I started this thread for anyone to share ideas that no one has been talking about. The reason for the thread is the following idea that I wanted to flesh out. This is the first time in a long time that there is no combine. Every time there has been a combine players have shot up or down draft boards as an apples to apples comparison allows athleticism or lack thereof to impact a player's draft position. With many players sitting out this year the picture gets even murkier. Should we sidestep the crapshoot that is the 2021 draft and accumulate as many future picks as possible?
I always appreciate "thinking outside the box", but the Jets can't really afford to "sit out" this draft. They need immediate help and they're going to have to spend draft picks, not horde them. Besides, IDK how much the Combine alters any GM's thinking since they've presumably spend hundreds of hours watching film and seeing players in games, along with scouting reports. I'm not saying that the Combine doesn't provide some valuable info, but they can probably get most of that by going to Pro Days or individual workouts.
Fair enough but I could see our GM and coach taking a patient approach and trading down a couple times as they seek value in the draft. Every year players fall well below their expected position and we could find a number of bargains this year (and in the future) if we are patient. I do think that the combine adds valuable information and would question the value of picks this year relative to future drafts. No matter how well we do in the draft and free agency this year we will have holes going into next season. Having a couple extra picks next year would be helpful.
Well trading back to get more picks is certainly a consideration, and with no Combine and a number of players not having played a full season (or at all) this past year, there may well be some good talent that falls that those extra picks could come in handy. Still, I'm hoping that Douglas uses the #2 on his future FQB, and if he wants to go into trade down mode after that, that's fine (not that he needs my permission! ). And yeah, this isn't a one year project.
Outside the box eh... How about we draft Zach Wilson at #2 and sign Drew Brees as the starter. Give Wilson a chance to learn from one of the best. Then take Najee Harris at #23 to be our Kamara. At #34 take Hainsey the guard out of ND. Sign a slew of outside pass rushers Clowney, Beasley and Dunlap on one year deals and see is Salah can light a fire under them. Sign Juju to add with Mims and Crowder.
I really like Harris. If we use all of that draft capital on Wilson I would rather use our cap space to fill holes than to pay Brees. Maybe we go after him as a QB coach when he does retire.
outside of outside the box... Trade with Washington.. give them the 2nd overall pick. Get Chase Young and their 1st round pick. Keep Sam for a year. Draft. Washington Pick- Vera Tucker...23rd - CB Horn, 34- RB Harris or Javonte Williams. 66- TE Tevin Jorden 87- WR Seth Williams. Free agency. Keep Maye. Sign- DL - Solomon Thomas --CB Sherman--- WR Any of the top 3. should still have money for any quality OL or LB that get cut.
I’m starting to really like this idea of trading down to grab Pitts and accumulate some more picks. I fee like he is going to dominate in this league.
Pitts is a great prospect but the problem is that he's a TE, and unless an offense is going to be built to utilize a TE way more than the average offense does, he's no matter how good he is, he isn't going to get the ball enough to make a bigger impact than a QB, or even an equivalently talented WR. To look at it another way, the typical offense has 3 WRs and one TE, so they only represent one fourth of the passing options on a given play. If you look at NextGen Stats, out of the Top 25 receivers in terms of REC, only two TEs - Waller of LV and Kelce of KC were listed: Receiving Stats | NFL Next Gen Stats A great TE can certainly make a big difference - Gronk, Kelce to name two of the more recent great ones - but to use first round pick on one is almost unheard of. Gronk (#42), and Kelce (#63) were 2nd and 3rd rounders. When you have as many holes - including QB - as the Jets, using a first rounder, especially a high first rounder, on a TE seems extravagant.
Who are the big names on offense in SF? We are not going to have a typical offense. We are going to have a Shannahan offense. They establish the run and use the sidelines. They value the TE so much, they made theirs the highest paid in the league.
That still doesn't support the idea that a TE is worth a first round pick. SF's TE, Kittle, had 65 Targets which ranks him 85th out of 135 receivers in 2020, and if they employ a run-heavy offense, that reduces the number of targets a TE can expect. Put it another way: what if they didn't have Kittle, would they be unable to run their offense? No, they would've found another TE, maybe - probably - not as good as Kittle - but the offensive scheme would've remained basically the same. And Kittle was a 5th round (#146) pick. While a TE can be a big contributor to an offence, teams don't center their offensive scheme on TE.
Kittle only started 8 games last season. Where would 130 repping a whole season put him? I don’t think people are pushing to draft a TE as much as people are pushing to draft Pitts. Personally, I’d prefer 1 or 2 trade backs followed by drafting their favorite CB, Receiver, or OL with that #8-12 pick.
If Kittle is so replaceable why did they just make him the highest paid TE in football? This is a offensive scheme which will rely on the OL. This is a run first scheme. I say an OL in the 1st and 2 RB somewhere in the draft. Speedy WR like Samuel either in FA or in the draft.
You make very good points, but does that mean you think Pitts won’t be drafted until the 2nd round? Most mocks I’ve seen don’t have him lasting past 11, so clearly some front offices may not agree with your logic, and I guess I’m wondering why. And you mentioned where Gronk and Kelsey got drafted, but if teams had a do-over of those drafts, wouldn’t someone have drafted them in the first round? Pitts has the talent to be in those guy’s level (in my opinion of course) and I’m just worried about passing up opportunities for the sake of honoring unwritten rules of first round drafting.
Actually I think he'll go in the first round, and maybe in the Top 10. But for a team like the Jets with all the holes, even a potentially great TE is a luxury they can't afford - unless like I said they plan on making TE a centerpiece of the offense which I don't think is likely. While what I've seen and read about him, he seems like a "hybrid" - almost a TE/WR more than just a TE - he still doesn't possess the same capability as a great WR for being able to take the top off a defense or score from any part of the field. Of course, maybe I'm wrong, I'm not an expert and this is just my opinion. There's probably a team that doesn't have as many holes as the Jets and adding someone like Pitts may be the missing piece for them, and if they're drafting in the first half of the first round he'll likely get snapped up then.
