As we all know, we are full steam ahead into the offseason, which has unfortunately become the only bright spot for us Jets fans of late. To give you a little more insight, I'll set the stage by giving my Offseason/Free Agency predictions as well with some of the bigger re-signs/signs during that period. I won't go into salary predictions with them as I'm by no means a contract/cap expert but more so to highlight potential holes that we have filled going into the draft. For the mock draft portion, I am using The Draft Network's Mock Draft Machine. I've done a few of these throughout the year and feel that their model is as good as any and better than most. Jets hire Brian Daboll as their HC. Re-sign Marcus Maye, Brian Poole, Neville Hewitt, Pat Elflein, Tarell Basham, Frankie Luvu, and Harvey Langi. Sign Joe Thuney, IOL (headliner of the class, JD prioritizes him early and doesn't let him leave the building/Zoom call without a deal done) Sign Kenny Golladay, WR (because of the initial focus on Thuney, JD misses out on a guy like ARob but is able to bring in arguably the next best WR in the FA class to pair up with Mims and Crowder) Sign Haason Reddick, EDGE (JD doesn't want to dish out big money to EDGE after Thuney/Golladay so he goes after an athletic EDGE with upside after he made the switch to EDGE this season on a short "prove-it" deal) Sign Michael Davis, CB (long, rangy CB that had a solid 2020 season with the Chargers. JD again decides to take a low-risk swing on an athletic guy with upside at a position of need) DRAFT: (using TDN's Mock Draft Machine) 2nd overall: Justin Fields, QB Ohio State (JD isn't able to pull off a trade for Watson so he and Daboll decide to swing for the fences and take arguably the 2nd best QB in the draft) 27th overall: Alijah Vera-Tucker, IOL USC (the Jets get one of the better IOL prospects in this class after names like Bateman, Ossai, Marshall, Najee Harris, and Toney go off the board with the 5 picks prior to the Jets. AVT was the pick over guys like Eric Stokes, Creed Humprey, Friermuth, and Wyatt Davis) 34th overall: Azeez Ojulari, EDGE Georgia (even with acquiring Reddick in FA, he's far from a sure thing so JD uses a premium pick to try and finally fix our EDGE problem. Ojulari was the pick over guys like Cosmi, Wyatt Davis, Olave, Josh Meyers, Trey Smith, and St. Brown) 66th overall: Walker Little, OT Stanford (a bit of a "reach" pick here but unfortunately most of my targets again got drafted in the few picks prior, Adebo, Wade, Faalele, and Carman. JD gets a potential replacement for Fant with a high-upside guy that while playing mostly LT at Stanford, projects better as a RT in the NFL) 90th overall: Israel Mukuamu, CB South Carolina (JD gets another long, rangy CB to pair up with Davis on the outside which allows Poole to play primarily from the slot. Mukuamu was the pick over guys like Kary Vincent Jr., Michael Carter, and Tylan Wallace) 103 overall: Kenneth Gainwell, RB Memphis (full disclosure, the Jaguars absolutely ripped my heart out by picking Tylan Wallace at 102 but the Jets get an explosive runner that could eventually take over the lead role in their RBBC approach. Gainwell was the pick over guys like Michael Carter, Sage Surratt, Anthony Schwartz, and Trey Sermon) 142 overall: Jeremy Ruckert, TE Ohio State (a perfect compliment to Herndon going forward, willing blocker with nice hands that could take over the job if Herndon continues to struggle, plus it reunites him with his college QB) 151 overall: Ihmir Smith-Marsette, WR Iowa (a slight framed WR, 6'2" 186lbs, with some solid big-play ability. He could spell Crowder in the slot to start while he adds onto his frame and transitions into a more complete WR at the next level) 193 overall: Marco Wilson, CB Florida (everyone on this board should be familiar with Marco's brother Quincy Wilson, with our final pick, JD double dips at CB and picks a guy with decent size that seems to have all the tools to succeed as a solid corner but needs some coaching to fully realize his potential) This mock skewed a little offense-heavy which was not my intent but more so how the board fell to me. I highly doubt JD would use 6 of our 9 picks on offense especially after his two big FA signings were on the offensive side of the ball but maybe he would considering what he's seen first hand with Sam and his regression. So that's it, feel free to chime in and tell me why I'm an idiot and how you would do things differently!
Thanks for the effort here - I never get tired of reading mock offseasons and mock drafts. I love the commitment to improving the interior offensive line.
I love the hire of Daboll, and mostly your FA moves. I really like Poole, but think Guidry could replace him and save us some cap space. After two very good seasons for us, Poole could be looking for a big payday. If not and he's willing to sign a team-friendly deal, then great, bring him back. I don't know anything about Davis, so can't comment on him. According to Spotrac Golladay could only cost 800k per season less than Robinson, so why not sign Robinson? He's the same age as Robinson (27), and not nearly as good, plus has had some injury issues. With that being the case, I'd sign Robinson rather than Golladay, unless Robinson didn't make it to FA or didn't want to sign with us. With regards to the draft, personally I think all of the first 4, maybe 5 draft picks should be used on offense. I wouldn't take a defensive player as high as you did. I like Ojulari and thedraftnetwork, so no arguments with using that site or taking Ojulari in general, but would rather see the offense solidified. I like the Gainwell and Ruckert picks, but am not a fan of the Mukuamu or Little picks. I don't know Smith-Marsette or the Wilson picks. You could be right about JD not using 6 of 9 picks on offense, especially after signing Thuney and Golladay, but the offense needs a lot more work than the D does, and he should seek to build around Fields, so I would hope that he would have NO problems with doing that. Good job overall.
I think that’s JD’s main focus and if we do come out of this offseason with a starting OL of: Becton Thuney McGovern AVT Fant I think that unit goes from a below average unit to one of our strengths.
I really like Poole and think he’s a very good slot corner but I think if we resign him depends on who we bring in as HC. If someone like Saleh or Eberflus comes in and doesn’t think he would fit in our system, I could see a scenario where they let him walk. I just want to try to start keeping the good players that we have, especially if the cost isn’t too high. I totally agree with the ARob vs Golladay debate but I just feel that we won’t end up with him. I would honestly prefer ARob or Godwin to Golladay. I would not be surprised if JD went very heavy offense in the draft. If Ojulari hadn’t slipped to 34 and we hadn’t signed Golladay, I would’ve absolutely went with Olave or Amon-Ra St. Brown. My ideal start would’ve been Fields, Terrace Marshall/Rashod Bateman/Toney, and then one of the IOL (Wyatt Davis, Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey, Josh Meyers) but that wasn’t how this board fell. Thanks for the feedback! I’m excited to see how this offseason shakes out.
Im not totally against it depending on the return but I think JD and our new HC, Daboll in this scenario, want to put their stamp on the team and take a QB they can develop/build around.
I think they don’t get what they want value-wise for him so they ultimately hang onto Darnold but don’t exercise his 5th year option. This gives them the ability to not force Fields into a starting role this year unless he earns it during OTA’s and TC. Hopefully I’m wrong on this and JD can milk a 2nd/3rd out of someone.
Nice calls on Daboll and the re-signs and (draft) Ruckert and Smith-Marsette. Don't like the OTs Vera-Tucker and Little. Wouldn't resign Harvey Langi. Nice effort.
Good kick at the can I feel we take a WR/RB within our top 3 picks. I personally believe we won’t sign any big ticket FA as we would have to overpay for them to come
I think if Thuney hits FA, JD will be all over him. I could see him not going after one of the top tier WR’s and going for another Perriman-type guy, maybe Corey Davis, Curtis Samuel, or Demarcus Robinson and then using one of our first few picks on another WR.
