After seeing Myles Garrett abuse the undersized Beachum last year, I would love to see Becton guarding Sam's blindside! With that said, if he's off the board, Thomas would fit the bill. He has the experience and makeup to be a solid LT.
OTs Willis —easily the best prospect for me, and highly doubt he is going the last to 11 Wirfs — love his game, and the potential. Becton — Potential, potential, potential. Need I say more Thomas — He's the solid but unspectacular one of the bunch. Think he could be a plug & play for us but I just rate the other 3 better than him. Jones — Trade Back option (Jones is the only one I wouldn't take @ 11 if the other 4 are already off the board but would consider one of the 3 WRs over Thomas and possibly Becton)
Do you see Wills making the transition to LT? If not, then I think #11 is too high to take a RT. The same goes for Wirfs. I understand the reluctance with Becton. Although he is an amazing physical specimen, he got by in college because he was bigger and stronger than anyone else. That won't work in the NFL, but lots of players who come into the NFL who have been bigger, stronger, faster than anyone else, fail to take the next step. They still try to get by on just that alone and don't learn/refine proper technique. It could be poor coaching or poor scheme fits, but it could also just be laziness or inability to realize that they can no longer get by on natural talent alone. Thomas is the most experienced and played against the best players in the country in the SEC. He has some technical issues to fix, but I see no reason to believe that he won't. As HerndonFan points out, the question with him is whether he is a scheme fit.
Thomas to me is the most 'plug-n-play' type that JD would be most likely to take with #11 - when you draft a player that high , it has to be that type. Jets as of this time, are in desperate need of a high caliber starting LT and Thomas seems to be at that level to be their guy. Can't see JD taking a risk unless he's sure about something we aren't up on.
Right now Vegas odds has us going with Andrew Thomas or CeeDee Lamb-- I think those two guys are our most realistic selections, based on who's available and going the safest route. I Would love to trade back and accumulate, but that takes a trading partner.
I agree that in ideal circumstances that one would never want to take a "project" player with one's first round pick, especially a top 15 pick. We all know that these circumstances are anything but ideal, however. The OL has been ignored for too long. The NFL has transitioned to a passing league and the Jets are woefully behind the curve. There has been a scarcity of quality OL in recent drafts, and almost every team is desperate for OL help. That means that if one wants to upgrade/fix one's OL, one is going to have to overdraft players, reach a little, and hope they pan out. None of the top 4 tackles are "can't miss-type prospects." They all have great potential however. Thomas, Wirfs and Wills, and to a lesser extent, Becton, have all played at a high level. They all have some technical issues to iron out or learn. AFAIK, Wills has never played LT, and Wirfs only a little. Can they make the switch? A lot of Becton's success was due to his size and strength advantage over collegiate defensive players. He won't have that, at least to the same extent, as in college. Will he be willing to work hard to develop his technique? Not all players in his shoes do. Thomas is the safest plug and play of the group. Wills and Wirfs would be very safe at RT, but is that too high to take a RT?
The idea of trading back sounds great, but imo we need "star" calibler players on offense to get where we want to be. Perhaps they can be found in lower rounds in this or subsequent drafts, but the better shape that Douglas has our roster in, the lesser the chance the Jets will have to draft elite players because we should be drafting lower and lower each year. I think we need to just stay put and either get an elite WR prospect or a very good OT prospect and forget about trading down this year.
Yes, at this point I would be surprised if he didn't transition well to LT. I don't know if it's just that I'm super high on him (i think that he's a tier above the rest of the tackles). I wouldn't be opposed to Becton — I would love any of the tackles or receivers at 11 (with the obvious assumption that Chase Y. and Jeff O. are off the board) At the end of the day, I think Joe D's decision is going to come down to Thomas/Becton (or if the Browns take one of them right before us) and the 3 receivers. I would be a bit shocked if Wirfs isn't gone at 8 to Arizona and I think Wills goes earlier than that.
I am hoping for Thomas but fear he will be gone by 11. I prefer solid, experienced guys over projects/potential like Becton because, well, we're the Jets. Adam fucking Gase is our coach. Do you trust him and his staff to coach projects up to reach their potential?
Becton is the one that excites me the most and scares me the most. TBH I hope he goes before 11 cause I’d hate to be the team desperate for a LT that passes on him if he reaches his potential. Thomas to me is the only one you know you’re gonna insert into the LT position from day one and he’ll be your LT for the next 10 years barring injury. He may not become all pro but he’ll be a solid starter for years. The other 3 can be great LTs and likely will become great RTs if nothing else. The closer we get to draft though the more I hope the Jets draft one of Ceedee, Jeudy, Ruggs in the first who I think are all better prospects than the OTs and then JD can use his OL expertise to hit on some OL later in draft.
I at least partially agree with you, maybe wholly. Players aren't drafted for just their first season. With Douglas being a former OL, he may think that one of the other top 5 OTs can develop within a year even though that player may not be ready to start day one. Would he pass on a prospect like that and take a WR instead? I just don't know. We have a definite need at WR, and we should have 2, maybe 3 elite WR prospects sitting there at #11. Was he just blowing smoke about speed on offense to try to get the other GMs to draft the WRs and leave the OTs for him? I will be surprised if Douglas goes into the draft not having re-signed Beacham or signing Peters, and thus forcing himself to have to draft an OT. IMO that's one of the worst mistakes a GM can make in the draft. Now maybe he has complete confidence in both Fant and Edoga, but we have zero depth behind them. We don't know that we have 5 OL who can mesh into a cohesive unit to protect Sam and open holes for Bell, and injuries happen. I'm thinking (hoping) that Douglas is too smart to go into the draft having to draft an OT because he failed to sign another in FA. He could have an agreement in place with either Beacham or Peters. We just don't know. I think how Douglas handles the OT and WR positions in this draft will tell us more about Douglas than anything else. We'll learn whether we have a GM who is good to go and can be trusted to make the right moves and who has a great eye for talent, whether he still has some learning/growing to do in the position, or whether he is on the same level as Mac with regards to the draft.
IF we go elite WR, it's going to be really really interesting which guy we go with. A lot of analysts think it's a "pick your flavor" type of thing, but I think it's a bit more intricate than that. One of those guys could be an elite level, while the other is at a good level. I think it's Jeudy vs Lamb for that top spot.....the fact that there are not a lot of Oklahoma star receivers in the league is concerning. So CeeDee could be a product of the system--not saying I agree. Jeudy is from the Bama receiver factory and he's been one of the better ones. You just have to hope he hasn't benefited too much from the supporting cast. I don't think either will bust, but I think you can have a situation where one might be Amari Cooper while the other becomes Marvin Harrison. Maybe they both become stars? Ah the fun of draft season!
I should have been more clear and agree about the WR situation. Thomas would be the most likely on OL to go after. I would not have an issue at all if JD takes a WR at #11 - would certainly be thrilled to see Sam throwing to real #1 like Jeudy, or whomever he decides on.
