Late round picks usually don’t make NFL teams or don’t last long and they’re only slightly more likely to make a team than UDFAs. I scanned the list of 300 seventh round picks from 2000-2006 and I see, maybe, 15 good NFL players and about 6 very good (Housh, Cortland Finnegan, Colston, Jay Ratliff, Cassell and Shane Olivea). I can’t find a list of UDFAs, but my guess is that it’s probably similar.

To summarize, of the 300, 89 never appeared in an NFL game and another 60 appeared in fewer than 10 games (that’s almost half). There are some nice players on the list, but I’d say that, maybe, 30 are bona fide NFL players (just 10%). The Jets in that time period only picked 2 NFL players of note, Derrick Ward, who I like (but isn’t a starter, yet), and James Reed, who I don’t like. Neither is still on the Jets. The Giants only chose 1 player of note, Kevin Walter, who isn’t on the team either. In short, 7th rounders aren’t that important. They’re unlikely to become starters and are, at best, only marginally better than UDFAs.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/draft_query.cgi?pos=ALL&round_1=7&round_2=30&tm=all&year_1=2000&year_2=2006&conference=any&type=

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQ3o47TDjkxuZ7JqSWPfAXjm80ggD98RD7J81

Agree or disagree the Jets F.O. from Woody and Tanny to Clinkscales have a philosophy about their drafting. So far, other than Gholston, who hasn’t contributed a lick, they have had strong drafts. I believe as well that having more picks is usually better but having warm bodies just to have them can also just complicate things. I think depth is what is hurt the most with their drafting strategy but it may also pay off. They are betting they won’t have injuries. That is not a good bet. High risk for potentially high reward I guess.

We didn’t need the player. It’s nice to have him but we didn’t need another RB THAT desperately. We got desperate for no reason. And let me just say:

IT WASN’T A WEAK DRAFT!!!

It just wasn’t as top heavy as past drafts. Which is why the SMART teams and the teams you saw in the playoffs last year either stayed put or moved down. If Ossie Newsome is moving down and we’re going in the opposite direction, then something is wrong.

Now the San man trade was just a work of sheer genius and luck. And the size of the move matched the years of need at the QB position. But with Greene, Tannenbaum had the look of a gambler that hit big and just couldn’t stop.

I don’t care if he was the #1 back on the board. There were other backs. Stop putting it all in one player.

And another thing, stop acting like those late round picks don’t mean anything. They mean everything to team success.

As I have continually posted, I don’t think the Jets willingness to part with millions for multiple years has been the problem.

Keels wants to assume no risk for his client but wants out team to pay like Leon is an UFA now and and pay like he is a full time back. Until Leon and his agent make negotiations a two way street (i.e., a lower price for the assurance that he makes more this year and next if he is an RFA or if Shonn Green becomes the #1 back but less than if he was a UFA), the smart move will be to pay him much less by doing nothing and tagging him if there is a CBA.

IOW, money ain’t the problem.

harlan

Wow, that’s quite the hyperbole: “I mean he’s the reason they mortgaged our future this year right?”

The Jets swapped third round picks and gave up a fourth and seventh rounder to get Greene. That’s “mortgaging the future?” The FO viewed 2009 as a weak draft and willingly traded picks to move up to get the best of an inferior draft class. One of the purposes of the draft is to groom NFL starters, not just obtain training camp fodder.

I agree with Ryan Wilson’s assessment from NFL.Fanhouse.com:

“In most drafts, the thought of giving up a handful of picks to move up the board and take a flier on a player usually smacks of desperation. History is littered with examples, none bigger than the Chargers trading up for Ryan Leaf.

But 2009 is different. It’s a decidedly weak class, and players who went in the first round on Saturday would be lucky to hear their names called on Day 1 in other years. Which is why the Jets have happily traded up and jettisoned picks all weekend: they have a few needs, targeted specific players, and went out and got them.”

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/04/26/jets-trade-up-again-get-shonn-greene/

Again, there’s 2 sides to every argument; but, igs, I think you have the wrong side of this one. If the press reports are to be believed, Greene was the no. 1 RB on the Jets’ draft board and with Leon and TJ grousing about their contracts, the FO set out to get the guy they considered to be the best in the draft. If they’re right, then the price they paid was minimal (and it wasn’t all that much to begin with).

I guess now attention turns to Leon. and if anything is left over, talks with TJ could start

from a bandwidth standpoint. you are right on the rookie pool being separate.