Mock Drafts

GratefulJet wrote:

cysporsche wrote:GratefulJet, If you live in Chicago you should be there @ 7am and get ready to have a fantastic day watching Chris Berhman, Mel Kiper, Todd McShay & Chucky Gruden running around. With the draft rotating to Dallas & L.A., you don't know when it will be back. It should be on everyone's bucket list.

Go Jets...Cyborg

Cy, I'll have to look it up, but isn't the first round a Thursday or Friday night event?

GratefulJet wrote:

NCgreen12 wrote:If Mariotta is there when we pick I'd be shocked if we didn't take up.

SackExchange wrote:Colon is a run blocker first. Giacomini has been remarkably underwhelming. Not awful, but at best a serviceable starter you can stick next to a stud.

Sack - not that Profootball Focus stats are always correct but the if you believe their ratings Fergy and Giacomini are rated 35th and 51st among NFL tackles and Aboushi and Colon are rated 43rd and 66th among Guards. The ratings cover pass and run blocking, screen blocks, QB hits and sacks allowed as well as penalties committed. I think there's probably lots of improvement there. Mangold was the highest rated center.

When your own fans stop calling you Brick and start calling you Fergy, it's time to take long look at the man in the mirror, LOL. 

It's virtual heresy around here to badmouth d'Brickashaw, but he has been fading big time for a few years now. Swapping Aboushi for Iupati might help revive him somewhat, but it is worth noting that Iupati is a much better run blocker than pass protector himself.  I don't think we can replace Brick yet, but neither can we count on him the way we used to. He's lost a step or two and will continue to do so.

Those stats support my contention that the OL is pretty awful on both wings, and Maccagnan should make improvement there our first priority.

Blindsidebrick wrote:

GratefulJet wrote:

NCgreen12 wrote:If Mariotta is there when we pick I'd be shocked if we didn't take up.

SackExchange wrote:Colon is a run blocker first. Giacomini has been remarkably underwhelming. Not awful, but at best a serviceable starter you can stick next to a stud.

Sack - not that Profootball Focus stats are always correct but the if you believe their ratings Fergy and Giacomini are rated 35th and 51st among NFL tackles and Aboushi and Colon are rated 43rd and 66th among Guards. The ratings cover pass and run blocking, screen blocks, QB hits and sacks allowed as well as penalties committed. I think there's probably lots of improvement there. Mangold was the highest rated center.

When your own fans stop calling you Brick and start calling you Fergy, it's time to take long look at the man in the mirror, LOL. 

It's virtual heresy around here to badmouth d'Brickashaw, but he has been fading big time for a few years now. Swapping Aboushi for Iupati might help revive him somewhat, but it is worth noting that Iupati is a much better run blocker than pass protector himself.  I don't think we can replace Brick yet, but neither can we count on him the way we used to. He's lost a step or two and will continue to do so.

Those stats support my contention that the OL is pretty awful on both wings, and Maccagnan should make improvement there our first priority.

Fergy?

Well, my screen name probably gives it away, but I don't think Brick was the problem last year. I thought he and Mangold were solid as usual, and Aboushi is worth keeping to compete in camp at guard. Mangold and Ferguson aren't in their prime anymore, but still starter-quality. Outside of that, our line play left a lot to be desired, especially in pass protection. Everyone wants to blame Geno, but he got hammered too much, too quickly last season. Geno made bad decisions and was guilty, too, but that's not the entire picture.  

I believe FA and the draft should, and will, be used to upgrade the guard and possibly RT positions.

GratefulJet wrote:The further you move down the draft, the more uncertainty you are introducing. Once you get to #18, it is almost impossible to guess the pick correctly. Did anyone have us taking Calvin Pryor last year? The Giants upset that applecart when they "reached" for ODB, who only turned out to be the best player taken, at #12. Given how wrong the mocks are, I almost treat them now as a negative indicator--whoever they agree on for us will be the guy I least expect us to take.

This year, the turning points in the draft will be even higher, as there are not, nor will be, any consensus picks past the #1-2 spots, if that. That uncertainty will make this the most intriguing first round in many years, because literally anything can happen. I live in Chicago, and am tempted to attend this one, even though the idea of actually going to the draft has always seemed like a total waste of time.

As for Cooper, I am trying to decide which former Jet WR he most reminds me of, at least if he has a NFL career that resembles his college years. Kind of thinking Wesley Walker right now. That's not to say I want us to take him, although I wouldn't completely hate the pick. I just think our new GM should and probably will address the fundamentals of the team, and that starts with the OL. That also happens to be the one positional area where post-season combine and pro day workouts actually can inform the projections of these young men, as you get a chance to compare their various skill sets on a level playing field and make some reasonable projections about their future abilities.

So I'll be watching guys like Ronnie Stanley, T.J. Clemmings, and La'el Collins, as I think one of them might end up in the top 6 before it's all said and done. The guy I think we will take is Andrus Peat, who declared for the draft earlier this month after saying earlier in the season he was likely to remain at Stanford another year. He seems to have the ridiculous physical gifts you rarely find and the intelligence (I mean, he went to freakin' Stanford, ok?) to become a top OT with good coaching--he was smart enough to realize that staying in school another year would just expose him to a career-killing injury. He clearly understands risk:reward, and I want guys like that on the line, where split-second decision-making is critical. We've had more than enough stoopid starting on the offensive line for awhile now.

NickSINYC wrote:Interesting mock. Totally ignores the secondary but has a lot of good athletes. Also no 6th round pick so assumes we let Harvin walk.

Mock Draft

GratefulJet wrote:As polished as Cooper is, Parker seems to be higher ceiling, especially in red zone and other high leverage situations. His leaping, high-point, wide catch radius ability is just off the charts. If he demonstrates a real commitment to working hard and taking coaching to get the maximum out of his natural ability, I can easily understand ranking him 1st amongst WRs in this draft, and the kind of guy a team like the Jets would go after. It's like landing an ace starting pitcher--you move everyone else on the staff down a notch, and the whole rotation instantly gets better at every position. Same with the WR corps.

Old#15 wrote:With Johnny Manziel's entry into rehab capping off a year + of bad off the field behavior, does this impact Winston's draft position?  I realize that Winston has the better physical package, but sometimes the off the field stuff overrides the ability both in how the player is perceived and their performance on the field.

NCgreen12 wrote:While I like as much anyone in looking at as many mock drafts as possible it's still just too early to tell. The Combine always plays such an important part when guys excel or negatively expose their lack of speed (biggest reason a player drops).

With that said, if I had to bet right now I'd say our first pick will be one of the three OLB's - Gregory, Ray, Beasley.  It's a definite need and we are lacking big time with speed at the OLB position not only to rush the passer from the edge but also covering the short and intermediate pass plays in the middle of the field. Pace, Harris and Coples might be the slowest trio of linebackers (aside from Davis) in the league.  

My guess is both QB's will be gone, Cooper will be a Raiders and it might be a couple picks early for an offensive lineman to come off the board.

Old#15 wrote:

GratefulJet wrote:As polished as Cooper is, Parker seems to be higher ceiling, especially in red zone and other high leverage situations. His leaping, high-point, wide catch radius ability is just off the charts. If he demonstrates a real commitment to working hard and taking coaching to get the maximum out of his natural ability, I can easily understand ranking him 1st amongst WRs in this draft, and the kind of guy a team like the Jets would go after. It's like landing an ace starting pitcher--you move everyone else on the staff down a notch, and the whole rotation instantly gets better at every position. Same with the WR corps.

+1.  I hear that he is dedicated to his craft, so the hard work apparently is there.  A guy with his skillset (catching radius, leaping ability, high-pointing the ball) all would help a young QB, which we have in Smith plus a drafted guy in the 2nd like Hundley.  One question I have is what was the injury that delayed the start of his final season at Louisville?