This is not a thread about whether we got value, or whether we should have taked Leinart or any of the other typical things we read here. Instead, I want to look at the draft in a more general light and one that I think bodes extremely well for our future. Mangini is expected to be a "defensive" coach. Yet this draft solidly favored the offensive side of the ball. I think that this aspect has not been discussed enough. It shows a very open and well thhought out plan for a defensive coach to go so offense heavy in the draft. I also think that this was the right way to go. I think most defensive minded coaches would have never spent the top 3 picks like we did on offense. Doing this suggests that Mangini is going to be a very open flexible and BALANCED coach for the Jets. Also, the picks of Smith, Pociask showed an imagination and dedication to the offensive side of the ball that we would have never seen from the previosu generation. We certainly would not have taken Smith or Pociask and likely would have passed on Leon Washington as well. Whether or not any of these players turn out to be as great as we all hope they be, this draft demonstrated clearly the intention to develop a well rounded team strong on BOTH sides of the ball. It makes me very excited for our future. P.S. : In the previous regime, we would definitely have either traded up for Bush or picked Leinart as these were the sexy picks Herm and Bradway would have liked. We might have made the beat writers happier, but long term we will be better off the way we drafted.
Man F~$K the beat writers... Our draft overall was great... We picked up guys we were supposed to, and for a defensive mind coach to draft offense is what they are supposed to do, he is a head coach not a DC. Mangini clearly has his hands on the steering wheel, and knows what has to be done with our organization. Hiring mangini is the most important and intelligent hiring the organization has done. Hopefully they let mangini do his thing and not over rule him.
Nice post. Yeah, it was a great draft from that perspective....but it goes to show that it is team effort: Mangini and Tanny no doubt had a lot of input from Schottenheimer. It's great that Mangini is clearly delegating work, and that he and Tanny are actually using the input from the other coaches and the scouts as well. Have to admit that I was suprised but delighted about the direction the draft went in...as you say previous management would have gone for Leinart, and I was dreading that Leinart's name would have been called out. (not that Leinart is a bad player, he's just not right for the Jets in our present predicament) We also got the playmaking players a lot were after, and we got them at good spots in the draft. There are a couple of holes in our roster that possibly could have been filled at certain points in the draft, but overall the dyed in the wool Jets fan has to be very pleased about this draft, and the direction the organisation is going in.
Me too. He might turn out to be excellent but at the moment we have Chris Baker , James Dearth , Doug Jolley and Joel Dreessen. Dearth is an excellent long snapper , Baker will start ahead of Jolley (I hope) so I guess thats Dreessen and Pociask fighting it out for the last spot.
He was probably picked so that our TE's can wake up, and start playing they way they are supposed to.
he was drafted to be moved to fullback. atleast thats what tannenbuam said on the radio. maybe H back
He will be a blocking FB like Lorenzo Neal of the CHargers. Quite a good pick actually he is supposed to be an awesome blocker. Should really upgrade our RB position.
I agree with Mangini being open minded. I think the bears drafted FOUR defensive players in their first 5 picks of the draft. (not 100% sure but close) they were saying how Lovie Smith is all about defense. I love Defense but when you have a record breaking defense like they did last year and failed because of your lack of offense MAYBE you should take a peek at some offensive players
he is reputed to be an excellent blocker--you cannot say that about any of of their tight ends. Baker is just okay. A decent player for short yardage situations.
Good post, I agree with most of it except this part - kinda. I thought picking Jones and Cavka was in the same class of picks as B. Smith and Pociask. They were both projections. But most importantly, you are totally right that Bradway would have felt the compulsion to pick either Bush or Leinart and I couldn't be ahppier that we didn't.
If you remember... we were trying hard to sign Dan Campbell during free agency. He is a mauler, a big blocking TE that makes his living serving up pancakes... Pociask is a poor man's Campbell. We NEEDED a guy like this that can get out into the open field and level linebackers. Mangini has stated publicly that we will feature a power running game and great defense this season, so a mauler is an essential acquisition... thats why, despite the perception of reaching for him with the 5th rounder, it was essential that we got a guy we were confident could fill the role of lead blocker. Because Askew is NOT that guy.
I have no idea what Bradway would have done. But I'll say this about Mangini. He's definitely confident about his coaching skills on the defensive side of the ball. Remember that this is the guy that coached up a slew of defensive backs when they had undrafted FA's playing there during the super bowl run. He's confident enough on his ability to coach up players rather than having to draft superior talent. That's why I think he took Schlegel and Smith. By all accounts both are very coachable players, even if they're not work out warriors. I see us playing a very disciplined defense where everybody does exactly their assignment and not rely on supreme talents at every position to get the job done. That's how our rivals in NE ran a great defense and I think that's how we'll run ours. I'm really curious to see how our team is coached.
I don't think we have the o-line built for a power running game. Unless you consider Denver's running game a "power running game", it's a great running game but I don't think it is a power running game the way Pittsburgh's is.
Yeah, that was a bad choice of words on my part... a great running game is more applicable. Power implies Jerome Bettis, which we clearly are not built for... needless to say, Pociask was a draft choice made out of necessity. He is a guy we took in order to implement a specific type of offense, I think he was a good pick. I saw some pictures of him absolutely leveling guys on the internet, and he will give us something in the backfield we won't get from Askew... power.
Interesting- In Your Opinion, how long does it take for a defense to gel? Because with a system like that trust is everything! We will need our defense to come together quickly. I believe it took a couple of years for belicheck to get the d in NE to a high level.
You're absolutely right, trust is a major, major factor in a disciplined defense. The most important thing in a defensive scheme like that are linemen that hold their blocks when it's a run, defensive backs that stay in their assignments and not gamble/drift on the pass and linebackers with really good recognition skills to adjust to the play. Our linemen don't have to be spectacular, at least in what I envision to be Mangini's system. Against the run, they have to hold their ground (particularly the outside guys on the contain) and let the linebackers make the play. Against the pass in a 3-4 scheme, they'll have some help with linebackers that'll be blitzing. It'd be nice to get a sack from them once in a while, but unless you have superior talents like Seymore, you shouldn't expect them to get more than 5 sacks a year each. The linebackers are the ones that get the sacks in a 3-4. Now, does this take that much discipline? My guess is that if you have good linebackers this part of the team should be okay. Our DB's have to stay really disciplined in their assignment and this is where I see the biggest issues. Can Barrett/Dyson/Miller stay on their assignments? Can our safeties recognize the play well enough to not get caught on play-action? Generally disciplining the DBs tends to be the toughest part of a defensive scheme like NE, but fortunately, this also corresponds to Mangini's strengths. Our linebackers really need to be really, really smart. That's why I like the Schlegel pick. At least from everything I've read, he's really good at recognizing offenses and can stay disciplined in his assignment. He makes plays despite his physical limitations because he did this in college. He'llbe perfect for running downs. Vilma obviously is very smart and can stay disciplined. Barton and Hobson, not as much, but they should improve. I'm thinking that our defense will feature Thomas on passing downs, take off Hobson and insert a DB. Our nickel defense should be interesting, but I'm not sure about Mangini's plans for that. Now given all this, it'll probably take at least 4 weeks before things really gel. I actually thought the defense played pretty well last year. I don't think we can play an attacking style defense that goes after the quarterback (we don't have the defensive line talent), but more a defense that's solid against the run due to good scheming and take chances on there being lots of 3rd and longs. Of course, that leaves us susceptible to play action on first and second downs, but that's where we need disciplined/smart DB's and LB's. If that's the style we end up playing (definitely seems like it after this draft), we drafted the right guys in Schlegel and Smith.
I like this idea. Pociask is a great blocker, according to my Badger-obsessed friend. He should be able to help create great holes for Curtis. I love the way our protection is being shored up this offseason!
