If you move somebody up your chart because they looked really good at the combine you deserve to draft more than your share of workout warriors. The combine should be about verifying existing information and moving people down when they don't check out with what you thought you saw on tape. It should be about face to face interviews to get a feel for the personality and work ethic and general professionalism. Moving somebody up because they look better in skivvies than they did on tape, well that's how Stephen Hill got drafted in the 2nd round.
I'm not one of those that think the combine should move somebody up on draft boards, however I do think they can help confirm what teams see on film and how their athleticism might transfer to the quickness of the NFL game. With that said, this guy is a physical specimen who I fully expect to open up some eyes at the combine. While Lee may be the more productive WR for right now, I think Benjamin has as much of a ceiling as any WR in this draft. If we can sign 2 decent WR's this offseason, let's say a Golden Tate and James Jones type of combo, then I say take a chance on the guy who has the "physical tools" to possibly develop into a top 5 overall WR...When you look at the best of the past few years, Megatron, Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson and Randy Moss in their prime, Julio Jones, Jeffery, Gordon etc. they are all physical specimens that can take over a game. Here was some nice stuff I read on him http://49erslife.com/draft-crush-kelvin-benjamin/
It's no secret i absolutely LOVE Benjamin and have been posting this for weeks! His talents, body type and demeanor all point to being a stud. If he is there at #18 and Watkins, Evans and Ebron are gone he is our best option 100%. That raw ability is too much to pass up on.
If the draft went like this I would be very satisfied. I think I'd like it even more if they went 4 skill position guys (2 WR's, TE and a RB) then an OG, OLB, CB and Safety.
A HOF caliber receiver does not instantly win you games. We should address WR in free agency so that we don't even necessarily have to pull the trigger on one in round 1 "just because" we should draft BPA and be patient because this receiving class is deep.
I agree with everything you say, but think a team can be too patient. The Jets cannot afford to sit back being patient, then not come out of the draft without a single high caliber WR prospect. For example, if the Jets come out of the draft with only one WR picked and that WR is Mike Davis or Ryan Grant or TJ Jones or Devin Street or Brandon Coleman, or worse, Jeff Janis or Cody Hoffman, I will be pissed beyond words and think every Jets fan should be. I don't even want the latter two at all. I'd gladly accept one of the first five names I listed if he was the second WR chosen by the team with either Lee, Evans, Cooks, Beckham Jr, Matthews or Robinson being the first. In order not to reach for a WR, they may have to aggressively seek to trade down in order to get one they like and think is a good fit.
While I agree that trading up may not always be a good choice, I dont think it should be disregarded altogether. True trading up may give you depth problems in the future but if you hit on the right prospect it can be beneficial. Having said that the only way I see us trading up is if pick 15 or 16 come up and only one of the elite reciever options are available; meaning Sammy Watkins (long gone), Mike Evans, Marquise Lee, or Eric Ebron. If and only if one is left around pick 15 or 16 do I see us jumping ahead of Baltimore, who have similar needs to us and may take the player we covet, to get our guy. If all four of these prospects are gone by our pick and we didnt trade up, I say we try and find a trade partner to move down a few slots and grab a guy like Cooks, Beckham, or Mathews. Of course this is easier said than done and if a trade partner isnt available we should then go BPA or maybe even reach for our need at WR or TE (but this is a last resort)
The thing about trading up is that usually it's a bad choice. You either miss the pick or you hit on it but it doesn't matter because now you're down players in the overall picture. Or you hit on the pick and then they get hurt and it's like half your draft went missing on one knee. If you have no respect for or belief in your ability to find value at any given point in the draft then you may trade up out of self-preservation, because you're getting bupkus after the 60 best prospects are gone anyway.
Honestly i said the same thing.... but now after looking at Jeff Jarvis i think hes better and we could get him in the 3rd round. 6 foot 3 inch 220 pound WR who can run 4.3 40 with better hands.... trade down get JEFF JARVIS
Trading up isn't bad if the value is there. The Falcons had to give up so much that year because of two reasons, it was the lockout year, so no player trades, and they had to move from the #20something spot to the 6th spot. In this case with us trading up for Watkins, the value just isn't there. We would have to move up to the top 5 and have to give up picks from this year and next year and with a team lacking depth and talent in general, it's a terrible idea.
Watkins is hands down the best WR but with how deep the draft is at WR the JETS should just be looking at drafting a WR with the #18 and possibly with the #49 pick in the draft depending on what they do in free agency...there really isn't a need to trade up at all. Jordan Matthews solidified himself as a first round pick and top 5 WR at the combine and Donte Moncrief looks like a sleeper pick for day 2...but Brandin Cooks looked great but I like a smaller guy like Jalen Saunders on day 3 in the slot and helping out on special teams.
Our last trade ups were Darelle Revis and Mark Sanchez.... Yeah I think we stay put where we are.... Get more players and possibly land more talent with more picks
Oh, don't get me started on trading picks. Tanny gave them away like candy. If there is a strategy to trade down and then trade up as a way of maximizing pick value, I don't have a problem with that. If we are spending depth from later picks in order to move up to get a single better player, I am wholeheartedly against that. We need depth at just about every position on this team. Ask this, was it really worth a 4th (LB DeAndre Levy) and 7th round pick (OT Lydon Murtha) to move up 11 spots in the 3rd round to take Shonn Greene? Consider that LeSean McCoy was taken the pick after ours in the second, which we gave up as part of the deal to trade up and get Sanchez. I don't want to play the "what if?" game, but trading up is usually a fool's errand IMO.
Agreed. If you could guarantee that every pick would stick then you could give a little more leeway to moving up. But since that's not the case all the more reason to keep the 'numbers' which gives you a greater margin against those picks that don't pan out. Stating the obvious, hitting on 5-6 picks out of 11 is easier that hitting 5-6 out of 8, with the 2009 draft serving as a lesson to be learned.
I`m not a fan of moving up in a deep draft. The only way i think we do is if it`s in the 4th or 5th round and there is a kid that fell that we absolutely love and it costs us a 6 or 7th round pick to move up. Aside from that heck no!
I would take Mike Evans over Watkins personally, great size, great hands, sub 4.5 speed at his size is amazing.
