Sam Darnold, by dealing the second pick for a king's ransom in draft picks, which was apparently on the table for New York. Be that as it may, Darnold is hardly a proven NFL commodity – and by going the Wilson route, Douglas maintains far more financial flexibility than if he had to speculate on the inevitable mid-tier compensation (at minimum) Darnold had coming sooner than later. And give Douglas credit – he may very well have hit a home run with Wilson, who has awe-inspiring arm talent that gives him the ability to make just about any throw from just about any area of the field, whether or not his feet are set. We would have taken Justin Fields in this slot, but there is no denying that Wilson has serious talent. But he'll have to prove he can do it against better competition than BYU played while using his athleticism to preserve his 6-2, 214-body from NFL poundings as much as possible. Oh, and there's that Big Apple pressure cooker factor, too. However overcoming such obstacles should all be easier given Douglas has started doing for Wilson what he didn't have time to do for Darnold – import supplementary talent, which will include first-round OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, second-round WR Elijah Moore and fourth-round RB Michael Carter. (And Douglas already has multiple first- and second-round selections in 2022.) Given the path the Jets have chosen, you have to like how they're navigating it so far. All in all, an excellent draft. Grade: A
DraftWire also praises Jets Draft, gives it a B+ overall. NY JETS After the home run the Jets hit with their first four picks of this draft, the rest of their draft might not matter. For the record, I would have taken Justin Fields over Zach Wilson, but the Jets did a great job of building around their promising new quarterback with their next three picks. Alijah Vera-Tucker, Elijah Moore and Michael Carter were all fantastic picks that could immediately transform this offense with Wilson. The rest of the draft was a bit odd, with five defensive backs in a row, many of whom have questionable coverage skills, but Hamsah Nasirildeen in the sixth could end up being a huge late round steal. If the early ones hit, those Day 3 picks won’t be an issue either way, though. Great draft from the Jets. Grade: B+
Instead of cutting his 3rd round pick like Mac, Douglas removes the middle man and just doesn't draft anyone period.
NFL.com liked our draft slightly less than everyone else, but still gave it a B overall. They also graded each Day. Day 1 grade: B+ Day 2 grade: A- Day 3 grade: C Jets Overall Grade: B Analysis: Wilson has an outstanding physical skill set that could translate into an outstanding career, though he will always be compared to fellow draft classmates Justin Fields (whom we would have taken with the 2nd pick) and Trey Lance. The Jets traded up to the middle of Round 1 for Vera-Tucker, a very good lineman who will have to prove he was worth the price they ultimately paid the Vikings. Moore could be a playmaker in 2021 and beyond, but Javonte Williams would've been an excellent pick at No. 34. Although they passed over Williams, they did snag his former UNC teammate in the fourth round. They got solid value on the RB, who could've been a late-second-round, early-third-round pick. Sherwood is a tough-minded safety who will plant ball-carriers, even if his athleticism is not exceptional for the position. Cornerback became a priority on Day 3, with the team picking up Duke's Michael Carter and Pinnock. More secondary picks (at the expense of other needs) came with Nasirildeen, whose medicals (knee) caused his draft stock to drop, and Echols. The Jets failed to draft a pass rusher this weekend, however, which could be an issue, unless they find real value among the undrafted free agents.
So we won our yearly offseason Super Bowl again, I see Jets fans calling this the best draft LOL, let me know in 3 years . There shouldn't be many excuses for Wilson not to succeed, offensive line is in better shape, west coast offense, and plenty of WRs, I can't wait to see what Denzel Mimms can do this season, and Moore excites me as well, time will tell.
Interesting synopsis of ALL draft grades for EVERY single team put together in a spreadsheet on Twitter. Pretty cool one stop shopping for anyone who wants to get a snapshot of how the experts viewed each team's draft. Guy even calculated an "overall GPA" for each team, based upon all of the grades they received. Pretty cool to look at IMO. Anyway, when ALL of the experts/draft gurus grades and evaluations were tallied up, the Jets had the....4th highest ranked/Best class in the entire draft!!! Behind only the Bears, Browns and Chargers! Vast majority of experts gave the Jets A+s and A's with a few B+s!!!
