The worst part about that shitshow draft was it was a class LOADED with talent..... so not only did the JETS draft bums and got worse, almost everyone else seemed to improve their teams, widening the gap further (aside from the few usual dysfunctional suspects)
The Jace Amaro pick was just unforgivable. The guy was a slow, awkward TE who had dominated in college because college level defenders have trouble covering a 6'5" 265 lb guy running drag routes on every down. In the NFL that guy better be both fast and quick or he's just going to get people glomming onto him on every down which is what happened to Amaro.
I have no clue, but, I definitely wouldn't take Stingley at 4. Our OL stills scares the bejesus out of me. Fant left hurt, Becton's always hurt, and Moses is a FA.
If I said you can't draft a G with the #6 then you would be perfectly correct Seriously though it is just my opinion at the end of the day, I live in hope that one of the Edge's drop to us at #4 But yes Jets never seem to make the right call, especially this last 10-15 years.
I'm stuck between wanting to take BPA (which will almost assuredly be defense at both picks) and wanting to go all offense to help Zach. Ideally, we'd plug up the offense with proven vets from free agency so that Zach isn't asked to help some rookie players develop. If we're able to grab one of [Adams, Robinson, Thomas, Ridley, Williams, Godwin?] + Schultz, then I'm leaning toward transforming the defense overnight with Hamilton and Dean. If we shit the bed in free agency, then we need to get Zach some help in the form of Neal/Ekwonu +Burks/Wilson/Linderbaum. There should be some good wide receiver talent in the 2nd either way, so i wouldn't be too upset if we waited to see who drops. There's going to be a few WR with first round grades who might hit the top of the second (Olave, Dotson, J Williams, Bell). In other words, we have a lot of options that are dependent on how JD handles trades/free agency. We'll all have a much clearer view of the draft by mid March.
If either Hutchinson or Thibodeaux are available at #4 that's who JD should get! If not, then trade back.
IMO our big board for pick 4 should consist of 4 guys (Hutch, KT, Ekwonu, Neal) and Linderbaum coming in right after. Not opposed to trading back either but I think that's more of a conversation @ pick 10. Outside of the off chance with Hutch or KT falling to 4, I think it will be one of the offensive linemen.
The thing is, if we trade back from 4, a lot of these top players will gone. Linderbaum I doubt lasts past Giants pick at #7. Now Bills heads are at the helm of Giants, and I think they want to build in trenches like the Bills did. If he slips to 10, maybe we got ourselves a steal. Humphrey took a really great leap this year, but he was not at Linderbaum's level as a prospect. Linderbaum is viewed at as generational, because his level in College was incredible, and was a consensus 1st team all American. This is well beyond what Creed has done or was looked at last year. I also doubt whoever trades to #4 will do this for a QB as class is weaker than last year and I don't think anyone goes top 4. Trade will probably be for one of the guys, like Ekwonu for instance. Most likely, compensation to move out of 4 will not be high enough to risk losing a shot to likes of Linderbaum or Ekwonu, who by the way is another consensus all American at LT. That's why I am thinking Jets will stay at 4 and will just get one of these studs. At #10, I see more possibilities. It's much harder to project who will still be left. According to most mocks, likes of Linderbaum, Ekwonu, even Hamilton will be off the board. I would just grab Burks. Some mocks even say Burks goes #8 if he test well at combine. But if JD does not think Burks is much better than other WRs or if Hutch, KT, Neal, Ekwonu, Linderbaum, Hamilton, Burks are out with top 9 picks, and someone wants to trade up 8-10 spots for a QB at 10, we could conceivably end up with extra capital, while still getting a similar level talent. Heck, say we grab Ekwonu, and Cross slips to 10, someone might pay a decent price to get him too, while for us it won't make much sense to take him. Hence at 10 I see some possibility either to grab someone who slips, and whom we were also considering at 4 or if they are gone, possibly there will be more willing partners trade up to 10 spots down, while grabbing similar level talent in teens on #20.
Where did you read that Ekwonu is a consensus all American at LT? I read on several sites that he was a better run blocker than pass protector and would fit in better as a guard. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/ikem-ekwonu-nc-state-og-nfl-draft-scouting-report-2022/ anyway they can't all be off the board before #4 and #10 Thibodeux Hutchinson Neal Hamilton Leal Karlaftis Green Wilson Stingley Cross Wilson Olave Gardner Lindenbaum Then there will always be one of the QB's going off the board if not both Picket and Corral
Consensus All American LT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_College_Football_All-America_Team He is the only LT to get unanimous selection. Even Neal wasn't unanimous. Does not mean he is the best LT prospect, but he did play extremely well against Edge players in College and every snap was at LT last year, while the year before he split time at Tackle and Guard. Your article is written before last season. Last season he exclusively played LT and did extremely well. Also, I agree of the above cannot be offer the board at #10, I just think that if you identify very top blue chip players in that class, I think they will be gone. Thibbs, Hutch, Neal, Ekwomu to me are the crème of the crop. Hamilton, Linderbaum probably gone too, though may slip due to positional value. As far as others, yes, they may be there at 10, but some could also be there at 20. I don't view them as top 5 pick though, like I do the 4 guys I mentioned. Karlaftis looked intriguing, but after watching the film, I am not sure where he fits among second tier Edge players. Not someone I would currently consider top 5. That should be top tier only.
The thing about Ekwonu, year before this last one he played both Guard and Tackle and did better at G. He developed reputation of nasty SOB and a phone booth aficionado. However last year he played exclusively at LT and mauled the competition to the point where he was selected unanimous all American at the position. Why are you not convinced he can play Tackle? It's hard to shake the label he had from before, but I think he projects to tackle pretty well. We have to see his measurements, that's the only thing that may cause some concern. He is a much better prospect than AVT though, and JD said he had AVT top 10. AVT also played LT last year in College, but didn't do anywhere near as well as Ike. Certainly not to the point of getting All American considerations, not to mention be a unanimous selection. If Ike can come in for a year as a Guard and then move to RT permanently after Fant's contract is over (or depending on what happens with Becton even LT), we will be golden. This versatility and high end talent is almost a perfect selection for us given the uncertainty around Becton, Fant's emergence, while having only a year left on the contract.
If we can't trade back from #4 then Hamilton should be the pick. Premium position and premium talent at that position.
I've come to the place where I believe if we could get Neil at 4, and Linderbaum at 10, that would be a massive win and drastically change the potential of our offense going forward. IMO that is the best first round we could have. (Also takes us back to the Mangold and D'Brick draft which stabilized our line for years). Maybe Neil wont be there, but its very possible Houston trades their pick to a QB hungry team and he falls to us. (I chose Lindy in the poll)
Talent - yes, but position? Take a look at this chart. Money talks, and these are real numbers indicating how important the position really is. There is a big drop off at Safety and RB compared to others. It's just a fact. Top Safetys are much easier to get in free agency too compared to others and the price is not through the roof. Pos. Franchise tag Transition tag QB $24,112,000 $21,749,000 DE $17,752,000 $14,811,000 WR $16,430,000 $14,269,000 CB $15,266,000 $13,202,000 LB $15,657,000 $13,406,000 OL $14,507,000 $13,156,000 DT $14,178,000 $11,405,000 S $11,196,000 $9,550,000 RB $11,112,000 $8,942,000 TE $10,167,000 $9,267,000 ST $4,792,000 $4,382,000
I may be in the minority but I believe one of the big three will still be on the board at #4. Most likely either KT or Neal. Whoever it is will be the Jets pick. If not then most likely it will be Ekwonu.
And also those teams anchored by those 3 guys were usually contenders who went deep into the playoffs at some point.
By other metrics safety is a very important position. TE's making less than RB's is laughable, TE is way more important. These salary numbers are mostly indicative of positional importance but they whiff on a few of them. Teams underrate the importance of TE and S a lot.
Too much will happen between now and April. Hopefully a QB emerges that teams want to trade up for. I get the feeling JD either moves down from 4 or from 10 with a QB needy team. Sticking to this thread question, I think I would go with Kyle Hamilton. He will be a star, and also it is a total FU to Jamal Adams. Trading him would come full circle and be a 100% amazing trade for the Jets. They got 2 1st round picks, don't have to pay Jamal, and end up with a better safety in the end. I still think OL or pass rusher will be too tempting for Douglas to make this move though.
I think that he probably can, the reason I am not convinced is that I haven't watched any video of him yet or researched him that much. I've been too busy with WRs and Edges. LOL I just read last night late that Ekwonu had played LT before. Prior to that, I had read several things about Ekwonu and not one of them ever mentioned that he had played LT this past season.
Welcome to our message board. Feel free to introduce yourself at this thread https://forums.theganggreen.com/threads/welcome-new-jets-fans-introduce-yo-self.78615/
