Over the weekend I participated in the Jets war room during a 5 round community mock draft on Reddit and we ended up coming out with this draft. I'd post the link but forum rules don't allow it for me yet. What you guys think? Trades Trade 1 w/ Buffalo - 2.39 for 2.44 and 5.157 Trade 2 w/ Tampa Bay - 3.70, 5.157, and 2018 5th for 2.62 Trade 3 w/ Miami - 2017 & 2018 6th for 5.185 Selections 1.06 - Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU: Everyone in the war room concluded that this was our guy if he dropped passed Jacksonville, otherwise we were considering moving down if the right offer came across the table. Offensive superstars rarely hit the open market so although RB may not be our most glaring need, prospects like Fournette come around once every 10-20 years and we could not deny our offense his explosion and immediate impact. Given that our passing game could be shaky this year (as we did not choose to find our future QB in this draft), being able to rely on the running game will be invaluable and Fournette can provide that for us. 2.44 - Budda Baker, S, Washington: We managed to move back and still get our guy, pocketing a playmaking safety with the range that we have been seeking, as well as a cheeky 5th that we used as trade bait to move back into the 2nd. Baker was the 2nd FS on my board and was well received by the war room. Can't pass up the Pro Bowl potential Baker possesses. 2.62 - Antonio Garcia, OT, Troy: When we saw Garcia dropping in the 2nd, we started hitting the phones to find a trade partner, which came in the form of Tampa Bay. I had Garcia as the 3rd OT on my board with high upside and although he may not make an immediate impact, we see him as an 8-10 year starter once he adapts to the league. 4.137 - Ejuan Price, EDGE, Pittsburgh: We were hit with an unfortunate run of targeted prospects going off the board but I got a guy that I personally am very high on. His knocks being injuries and just turning 24, but his upside is well worth the risk in my opinion and it addresses our need at EDGE nicely. He's of the shorter pass rusher variety but I see a healthy blend of Brandon Graham and James Harrison and can see him reaching double digit sack seasons for us. 5.151 - Jonnu Smith, TE, FIU: Freakish receiving TE that saw his stock drop after his girlfriend ended his season by pouring boiling water on him and has struggled with run blocking and drops, but carries an athletic prowess that we couldn't pass up, as well as bolsters a position of weakness. 5.185 - Marquez White, CB, FSU: The trade for White came in the final hour and was to the dismay of everyone, but we weren't thrilled about not addressing corner and were pleasantly surprised to see him dropping way too far. He could potentially fill our void on the outside, as he has the size and skill set to start in the league. Conclusion This mock draft went nearly best-case scenario for us. We addressed all of our needs, barring QB, and managed to do so with players that we believe to have incredible upside, as well as fit our scheme. I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts!
Solid Mock. Fournette will help the offense for sure long term. Baker really good pickup and will be a good starter in this league. You also added a sleeper on Garcia. Do you remember seeing any good CBs in the 4th? The EDGE pick could be shaky. Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
Also I should mention this was completed the day before they awarded comp picks, so we were going off of a 4th rounder instead of a 3rd
Before our pick Kevin King and Damontee Kazee were taken. King went 111. Had we not traded up already for Garcia then we would have made a move for King, but we didn't want to sacrifice more picks next year at that point. We couldn't make a deal that didn't require future picks
Based on trades with Buffalo and Miami and giving away a pick from next year, I almost gave it an F, and would have except that I really like Fournette, and also like Baker and Garcia. Trades within the division almost never happen and for good reason. So right off the bat, imo, that makes your mock severely flawed. I also don't think the Jets can afford to burn any picks trading up. If anything, they need to trade down. I don't know anything about Price or White, and only a little about Smith, so can't really comment on them except to say that I think waiting until the 5th round to take a CB is way too late. Regarding Smith, I will say that imo the Jets have little or no use for a TE who is only a receiver. That makes the offense too predictable when he is on the field. They need 2-way TEs. Forgetting the incident with his girlfriend, based on the fact that he's basically a one-dimensional TE, I wouldn't take him.
We wanted to go CB early, but also had to factor in what we expected to happen in FA. Jets have publicly stated they planned on making a splash at CB so we expected a Bouye or Gilmore type signing, which is why we went Baker instead of Tre White in round 2. Then the board just didn't fall like we would've liked. Had we stayed put in Round 3, we were targeting Engram (who was chosen before our 3rd) or Leggett ( who would've been available). But we really wanted Garcia when we saw he was at end of round 2 and felt the trade value was certainly worth jumping up for our future LT. We pretty much only gave up a 2018 5th to jump up 8 spots to grab him. You honestly wouldn't make that same deal? We need playmakers on offense. We can sign a UDFA blocking TE if needed, but we need weapons galore to take the pressure off Fournette and 8-9 man boxes. Personally I'd be quite happy with this draft. The fact that it was 2 in-division trades was just how it worked out when shopping around. Wouldn't expect the same in real life but we're all Reddit GM's playing for fun
If the Jets do sign a FA #1 CB, then yes, that would eliminate the urgency to draft one, so I agree with that. That said, I hope they won't. They'll have to way over pay, and I don't think CBs should get astronomical salaries. Actually, you gave up this year's 3rd & 5th round picks, and next year's 5th to get Garcia. I like his potential a lot, but I don't think that I'd do that deal. To your credit you did trade down in the 2nd and gained a pick, but the Jets need as many picks as they can get, and you also traded away next year's 6th round pick to get White. Trading 3 picks to get Garcia is just too costly, especially when you consider that the Jets may need every pick they can get to try to get their franchise QB in next year's draft. The Jets could also wait until next year and if they didn't get their franchise QB, could quite possibly get their future starting LT with their 1st (and only) pick. There's no way I'd trade away two of next year's picks and 4 in total. Yes, we need playmakers on offense, but imo not at the expense of limiting our offense and making it more predictable. We've had the receiving TEs and the blocking TEs pretty much for the last decade and they've all sucked, and our offense was too predictable. Enough is enough. We need 2-way TEs, not wimpy WR wannabe TEs who can't or won't block. Leggett would have been an excellent choice, and would fill a huge need. LT is more important so while I can understand the trade up, I think you just gave up too much. I understand that you're just doing it for fun, but imo when you're doing something like that it should mirror reality as closely as possible; otherwise, it's just like one of those dumb draft games where you can trade with anyone and make 15 million trades and wind up with 20 draft picks. The first two picks are great. If you take out the trade and take Leggett, then Price, take someone other than Jonnu Smith, and then take another pick in the 5th round rather than trading it away, I'd give it a B+ and maybe an A.
Just to clarify, the 5th that was traded was the one we got from Buffalo, so we jumped up 8 spots at the expense of next year's 5th only. The Jets gave up a future 4th to grab an OT in round 5 this past draft, so I don't believe we overpaid at all. But that's why the draft and these exercises are fun, so that we can see all the different variables and thought processes each person goes through to make it the best draft possible for them. As far as White goes, we had a early 4th round grade on him. So when he was there at the final pick of the exercise, we deemed it worth our while to jump up for him. We debated him at Price's spot, but ultimately went EDGE. I believe that while the teams we traded with isnt realistic, the value given up to make the deals fell in line with realistic expectations. Believe me, making deals was not easy. It was quite difficult to come to terms on each one, especially with the fact we only had 2 mins per pick. So that kind of skewed things as well being that picks were flying left and right as we're negotiating for prospects that would end up going while discussions were happening
