I haven't ruled him, per se, but I think there might be better options. I just hope Douglas makes the right choice.
I think we need to learn from the sins of our past and stop drafting projections that rise up draft boards after the combine. Examples of this are Becton, Wilson, Mims etc. A lot of these guys, if you draft off their tape alone, are probably 2-4th round talents. But because of highlight reel in their underwear are being promoted as special players. Give me safe players that have performed well since highschool-- Thibideoux, Hutchinson, Neal, Icky, Jermain Johnson. I don't want Travon Walker....the guy was a solid run defender in college....nothing more nothing less. This is not the pass rusher solution. I will be pleasantly surprised if Thibideoux or Hutchinson are there when we pick. If they aren't, you have to go for a super safe pick....I think Icky, Neal, Jermaine Johnson, or Kyle Hamilton have to be the pick simply because we cannot afford more flops.
The only people that these players move up the draft boards on are the sports announcers and the fans, all the mock drafts experts eat up this information like no one has seen it. The draft boards for the NFL teams are pretty much completed at this point, the scouts have seen everything we are now seeing as fans. The interviews will determine some minor tweaks to the draft boards but none of these guys are changing their position on draft boards based on combines. The Jets knew they wanted Zach Wilson before Chris Simms even said it, or the Mock drafts put him ahead of Fields. JD has his board set up for trade back possibilities with either 4th pick or 10th pick traded, or if there is no trade. We as fans are so late to the game when it comes to these players it’s not even funny. I think you will see another good draft by JD.
By and large, I agree, but I do think that their opinions of players can change either positively or negatively as they bring them in for private workouts and interviews, and if any new info comes to light that they had not seen or heard previously. Example: when that OT's picture with the bong gas mask came out shortly before the draft. He fell significantly and some teams supposedly removed him from their board altogether. Now maybe that was only public perception, but every team may not have known or no team may have known about his pot smoking.
I definitely agree with you on this, I’m not saying a player can’t be taken off a board, it’s why I wrote that the interviews will determine some minor tweaks to the draft board. We just have to realize as fans, these players are already graded and have their place on NFL team draft boards.
Lol yea it’s about getting open. You know, the thing you said wasn’t important a few posts ago. Lol. Saying the Jets would be “out of their minds” for taking Wilson over Burks shows you have no idea what you’re talking about. Wilson is faster, is a master route-runner and has better hands than Burks. But the Jets would be out of their minds for taking him. Lol. But I see you’re already lessening your excitement on Burks. Maybe don’t run your mouth like you know more than other people dude. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is my comp for Travon Walker, I think he will have a very similar career. I wont mention the name, testing my TGG brothers :
1. Hutch 2. KT 3. Neal 4. Ekwomu Whoever is left on the board with the highest number next to him would be my pick at 4.
I agree we should not overdraft based on combine, but "sins on the past" comment is simply not accurate. Becton, Wilson and Mims were projected to go about where they went BEFORE the combine: Mel Kiper 2020 1.0 mock, 2021 1.0 Mock. JD didn't sin. He did pick athletics guys, who ALSO had a good tape and were projected where he picked them before combine.
I would agree to the point that they probably have the first couple of rounds kind of mapped out but the difference can be made at the combine for the rest of the draft especially when all the preconceived notions of what team is taking what guy go to hell and the board changes, sometimes dramatically. Players also have an opportunity to blow up their chances more in the interview process than they do on the field. Which really leads me to question why the coaching staff for the Jets stayed home. It would seem that getting into a guy's head would be more valuable if it was done by the coaches than by the GM and his staff.
I've been reading a lot on here, but I haven't done anything like full research into players and their college careers, but... ... in principle I am coming around to the idea of taking a player like Hamilton at #4 and a player like Linderbaum at #10.I know safety and center aren't the kind of positions people are looking at mostly, and if it was a straight choice between a really great safety prospect and a really great edge, I would prefer an edge of course. But it looks like the top two edge players will be gone, and I'm also reading that there are questions surrounding Thibodeaux anyway. On a team like ours, with so few quality players, getting two prospects that sound like they could be Top 5 at their respective positions, maybe even better, is very tempting. I'm more than a little tired of our top draft picks not working out, and landing two players that are being spoken of as highly as Hamilton and Linderbaum sounds like a better deal to me than a couple of risky 'prospect' types. We all know drafted players can bust, and there is a risk with everyone, including Hamilton and Linderbaum... but when you have holes everywhere, two players who seem as safe as college prospects can be sound pretty damn good to me.
