It's been a long time since I have agreed with you, but today is the end of the drought. Who says Idzik doesn't care about the D??? It sounds to me that Idzik was quite comfortable with getting Pryor. I saw the interview where Pryor talked about visiting the Jets, meeting Idzik earlier, and feeling like they more or less told him he was their pick (assuming htey would not trade up, which was unlikely all along). Having said that I do think Idzik knew going into the draft that he was going to have to address the secondary, having failed to improve it in FA. Add that the draft class was and remains deep at wideout, and that Gilbert and Fuller were gone, and this seems the logical choice.
It's very difficult to say who would have been chosen should they have been there (impossible, really) but yes, the secondary unit really did need an influx of talent. I agree that Idzik is very comfortable with whoever he picks, and I believe he and Rex are very in touch with what the other does to improve this team. I still believe adding a CB and a WR relatively early is probably a good idea, but it depends on who is available as our picks come up, but the thing people always seem to forget is that you can improve the overall quality of a unit like CB by adding a talented player at another position like safety, or vice versa. The only thing in your post I disagree with is the choice of using the phrase "failed to improve it in FA," and I know we've had this discussion a number of times. I just think knowing what kind of secondary talent was available in the draft, and the price tag it would come with influenced his decision not to sign a big time corner. If whoever starts at CB has a really really bad year, and it is a major factor in us having a bad season, I will concede to your opinion on this but I really don't expect that to happen.
By the way, to everyone who says safety isn't a valuable position, has anyone noticed Pittsburgh's defensive decline correlates almost identically to Troy Polamalu aging? And just look at Seattle as well, Earl Thomas is probably the most valuable defensive player they have coming off their Super Bowl. There's a reason they prioritized Thomas' extension before Sherman's.
We will never know for sure what the Jets would have done if Gilbert and/or Fuller were available at 18. But it doesn't matter at this point. They went first, and the teams that picked them had their reasons. Did Idzik anticipate those choices? Can't say either way on that, either. Dennard was still available, but again I will defer to their assessment that Pryor was the better choice. Dennard did go a few positions later, but yes, improving safety helps the pass D, which was a huge need. Where I disagree with you is in your second paragraph. Again I don't pretend to be a draft expert by any means, but it is the common view that this draft was thin in secondary players. And is is beyond question that they did not improve the CB position, having cut Cromartie and not replacing him. I simply see little prospect of getting a starting cb in the third or fourth round. For understandable reasons people expect the Jets to go O in the second round, which to me leaves a possible trade as the only reasonable prospect for finding another starter at Cb.
The pick was pretty much what I expected if they went defense. It was likely a best fit pick between Idzik and Rex. Rex probably slightly preferred Dennard and Idzik has always worked for teams with a star safety tying things together in the middle. I love the pick. I'd have been ok with a WR but I think the value with Pryor is very good at that slot and the Jets defense got much stronger with his selection. No more free agents and UDFA's in the middle and the Jets have been like that since Kerry Rhodes left town after 2009.
This draft is not as deep with secondary players as WR's, but it is does have some decent depth for them at the top end. You'd have to assume that Gilbert, Fuller, Pryor, Dennard, and Clinton-Dix all would have gone before 18 for the Jets not to be able to add a quality secondary player in the first round, and that's assuming they would have considered Verrett, Roby, Bucannon, and Ward as reaches, which there is no way of knowing. I think Patterson is a quality starter and I'm really more worried about injury than what he can produce on the field. The difference between Cro's injury history and Patterson's injury history is that Patterson will play well so long as he does not get injured again, whereas Cro's past injury may keep him from ever being able to preform well again. Kyle Wilson may surprise a lot of fans, because I think he is a very good nickel CB but I don't think he is limited to that. He may start outside with Patterson inside, it's just impossible to know right now. Who would you want us to trade for? I can't think of any realistic options at the moment.
I don't buy that. Rex has input obviously, but Idzik makes the final call. We needed secondary help moreso than WR, since in the off season we signed a top WR and didn't sign a CB. We didn't just draft D because Rex runs the draft. What a load.
Trade options? Imo talking about trade options, specific options, is a waste of time. NFL teams don't publicize, well, for the most part - sometimes they in effect signal someone might be available, or you can make a good guess someone would be available, but as I was saying for hte most part, that they will be shopping a particular player around. So I am not going there. I was just talking about the general concept. And no I do not see Patterson as a suitable replacement for Cromartie. The first paragraph though underscores why they needed to go secondary in the first round. Given those five guys and the likelihood none of them were going to last into the second round, let alone down to the Jets' pick, you had to get one of them. The last thing I will say is about Cro, and I will be just as an item of interest, since I happen to think Arizona is an up and coming team, and currently a well run organization, is that surely the Cards considered Cro's health before signing him. They are not giving him peanuts, and clearly expect him to start. I would be surprised they did that without feeeling comfortable with his health.
Well, I think you can look at the makeup of teams around the league, and look at their contract/cap situations and see at least what might be feasible as a trade even if it isn't likely. At the moment I don't even see any feasible options but I'll keep looking. As far as the Cards and Cro, it's a bit of a different story than us. Their secondary was a point of strength in 2013 and they have more talent on their team than we do. For them, they have a proven league top CB in Peterson (#3 behind Sherman and Revis) and a very versatile and talented nickel CB/FS in Tyrann Matthieu, and they don't have holes in their front 7 and they have a good pass-rush. They have a solid offense that can score well and are NOT in a rebuilding mode in any sense. For them, signing Cro is a calculated risk. They drafted a SS with their first rounder, thus rounding out a very solid secondary and a very solid defense overall. If Cro is a weak spot on their starting roster, it's not the end of the world. For the Jets, we have to restock talent on the team overall, and Cro is not a risk worth taking. If we draft a CB, Cro would be taking away important developmental snaps and important cap room if he is not able to produce. The Jets also want leadership to be turned over to the young rising stars they have drafted recently, and if Cro came back he would be a leader by default and thus stunt the leadership growth of the younger players. If Patterson goes down with injury, it's the next man up and he does not effect our cap when he is not on the field. If Cro is gimpy like last year, a problem arises in the question of "Do we play him, or bench him? He is costing $3.5 million to the cap and he technically can still be on the field, but he may be a liability." That was the same problem last year except on a greater scale considering how much we were paying him. I have to run now but I can give more of an argument later.
I am also very impressed by the Cards right now. I would be shocked if they are not a playoff team, even considering the overall strength of the NFC. I had no problem with cutting Cro if they replaced him in FA. They did not. It's really that simple. Even though I am mildly happy with the Pryor pick, there's still a gaping hole at Cb. Sure there's stronger overall strength in the secondary now. But imo they still should upgrade Cb, but the optoins are dwindling.
