Was wondering this myself. There wasn't that much draft hype about him, too. Is it because the position is viewed as disposable? Would like to know, but I'm happy that he's coming back home. Nothing like playing for your hometown team, even moreso when they've made moves for immediate success.
I would've taken JSN instead myself. The more I watch mcdonald as a 9 tech, the more excited I get. Can't really be mad taking a potential game changing DE over a WR. That said, I still would've taken JSN lol
I took him in many of the PFN simulations I did, so no complaints here. A real home run threat when he finds a hole.
Obviously it remains to be seen what he can do against bigger, faster, defenses, but I love the feel for the holes and the burst, and the open field speed.
Saying that the pick swap was unnecessary is just silly. It obviously was necessary to get the deal done. Even if the pick swap hadn't happened, there's a good chance that Pittsburgh would've tried to trade up ahead of the Jets at #13 to take Jones.
I wouldn't have taken JSN regardless. He is a great prospect, but he is a slot WR, and imo, no slot WR is worthy of being taken in the 1st round unless your team is already a SB contender and has no holes. The Jets had more important needs than WR. Very good slot WRs can be found in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Further, I think every one of the Jets' WRs has experience playing in the slot, and they supposedly like to move them around to take advantage of mismatches. In addition, Rodgers is going to have a difficult enough time spreading the ball around and keeping everyone happy. I'm a big fan of Mecole Hardman, and I want to see them give him a real shot, and hopefully, sign him long term. I think that KC misused and underused Hardman. The reason he signed with the Jets was to get more opportunities and to be able to show that he is capable of running a complete route tree.
To get the deal done on Monday, yes. But he could have waited longer. I just don't see how GB would refuse the package Jets offered of 2nd and a first come draft day. Plus they took on all 110 mil of salary. GB had to fold, there was no other choice for them. But I believe JD folded too early thinking one of the top tackles would still be there as well. That's why it was unnecessary, but at this point, ready to move on. Having Aaron Rodgers on the team certainly helps! We just have to make sure we can protect him.
We lost out on our top choice at 15, and the differences btw the rest we probably manageable. With RB classes soo deep, once you get past the prime talent it becomes more of team preference thing. There were a couple RBs who were smaller and quicker taken b4 and there were a couple of bigger stronger ones too. Once we lost out at our top choice in a position it become a little more random so I wouldn’t hold it against Izzy…. Random side thought. A FRB makes a good OL look great, I’m sure that was part of the logic of the FO wanting Gibbs at 15 ;getting a good RB won’t make the OL look better than they perform. Depending on how the OL performs, getting Breece back to 100% is going to be huge; I hope they don’t rush him and he starts the year on IR.
I think JSN can PLAY in the slot, but at 6'1" I don't think he's limited to that position. BTW, welcome back.
You may be right that he should have waited longer. No other team was going to be able to jump in and trade for Rodgers, as he had supposedly told his agent that he would not agree to a trade with any other team than the Jets, that he would retire instead. I was hoping that Rodgers could have made noise about showing up at the Packers' OTAs and mini-camp and forced GB's hand, after the way they treated him. While I was happy to get the deal done, I had hoped that JD would wait until after the draft to make the trade. I think that Rodgers had communicated to the Jets that if they got the deal done before the draft he would be here for early workouts, and perhaps they just got too anxious to get him into the building and getting to know the players. It's also possible that Woody pressured JD into going ahead and getting the deal done.
I agree that he's probably not limited to the slot, but I think that's where he will be the most effective in the NFL. There still would have been the issue of so many offensive playmakers wanting the ball. I can totally understand why you or anyone would have wanted the Jets to take JSN. I think he will be a very good, if not great, WR in the NFL. I wouldn't have been upset if he was the pick at all. I can just understand why the Jets went for a pass rusher, particularly if they're thinking about trading/releasing Lawson to gain cap space. It's a pity that there wasn't a stud DT or two in this draft, as this could have enabled one of the OTs to drop or the Jets could have taken one of those DTs. Hopefully, McDonald will be so good, that we'll be glad how things worked out. Thanks for the welcome back.
