Okay, so we're getting to the point where we can start to evaluate what the Jet's got out of Terry Bradway's drafts. I felt really strongly, starting in about 2002, that Bradway had wandered badly off the path - making bad trades and picking players who were all potential and no production with his first day picks. I've decided at this point, halfway through the 5th season after the 2002 draft to look at what the Jets actually got out of Bradway's years at the helm. In retrospect it's pretty obvious that the cause of the Jet's collapse had three major facets. First there was too much reliance on aging vets and not enough real competition in Herm Edward's camps. Second there was not enough real young talent coming in the door. This had an effect on the first cause above, since you can't blame Herm for not playing mediocre young guys when he had established veterans, albeit with the clock ticking on them, already on his roster from the Parcells days. Third there were too many young starters who were allowed to walk due to no attention being paid to their contract status until they were close enough to free agency to let other teams set their price. The Bradway drafts had a major impact on the second cause above, particularly the first day picks who have by and large not been impactful at the NFL level. What I'm going to do is to rate each first day pick by it's actual value to the current Jets. This way we can see why the Jets are where they are and we can start to look at what they really need to do with the first day going forward. 2001 Draft First Day Picks: 1. Santana Moss. Current value to the Jets: Laveranues Coles, a clearly superior starting NFL receiver. This pick has held it's value over the seasons. 2. Lamont Jordan. Current value to the Jets: Half of Eric Smith, a 3rd round compensation pick taken in the 2006 draft. This pick has deteriorated badly over the seasons. 3. Kareem McKenzie. Current value to the Jets: Half of Eric Smith, a 3rd round compensation pick taken in the 2006 draft. This pick has deteriorated badly over the seasons. 2002 Draft First Day Picks: 1. Bryan Thomas. Current value to the Jets: a mediocre starting right outside linebacker. This pick has deteriorated badly over the seasons. 2. John McGraw. Current value to the Jets: no value. 3. Chris Baker. Current value to the Jets: a starting tightend. This pick has held it's value over the seasons. 2003 Draft First Day Picks: 1. Dewayne Robertson. Current value to the Jets: a mediocre starting interior defensive lineman. This pick (and the other bundled picks in the trade) has deteriorated badly over the seasons. On the face of the pick alone the deterioration is not as bad, but when you take into account the other value wrapped up in the pick the picture is much worse. 2. Victor Hobson. Current value to the Jets: a mediocre starting left outside linebacker. This pick has deteriorated over the seasons. 3. B.J. Askew. Current value to the Jets: a mediocre special teams player. This pick has deteriorated over the seasons. 2004 Draft First Day Picks: 1. Jonathan Vilma. Current value to the Jets: an above average starting interior linebacker. This pick has held it's value over the seasons. 2. No pick. Traded for Justin McCareins. Current value to the Jets: a slot receiver of average ability. This pick has deteriorated over the seasons. 3. Derrick Strait. Current value to the Jets: no value. 2005 Draft First Day Picks: 1. No pick. Traded for Mike Nugent and Doug Jolley. Current value to the Jets: a mediocre kicker. This pick has badly deteriorated in value after just one season. 2. Justin Miller. Current value to the Jets: an excellent kick returner. This pick has deteriorated slightly over the last season, inasmuch as first day picks need to be productive starters. 3. Sione Puha. Current value to the Jets: no value. Pouha is on IR and made no impact last season. That's why the Jets are so bad right now. Over the last 5 seasons their first day picks boil down to three plus players (Laveranues Coles, Chris Baker and Jonathan Vilma) and 12 picks that have deteriorated in value. The NFL is a rough league and it's tough to maintain value from the draft over any period of time but to have 80% of your first day picks over a five year period turn into lemons is enough to sink any franchise into the muck. Note also that this is not the usual run of failures due to injury. Remarkably the Jets have only had two serious injury cases (Jon McGraw and Sione Pouha) among the 15 first day picks they either traded or exercised. This is purely a failure to discern real talent and the resulting collapse of the franchise. And this guy is still the Jet's Pro Personnel Director, which is a very scary thought.
Thanx for the trip down memory lane. Good thing Bradway is only a scout now huh? Time to move on man. Let the Bradway hate go...
Wow, hes a scout now. Let it, go. Move on. Do something constructive with your time, that was an utter waste.
So none of Bradway's picks make sense? Which players will you have picked during that same period and which free agernts will you have kept and/signed. Is Vilma on that list? what about Rhodes etc?
Those draft picks weren't all bad picks. I think the problem was the return we got for them (Jordan, McKenzie, Moss, etc.) 2001 netted 3 above average starters and all of the drafts got us at least 1 starter. I don't think his picks taken individually were bad, perhaps they were poor timing (Thomas, Moss, etc.) but on the whole they weren't bad choices.
Bradway is now just kept on the payroll for his prior services. The past is the past ... let's look forward to the future drafts and FA.
That seems like a really good draft record actually, just Herm misused or didn't play most of them. Most picks don't really pan out in the NFL at all, but Bradways first day picks that you listed are all still in the league and look like they will be for awhile. He may not have been drafting pro bowlers left and right, but that is a very solid group of players when you consider the talent Parcells left the team with. If the Patriots draft similary for the next 3 years, I'd say they were doing admirably.
I thought he recovered in 2004 after crappy drafts in 2002 and 2003. But looking at 2005, nobody stands out as a great player. I'd say Bradway's success depended on Robertson's success which is still debatable. 2004 1st - Vilma 2nd - McCareins 3rd - Strait (was great pick at time or so we thought)(Nagurski award winner) 4th - Cotchery 5th - Erik Coleman 7th - Rashad Washington
Great post. Imagine how bad the Jets would be right now if Tangini hadn't drafted so well this year . . . TBTF
let me ask u a question what about all the good second day picks he has made kerry rhodes eric coleman umm i know there are more but i cant think of any now
He was 1 for 5 with the money picks in the 1st round.. Really 1 for 6 counting Dewayne for 2..... Even with Santana.. He trade up in a draft loaded with WR's while the team had other needs. Bradway thought his Super Bowl contending team needed KR. I'm far from a Draft guru but, as I remember it I would have taken... 01 Reggie Wayne.... The talk of the draft was WR"s galore. No need to trade up. I admit though that while Chambers, Wayne and Chad Johnson were there. There were other WR's who bombed.... Very talented 1st round though - Hutchinson, Hampton, oh my... We (fans) wanted beef and we got a midget punt returner... Right there one of our lines could have been fortified in a big way!!!! 02 Ed Reed... Bryan Thomas was a shocking pick.... I admit Rumph was also talked about for the Jets.... But Brian Thomas?????? This is where Championships are won.... You draft Hampton in 01 and Reed and DAMN that defense would have been legendary... When Abe played, at least. 03 Ty Warren / William Joseph..... Heck grab two.. The draft had about 6 DTs ranked pretty evenly WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T BE AN IDIOT AND TRADE 2 PICKS TO GAMBLE ON JUST ONE OF EM!!!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE... This is the deal that killed me.....The beauty of drafting is when you have the ablility to scout talent in a number of guys so you can sit back and grab VALUE when it falls in your lap... Unless you could sell your 1st born on some talent, you do not Trade UP with 2 1st round picks... AND, they sold this guy as a run stuffing monster... NOT a tweener gap shooter with a chronic INJURY. So, the idiot didn't even draft the right kind of DT, what did he do, buy a magazine that morning? Oh he was making up for the Skins fleecing he took????? Ugghhh. As for the picks, I remember Boss Baily being discussed, that could have sucked... But, definitely a DT at 13 and if nothing else you have 2 chances at getting a good player. 04' YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bradway gets 1..and it's the guy everyone wanted. 05' Disaster..... I have a post around here of exactly who I wanted that I'll look for... But, we'd probably take Miller in round 1 anyway or a OT. Though Bradway had to put his foot in his mouth and make it clear he's fool by saying Jolley is better than Heath Miller!!!!!!!.... The Nugent pick was ridiculous and the Jolley trade was ridiculous.. A lot could have been done here with those 3 picks. IDIOT.
2001 - No good second day picks. 2002 - No good second day picks. 2003 - If you want to call Bollinger a good pick, so be it, but I wouldn't. No good second day picks. 2004 - WR Jerricho Cotchery, S Erik Coleman, are the only ones in 2004. 2005 - S Kerry Rhodes, RB Cedric Houston only ones in 2005. So, thats 4 good picks out of a possible 22. Where as you have Tannenbaum who, has 2 starters already starting and a WR/QB/RB that gets a good amount of reps. So thats 3 out of a possible 5 already for Tannenbaum.
I wanted Chad Johnson at 19 in 2001. (Jets traded up to take Moss at 16. Johnson went 36th overall.) I wanted Ed Reed instead of Bryan Thomas at 22 in 2002. I wanted Anquan Boldin at 53 in 2003 instead of Victor Hobson. I don't have issues with the other selections (some worked, some didn't- that's the way it usually goes). I liked the Robertson selection, but unfortunately it has not panned out.
I would add Rashad Washington to the list. He was a 7th round pick and is contributing on special teams. Value-wise he was a good selection.
Jamie Henderson (4th round, 101st overall in 2001) was a good selection. He was a useful player. It's not Bradway's fault he had a motorcycle crash. He made the key play in the Jets 13-12 win over the Panthers in 2001. He blocked a punt which Chris Hayes returned for a touchdown. The Jets did get into the playoffs that year by a narrow margin.
