Jets Floating Overtures to Trade Down
Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by Bassett
This morning, Mark Cannizzaro has the story in the Post that “a highly-placed source inside Weeb Ewbank Hall has told The Post that a trade down out of the sixth pick would be a realistic possibility, too.”
Clearly. The Jets wouldn’t mind taking who comes their way at the sixth pick, but some of those likely on the board have more polarizing political implications than others. This morning Todd McShay speculated on Mike & Mike that he thinks Ryan comes off the board somewhere between 5-7 and would likely involve a trade …
Best. Draft. Ever.
If we had a pick between 10- 18 who should we pick? I want the top corner or ILB, but want to hear everyone else’s opinion. I’m more interested in gaining the 2nd rounder and grabbing a WR like Sweed or Hardy as a luxury and still covering another need. (I don’t trust woody at RT)
Mcfadden and Chris long are who I would want at 6.
Mark Cannizzaro is a shill for Woody Johnson. The Jets will trade the pick citing cost efficiency reasons.
As for wide receivers, is there anyone in the draft more promising than C. Stuckey? Too bad we didn’t get to see him at all last year. With Coles, Cotchery, and Stuckey, do we need to spend a second rounder on another wide receiver?
Someone over 6′0 would be nice.
I say we should still target a pass rush OLB at 10-18 and Derrick Harvey would be my choice. He was originally thought to be ill equipped to play in space, but he had a huge pro day and could actually turn out to be more disruptive than either Gholston or Long over the long haul. We can address needs at WR and DB with the 2 second round picks. I think Sweed will be gone, but Hardy is an interesting possibility.
Trading down is definitely the way to go….if we can find a partner.
I agree with cbiscuit…if we trade down D. Harvey from Florida would be an excellent choice.
This draft is very weak for WR. I personally think D. Thomas from Mich. St. is the best. Kelly and Sweed both have the size we are looking for but both are not very fast and are injury prone. They both could have trouble seperating at the pro level. D. Thomas has good size and excellent speed but he really only had one good year of college. I also like Hardy but not as a first rounder.
JAGG, I hope that they address the DE and LB positions in the first 2 rounders. I am not in the camp of those who believe we need a big target at WR from the first 2 rounds in order to be a more competitive team. I think WR can be addressed much later in the draft with a guy like Markus Monk who is a big target and has some of the best hands in the draft.
If we trade down into the mid 1st I would look at a guy like Calais Campbell who I think is a prototypical DE in a 3-4. If we move into the late 1st I would like Curtis Lofton at ILB who is a tackling machine who may be also available in early 2nd.
I happen to agree with you on Woody but I just don’t see us drafting an OL in the first 2 rounds this year with the amount of money spent in FA and the number of developing OL prospects we already have on the roster.
zzzzzzzzz:
Chansi Stuckey was hurt, but he isn’t exactly an awe-inspiring prospect. Sure, his draft position was hurt badly by injuries in college, but he was picked based purely upon certain physical traits that the JETS don’t need (Coles is fast enough to be their “speed deep threat”), and Stuckey apparently was a very good route runner (see Coles and Cotch).
He’s also a little guy like them. We need a big receiver. If Stuckey is our #3 going into the season, i find that inadequate.
I agree with cbiscuit as well, should we trade down out of the top 10 and find Harvey still on the board it would be a fine choice. As for the WR position I would think we would have our pick in this range, but Thomas and Jackson don’t seem to have the size we want and it would seem too early to take Sweed, Kelly or Hardy so I think we would also be looking at CB if Hardy wasn’t available, possibly Rogers-Cromartie or Mike Jenkins.
I also think that there is much better CB value in later rounds and although I agree that CB should be addressed I also think that they dont necessarilly need a top prospect to fill the need this year.
There is a growing sentiment from the draft experts that the top 5 CBs dont really separate too much from the rest of the pack, so I wouldnt be suprised to see a guy like Chevis Jackson from LSU drafted in early 3rd late 2nd round even though he is projected to go much later. Only problem is we would to add to our picks by trading down or trading players in order to be able to get these “value plays” later in the draft rounds.
I have a feeling that D. Harvey will turn out to be one of the best players in this draft
If we could trade back to say… #10, D. Harvey would be the choice.
Sweed will be an excellent player in this league. I’d take him in the 10-20 range without feeling bad about it.
I would love to trade out of this spot and I agree with most of you that we need to address the defense with the 1st and 2nd round picks. If we could trade down between 10-18, I would love to see the Jets take a guy like Keith Rivers. I think he would be a great addition to our LB corps (remember, a 3-4 defense is only as good as its linebackers). I haven’t heard anyone mentioning this guy but I would definitely invest a mid first rounder to get this guy. With the second round pick, depending of course on who falls to us, I would like to address either the DE position or a power RB
Personally, I do not want to see any offensive players taken until the later rounds.
Brian, how in the world can you say that? How many offensive players did we add in last year’s draft? Essentially none. How bad did the offense stink in ‘07? God was it bad! Made me want to puke watching some of those games. How could you not want to add some dynamic offensive talent? We’ve got to the be the most boring offensive team in the entire league!
K. Rivers could play any LB position and would be a great pick in this spot however, most prognosticators see him going in the top 10.
We need to watch DBs closely. Average for recent drafts is 4+ taken in the first round. Agree that there is no real standout among the top 5, but if we can still get one of them with our #36 it would be a good call.
Scott, the reason I say that is because of in my opinion, because the offensive line could not get it together, it created a domino effect in our run game as well as our passing game. Not only did it hurt our offense, but it hurt our defense as well, but what I really meant to say is, if there is no GAME BREAKER available, I’d rather take a risk getting a solid defensive player than, lets say a Hardy or Kelly. If DMC is on the board, and there are no trade down options, we have to take DMC, but if we can trade down with the RAVENS, then we must and take Rivers
Alright, that is fair. I agree that if McFadden i there then he’s the pick. If he isn’t there, I’d like to trade down and zero in on an offensive weapon in the mid-late first round. If we are unable to trade down, then we’d have to take the best available defensive player at 6 rather than reaching for a WR. Rivers at 8 would be an excellent value. Still, you would not want to see a WR at 36?
WR (and even RB) should take backseat to early-round upgrades for DE Ellis (31), ILB Barton (31), DE Coleman (29), as well as for RCB Barrett/Miller and OLB Thomas. Unfortunately, if you don’t draft some of these premium positions (CB, 34 DE/OLB), you have to over-spend in free agency.
I’d rather go to battle this and next year with Coles/Cotch/Smith than Ellis/Coleman. Plus, we’ll be a run-first offense, so no need to panic at WR.
Perhaps we are a run-first offense because its a more conservative approach and our passing game is anemic.
Kendall langford will go from the 4-6th round and has all the tools to be a 3-4 DE (Coleman wasn’t bad). Thomas played out of position last year and Pace should help, though I agree we should draft one. We need a corner and ILB, but if they intend to start Clemens he needs a weapon to age with. Chad had Coles, Vinny(Tho he shouldn’t count due to the dinosaur factor) had Keyshawn and Chrebet, O’brien had Toon.
It is all over the NFL young QB(Manning and Harrison, Montana and Rice) should get a young target. It is documented all over history. Look at the winning teams. Wrs and RBs arent exactly cheap in free agency either. Offensive pick in the first 3 rounds (‘m aware we currently don’t have a 3rd rounder)
First things first.
Early round picks this year and next need to be dedicated to the most pressing needs (that require high picks — CB, DE/OLB hybrid), before we can turn to putting coles out to pasture.
Trust me, I can’t wait until we have the luxury to bite on BPAs like Run DMC, Matty Ice, or even a Devin T., but we have to fix the holes in the roof before we splurge on the plasma TV.
Jonathan:
I know that hyrib DE/OLB is the most important position in the 3-4 run by Mangini and Billy B., but I don’t know that right now you’d call that the JETS’ “most pressing need”. They spent a ton of money on Calvin Pace and and Brian Thomas is probably going to be serviceable next year.
I think a playmaker on offense is their most pressing need! Getting a playmaker doesn’t mean you are putting Coles, Cotch or TJ or Leon out to pasture. It just means that none of them are playmakers and either a tall WR and/or a gamebreaker at RB is needed!
I concur with Smizzle.
Smizzle, you make fair points, ones that I’ve pondered myself — esp. the point about Pace/Thomas.
I just have a hard time taking Leon out of the mix (not enough footballs for TJ, LW, and DMC) or turning Coles into the 3rd WR while we have question marks in so many other spots.
A new WR or RB may win us some games, but not having the right CB or DE will lose us some.
Is there a happy medium…pass catching TE anyone?
(NB: not until Sunday).
I think about the disparity between Leon and an upgrade or Coles and an upgrade and, in my humble opinion, it’s much smaller than the gap between Barrett/Miller and another Revis-level CB (who won’t get easily abused by Moss and Welker).
Not a perfect analogy, but bear with me:
Think about the opportunity costs involved in fantasy football. You may want to splurge on Randy Moss in the first round, but in fantasy ball, the premium is on RBs early, so picking a WR early forces you to chase RBs for the rest of the draft, while there are plenty of solid WRs to be had in rounds 4-6.
In the NFL, draft your CBs and DE/OLBs, so you don’t have to overspend on A. Samuel or even R. Gay, Adalius T. or even C. Pace. You don’t need Ocho or Roy Williams to win. As their current teams will tell you, stud WRs don’t mean everything.
Leon can still get the amount of carries he got last year, be used on screen passes, etc., as our 3rd-down back/change of pace back. DMC and TJ could share the overall load (sans the 3rd-down plays).
Leon is great at making a few plays a game, but I don’t want him as my #2 that takes entires series to spell the #1… I don’t think he’s that type of player.
In terms of having too many guys at one position, the Pats kept doing it at a less-important position, TE. Why the heck did they need to draft a bunch of TE’s in the 1st round, keep signing free agent TE’s, and use Vrabel as a goalline-TE? Because they found a way to use them all and they all contributed.
Its easier to share carries IMHO than to utilize all your TE’s in a meaningful manner (which the Pats did winning multiple SB’s).
Jets need offense. end of story
If we go straight defense our offense will be less than entertaining again.
Jonathan, I agree with you for the most part, except for the idea of using a high pick on a Cornerback. I think if you spend the first 2 picks, you go DE/OLB and an ILB to go along with Harris. You have Revis who can go man to man with the best recievers in the league and a defensive front that can put an overwhelming amount of pressure if the right picks are made.
I must say, it is difficult to say what the #6 pick should be used on but if DMC is available, it’s going to be very very difficult to pass him up.
Scott is absolutely correct when he says we need an EXPLOSIVE offensive weapon, but the only reason I say no wide reciever in the second round is because the recieving corps in this year’s draft is one of the weakest seen in years. There are no definite home run hitters and the only reason some of these guys are ranked so high is because the lack there of talent in that position.
I do not think we will have a shot at GHOLSTON, who I would love to take at number 6, but if you take him, what will Bryan Thomas be doing for that 20 million gaurenteed money?
My best case scenerio, is trading down to get Keith Rivers, and then packaging the second rounder recieved from the trade down and packaging with our second for low 1st rounder and taking the most suitable DE/OLB.
Our biggest strength must be on defense, more specifically on the Linebacking Corps.
You get into the playoffs with explosive offense, but you win the Super Bowl with your defense.
ie. Colts, Giants
Full house back field (TJ, Leon, DMC) with Brad smith as QB how would you totally defend that package? Especially if brad can throw ten yards to a reciever that would get open with the 10 guys they are going to want to drop in the box.
I have one thing that I keep batting around in my mind — after coming off a 4-12 season, is McFadden a luxury pick at #6?
I don’t have an answer, I just keep thinking they have other needs — cornerback, inside linebacker, etc. — than running back. Then again, a gamebreaker on offense would be nice to have, too. Just throwing it out there …
The Pats could afford to draft TEs (in a way the way the Jets couldn’t afford to do so years ago).
That’s what happens when you have a great organization that’s been in place and executing a great plan for many years, as opposed to an organization that’s still weeding-out 4-3 players in year 3. When you develop your own talent, you can let the game come to you, as opposed to constantly plugging holes.
The idea of trading down sounds good as far as value, but I just dont see why so many people are in favor of it. Everyone keeps saying lets trade down, lets trade down, but for what? for who? Now if C long DMC and Gholsten are all gone by 6 then I would be in favor of trading down, but if one of them is available it makes no sense to trade down.
Many of us will be pumped after we get DMC, but still feel it’s indulgent or irresponsible.
i will be pumped
I don’t think you can fairly asses the play of the skill pos players on offense last year. No RB in the NFL would have been a ‘playmaker’ behind that line, and no QB would have had a enough time to consistently get the ball where it needed t be. Does no one remember 2006? The only personnel differences between 06 and 07 was the loss of Pete Kendall. Faneca will make all the difference in the world on offense this year. And yes, DMC would be a luxury…cornerback, safety, LB, a good TE would be nice, some D and O oline depth are all issues…If we can trade out we should do it, we don’t have a 3rd rounder but could certainly use one…
As will I, as long as DMC, Gholston is available, one of those picks must be used on them, and I will not care who it is (it will only affect my opinion on what position player we go for next) i will be estatic
The Pats only had their 1st and 2nd rounders on their roster last year due to their superior team. They also have a need for LBs and CBs now. They aren’t perfect.
As for the 4-3 players, what rookie coach could walk in and trade a fan favorite and a #4 pick and not get instant bad press in NY. He replaced Vilma and Drob wasn’t horrible he just wasn’t enough. Come on people.
Just imagine
Bryan Thomas, David Harris, Keith Rivers, Calvin Pace
If you were the QB, RB of the opposing team, who would you rather get hit by.. (certainly Bryan Thomas)
TRADE DOWN IF POSSIBLE! TAKE RIVERS
Package 2nd rounder to fill another void or keep it and take an additional player. BEST VALUE!!!!!!!!
RIVERS!
The Pats aren’t perfect — and that’s the point. They don’t live and die by each pick. Other teams have less margin for error.
The Pats can select Chad Jackson and not be in a tizzy if he doesn’t produce from day 1.
Belichick knew Bledsoe wasn’t the answer long before NE fans knew who Brady was. Halberstam’s book is interesting on this.
And then he went 10-6…what did you want him do make the playoffs his first year and start dismanteling the team…I hope Woody has more patience than some of you guys.
Michael Hart would be a great pick at RB. Hard Nose runner
If the JETS picked Mike Hart, I’d become a Pats fan!
Justagreenguy,
I wasn’t knocking Tangini. I’m amongst their biggest advocates. I was simply stating that the Pats are fully in stride, while we’re still working out the kinks of a new administration that didn’t have the wind at their backs, in terms of previous drafts (Nuge, et al), talent that worked in their defensive scheme (Vilma, D-Rob).
BB replaced a hall of fame coach (Tuna) that had his team in a Super Bowl a few years before, so the growing pains were much less severe.
ESPN says the dolphins have signed Jake Long…didn’t gholston record the only sack he ever allowed in college or something? That would be fin to watch twice a year wouldn’t it?
C long over Gholston IMO. Gholston will get sacks Long will give you 10 years of solid play and is a good character guy. Mangini would kiss him if they could pick him.
I feel we’re definitely on the right track.
Again, the point of the 4-3 weeding comment was that these guys had to do an extreme makeover, which still requires more time.
In 2 years time, I’m confident, we’ll be able to let the draft come to us, as opposed to drafting defensively (not intended literally) and forcing all top picks to start right away. They won’t all be as smooth as Revis and Harris.
obviously hart would be a low round pick
wether we keep the 6th pick or trade down…i say we pick 1 side of the ball and pick our needs…if we decide to trade down and go defense then we should pick olb,ilb,de and cb with our 1st 4 picks…not in that order but we’ll at least have our needs met on defense…
if we choose offense then we should pick a wr,2 ol for depth,rb and qb…not in that order but at least we would have our needs met once again…just my thoughts…
Funny thing Bent, I was going to say we move back and pickup the best Blocking TE on the board…
in all seriousness Becht I am for moving back and picking up Jolley a CB in the mid to late rounds.
We do need a WR to replace Coles in a few years. I’m just not impressed with the WR crop this year. I think Hardy is a terrible pickup. yea he has the height and speed that you want, but have you seen is off the field issues? Sounds like a future Bengal to me.
Its great we have so many options. the one thing I can say is a constant though is youth. we can get a young guy that doesn’t “Have” to start this year and groom him giving us depth at any position that makes sense at the spot we are drafting at. be that at 6 or 4 or 18.
We finally get to draft for the future and add a quality backup for depth. Hey maybe even a starter! But it does not “HAVE” to be.
is it Saturday yet?
Gholston had one of three sacks Long gave up in college (Long himself was quoted as saying it was two, but I have film of three!), but Long’s not an elite pass protector, his main strength is his run blocking.