We've had some real bombs. I know Hackenberg was only a 2nd rounder, but I found it absurdly impressive that he never played a single regular season snap in the NFL.
In terms of the Jets and draft pick value, yeah. I'll always feel a little bad for him, though. Quiet guy, nice enough, but the New York media market was a horrible fit. Contrast that with Dewayne Robertson. Not a total, 100% washout, but nowhere near the value of his draft slot, or anything remotely close to all the bluster that came with him. Bowling ball full of butcher's knives my ass.
RIP to probably my biggest draft whiff ever. Lessons learned: Don't dismiss level of competition Don't make rookies your avatar
If blame is to be assigned, put it all on Douglas. How in the world did he think a guy who only had 1 decent year in college playing the easiest schedule ever deserved to #2 overall? Uh, Joe, during Zach's pro day when he was flinging it all over, there were no defenders applying a pass rush or even on the field, or didn't you notice?
That dude is a perfect example of why we should look at the profile a player shows us in his college career and not expect that "looking the part" and "having all the tools" will turn him into something more in the NFL. I followed his recruitment, because it was right around that time when the online recruiting services really started to explode. Rivals had been around, but CBS poured money into 247Sports and the online recruiting world became a year-round soap opera. Hackenberg was one of the first recruits caught up in the online drama. He was a high five-star QB who committed in the wake of all the Sandusky stuff and there was a big push to pry him away from Penn State. His career at PSU wasn't terrible. But we should flag this post and revisit the discussion next year if and when someone utters the name Drew Allar - another high five-star PSU QB, who entered college with just as much hype, had the same "prototypical NFL QB" frame, and so far has shown pretty much the same good-not-great college career. As of right now, Drew Allar = Christian Hackenberg. I'm sure I won't ever be bored enough to do this, but someday I'd love to take a deep dive into the college careers, game by game, of all QB draft picks after four NFL seasons just to prove my Denny Green point - that they were who we thought they were, until we convinced ourselves they were someone else. If only to prove that anyone who says Tom Brady was a 6th Round draft pick because "we couldn't measure his heart" is just blowing words out their sphincter. I'm guessing we'd find that there are very few exceptions to that Denny Green Rule, and those are like catching lightning in a bottle. Like plucking Curt Warner out of the grocery store into the HOF. But look at Brock Purdy. Last pick in the draft, but in his four college seasons Iowa State had more sustained success than they've had in 100-years. Even when ISU was mediocre, Purdy still showed up on the field. Funny how Matt Campbell was the hottest name in coaching rumors a year ago. Purdy leaves, Iowa State is a blip on the college football screen, and I can't remember one mention of Matt Campbell in any of the of the coaching rumors this year. Maybe Brock Purdy was what we thought he was (or should have thought he was) and Matt Campbell wasn't. Anyway, I'm getting carried away. You get the point and I've known you long enough that you'll cut me a pass for howling out my ass this evening.
First round QBs always seem to be boom or bust and not much in the middle. You can scroll through drafts and see time and again even very high QBs busting As important as the position is, one would think that especially the sucky teams would invest major money on QB gurus to help identify the winners. Similarly it seems crazy but true that teams keep repeating the same mistakes of throwing the rookies to the lions whereas the smarter teams seem to let their QBs develop first.
Best post of the year, even as a Zach Wilson believer, you nailed it! The next QB the Jets find and develop (or just don't ruin) will be the first. What a fucked up team, and yet I continue to root for them.
In the last decade, Bridgewater, Winston, Mariota, Goff, Wentz, Mayfield, Murray, Jones, and Lawrence off the top of my head have all had more success than any Jets QB but didn't turn out to be anything great (Lawrence still has a chance but it's been three years now, so he probably won't). Those are middling first rounders.
That is a good question. I mean the compensation was slightly more for Fields, but nearly identical. The minor difference in comp is not the reason to choose one over the other. It looks like Payton actually preferred Zach to Fields. One thing I will say is that if Payton can't make Zach into a decent QB, no one can.
Sam darnold, josh Rosen, almost mayfield, Trubitsky (who Mac loved so much he paid no attention to Mahones and Watson). It’s a loooong list
