Grading Mike Maccagnan on the Jets' 2016 NFL draft By: Kevin Zielaznicki | 12 hours ago This will be general manager Mike Maccagnan’s third offseason as the main man in charge for the New York Jets. After two drafts, he has a decent track record but the jury is still out on Maccagnan’s ability to find talent. After one season, how did Maccagnan do in the 2016 draft? Let’s take a look. ROUND ONE: DARRON LEE, C After a solid preseason and first few regular season games, Lee suffered an ankle injury that really set him back. When healthy, he showed he had elite athleticism for a linebacker that made him a top selection in the draft. But according to PFF, Lee was the worst rookie linebacker in the NFL, as he consistently struggled in pass coverage. ROUND TWO: CHRISTIAN HACKENBERG, D One of the most polarizing players in the 2016 class, Hackenberg was only active for the final game of the Jets’ season against the Buffalo Bills. The only action we saw of him was during the preseason and his play was below average at best. Since being drafted, there have been several negative anonymous reports about Hackenberg’s ability to play in the NFL. He has a long way to go if he wants to be a starting quarterback in this league. ROUND THREE: JORDAN JENKINS, C+ Jenkins had a rough start to the season and after finally getting healthy, he really turned it on in the last few games of 2016. In the final four games, he recorded 2.5 sacks and 22 total tackles. Jenkins was solid setting the edge against the run, but he needs to work on his pass rushing ability this offseason. ROUND FOUR: JUSTON BURRIS, B Burris didn’t see much playing time until the final few games of the season, but he was impressive in limited action. Burris’ first start was against the San Francisco 49ers and he was the Jets best cornerback in the games following. In the final four games, he had four passes defended and one interception. Looking forward to next season, there’s a good chance that Burris starts. ROUND FIVE: BRANDON SHELL, B- Due to injuries all over the Jets offensive line, Shell was thrown into the fire against the Miami Dolphins in Week 15. Many expected him to struggle in his first start against one of the NFL’s best defensive lines, but Shell silenced his critics with a great game. The Jets offensive line will look very different next year and there’s a good chance that Shell will be the starting right tackle. ROUND SEVEN: LACHLAN EDWARDS, F Edwards was one of the league’s worst punters in his first season. He averaged 37 net yards per punt, which was the lowest in the league. He also only had 24 punts inside the 20-yard line. His struggles consistently put the Jets defense in poor situations and it’s looking like this was a huge miss by Maccagnan. ROUND SEVEN: CHARONE PEAKE, D+ Peake has the size/speed combination that NFL teams crave in their wide receivers and he played decent in the limited playing time he got. He saw more action towards the end of the season and had six catches in the Jets final four games. With a young core of receivers in place, Peake will have to compete for playing time in 2017.
I think that considering Peake was taken late in round seven he is more of a B+ but the rest sounds about right.
My grades: Darron Lee -- D Christian Hackenberg -- D- Jordan Jenkins -- B- Juston Burris -- B Brandon Shell -- B- Lachlan Edwards -- D Charone Peake -- C Not a good look for Mac.
For a first round pick, Lee was brutal last year. He only started because we had nobody else. I'll give Edwards a chance because he's a rookie. That's why I gave him the same grade as I did Lee. All JMO of course.
I still think its too early to write off Lee. He just needs to get stronger and at age 22 that could happen.
Shell is an A- (albeit in limited action). Macc gave up a 4th rounder to move up for him, so he better be good. Him being our starting RT is a good sign. Macc might re-coop our 4th via Snacks.
Lee was decent, but he oozes potential. Speedy LB who just is learning the game of MLB at the NFL level. Shell maybe a good OL guy, Jenkins is a nice Pace like LB. Peake has intriguing size and speed combo and Burris looks to take on a starting CB role next season. You got to add in Jalin Marshall and Anderson as UDFA (anytime you can get those types to be contributors to the squad that's a major plus). There's a solid core of guys from this draft who maybe serious NFL players. Obviously Hackenberg is the guy to really watch from this class.
If we'd given Idzik a grade on his 2013 draft after the 2013 season we'd have given him an A+ for Richardson and an F for Winters. It's just way too early to know how the 2016 draft class is going to play out. We could have gotten 3 starters plus a couple of good special teamers out of it or we could have struck out. We'll know in 2018.
Year 1 is the greatest time to reflect on the draft from the previous year. Especially when the head coach's got his head so far up his ass.
I feel like an I (incomplete) for Hackenberg is the more appropriate grade. I think other than him, Mac's first 4 selections showed enough in the limited sample size to say, that at the very least, they should be contributors going forward and that re-addressing their positions isn't something that needs to be done for a while. (Not saying that drafting another CB isn't a necessity for this upcoming draft.)
The guy was a 7th rounder for a reason. I will wait to see his production before I see him as a part of our "young wealth of talent at receiver"
