What do Erik McMillan, James Hasty, Dennis Byrd and Jeff Lagemann all have in common? They were all very productive rookies on an all-pro trajectory when they were drafted by the Jets in 1988 and 1989, and none of them were even on the Jets next playoff team. Why? Because the NFL doesn't let you warehouse talent and have any confidence at all that it will still be there when the team turns around. That's why great teams turn it around in a 2 or 3 season process by massive replacement of existing talent with young depth that matures into a great team. Adding two great young defenders and NOTHING else of long-term value in a season is taking a step backwards against the current.
That is cool you are going back 20 years as an example. That was before the salary cap era, with inept mangement. We get that you hated this years draft. I mean it took a little work to deduce out how much you hated it but yeah we get it. :smile: Can you use recent examples of teams that turned over their complete roster in 2 years and went from 4-12 to a super bowl team. If they had missed on one of the two picks fine you are correct. But really enough already. Revis and Harris have all the talent in the world. I suppose bringing up Hasty,Macmillan, Byrd and Lageman would suit your point. However, Lageman was a ridiculous reach, his pick was the one that caused the Mel Kiper soundbite we all know and love. None of those guys have the talent of Harris and Revis short of Hasty. Plus Byrd suffered a ridiculous once every 10 year catastrophic injury. This is a horrid comparison to this year. EDIT: No matter how you slice it Bradway, there will be no Mel Kiper soundbites playing about this years draft.
I would rather have two superstars than four average players. The Jets hit a homerun on both and we have "fans" that are not happy.
Good Catch there :beer: This years draft was a homerun. Free Agency combined with not paying Kendell his $$$ are what hurt us this year. In the long run I expect the jets to address these glaring weaknesses in the trenches. Once the weaknesses have been addressed are young guys will really be allowed to shine. I know it's tough being a jet fan and having something to look forward to, but these 2 guys are the real deal and I expect them to be a big part of our plans to assist in the GPC.
The draft was extremely weak after the first 50 players or so. The Jets made the right decision when they decided the draft sucked. If it was a different year with plenty of depth then it would have been a bad decision.
Well, it's a dramatic example (as Parcells did here what he did everywhere) but look at us, and Dallas under Parcells.... Jets: 1-15 in 1996, 9-7 in 1997, 12-4 and SB contender in 1998 Cowboys: From three straight 5-11 seasons, to 10-6 and a Wildcard birth in 2003, and in the playoffs all but one year since then; 12-2 now
If we had used 5 picks and only two of them panned out as good as Revis and Harris and the other 3 were complete busts - it would have been a great draft based on the "draft law of averages". Our FO gambled(and won) that they could get their 2 guys with only 2 picks. Works for me as long as they don't make a yearly habit of gambling with our draft.
At the time I also felt they shouldn't have traded picks just to get 2 guys, but in hindsight who would they've have had instead. They obviously felt the talent was weak overall, so they gambled and nabbed 2 bluechip prospects. ..... sure it could've backfired, but those guys look good so far. This year I'm sure they'll look to fill "depth". No complaints here
It is easy to look back at that draft after this year turns to crap and criticize them for the choices they made. No one expected this team to do as poorly as it did this year. Maybe we won't all agree on how much progress we expected to make, or how much we might take a step back, but no one could have thought we were a 3 win team this year. We still ended up with 2 more top notch guys on this roster. Every team makes choices it may end up regretting in the long run with players and roster moves from time to time. You can't forsee how everything is going to play out. That being said you have to take these things in stride and move forward. This upcoming draft we will see what the organization learned from this past year and offseason.
