2022 New York Jets|Mock Off-Seasons

I don't know. I leave that to JD.

 

I had never heard of Muma until he was mentioned here a week ago. From what I've read, he can be a liability in coverage, but he can play sideline to sideline and is a 3 down player. No one is perfect though. He'd be a nice addition to the LB group.

 

Nice! So many new players!

 

As always, good content Penny!

I've watched up to the point where you start talking about FAs so I paused and wanted to make a comment. I mostly agree with everything you said to this point. I'm not so sure that Mosely will agree to do anything that costs him money, and that includes the presumable tax bite on a bigger bonus as you suggest he take in lieu of his current salary. But maybe he will if he's serious about what he's said about turning things around. The bigger question I have is your assertion that, A) Becton will likely win the LT job back, which leads to, B) Fant moving back to RT, which results in Fant being considered "overpaid" as a RT. Even if A & B happen, if I'm Fant I would expect my "overpaying" to be just compensation for being asked to play RT to begin with because I was a LT, and then moving back over to LT and playing arguably better than Becton there. I don't see Fant agreeing to a pay cut at all.

I paused again right before your draft picks to comment about your FA signings. I like them a lot, and hopefully Douglas could follow your blueprint here. I might look to add a WR or a RB/FB here. but as your list stands I like it.

As to your draft picks, I agree on taking Thib at #4 if there, and an OL (Neal?) if not. In theory I'm not opposed to trading back from #10, even to #20, BUT it would take more than the #52 pick to move that far back. And I don't think Burks will be there. That said, maybe London will be, but with that 2nd pick the Jets absolutely have to get a true #1 WR, especially since you didn't get one in your FA signings. We saw what waiting on taking a stud WR in 2020 did (Mims), and Douglas cannot afford to gamble with this pick and this position. Either he stays put at #10 to get the best WR he can get, or he gets a boatload of compensation for trading it. Trading the #38 pick for a head case like Ridley? NFW! And absolutely NFW to giving the Falcons. additional compensation for him! To me this is a SOJ move. Keep the #38 and use it on the best TE available here instead.

I could quibble with the choice of Muma and your Safety, but I think they're fine, but the next pick of CB is for a position we're not really hurting in. I'd rather see us taking a RB like James Cook there, especially if we didn't upgrade RB in FA. I did see where your next pick was for a RB/FB type so maybe that solves the issue, but in any case, we could better use the CB pick you made for something more valuable, perhaps another WR assuming we didn't make the trade for Ridley as you wanted and I hope we didn't, so I'd suggest Dontario Drummond WR from Mississippi. Instead of sort of "throwing away" the last pick you made on a Tackle who may well never play a down for us, I'd opt for taking a LB there - Mike Rose from Iowa St. who is a "thumper" and plays the run especially well.

Overall, if things went exactly your way, the only "absolutely NFW!" move I disagree with is the Ridley trade. Good job!

 

My issue with all the drafts where Thibs is not there is why use the pick on an OT to play guard? I think it is exceptionally poor value. I would much rather trade back from 4 into the 20's and take a guard like Zion Johnson. To do we would have to take less than normal market value but all the extra picks would be a huge boon and a much better strategic use of our picks IMO. That money not being used to pay the 4 pick could be rolled over into resigning a backup Becton plan like Moses.

 

I think this was well done Penny and I appreciate the effort.

I’m not sure if the Ridley trade has a real chance of happening. I also think the trade back will net more than #53 and a pick next year. I would think assuming the pick next year was a second rounder the Jets would also get another pick in 2022 - maybe an extra fourth.

The drafted players are all good prospects…

I agree with the FA approach. A couple of decent starters and depth pieces.

You did not mention the current LG LDT and any offers you would make. Are you assuming he just leaves? Also what about Moses - although I don’t think they are bringing him back.

 

I totally disagree. Heading into the 2022 season, Becton is a huge question mark (pun intended). It would a SOJ move to just assume that he would report in shape, win the LT spot, and then be caught with their pants down and have Edoga at RT. Fant's contract expires at the end of the 2022 season. I see that they're talking about extending him, which is fine, but if Becton doesn't come back, win his job and play well, the Jets will need another starter at OT in 2023, if not 2022.

Even if Becton comes back in great shape, wins his spot and plays great, it never hurts to have quality depth. They could keep that OT at OG if he plays well, and they have a quality OL with flexibility who could step right into a starting OT spot if Becton or Fant goes down with an injury. Fant is also 29 already, and will be 30 before the season starts. One can't have too many good OL. In addition, if for some reason Becton and Fant play great and the Jets think they can remain the starters for the foreseeable future, the Jets could always trade that OT/OG and get good draft capital or a good player in return as there aren't enough quality OL in the NFL to go around. IMO it makes total sense to use that pick on an OT.

 

Penny

Thank you for all of these lively discussion threads bud. Appreciate it.

 

I don't trust Becton and the only person that can change my mind is him. This guy needs to come back and embarass people like he was getting embarassed last preseason.

 

First of all, over all a good job. I know how difficult it is to put together all of this, and you were both creative and thoughtful in how you did it. That said, I disagree with some of your reasoning and moves, and I think you didn't take a long look at your finished roster and think about it deeply enough.

You have the Jets with only two OTs on their roster, Becton and Fant, both of whom were injured and missed a number of games last year. Especially with huge question marks over Becton, this is short sighted and could lead to disaster. I don't like Edoga and agree that he has been a disappointment, but if you cut him, you HAVE to replace him, and there also needs to be a 4th OT on the roster. You didn't re-sign Moses, which I think is a mistake. You mention Cole Strange as an OT. I don't think that he is going to be an OT in the NFL. I've seen no one that projects him as an OT in the NFL. I may be mistaken, but everything I've seen and heard about him is that he is thought of as an IOL. At the Sr. Bowl he took reps at both OG and C, but mostly at C, and he needs to get a lot stronger before he ever sees the field in the NFL. If you watched any of his practice reps, then you saw it's like he was on skates. He stayed with his man but they easily pushed him back into the QB rep after rep. It's fine adding him for IOL depth for the future, but you can't count on him as an OT.

You also have them with only 2 QBs, and I think that's a mistake. Injuries are a part of the NFL. The Jets need to keep 3, so either White has to be re-signed, or they have to draft another or sign another in FA.

Wesco can and should be eventually replaced, but again by cutting him you left the TE spot a player short. Don't forget that he is also a TE. 3 TEs is not enough. MLF uses 2 TE sets a pretty good amount of the time. Injuries happen in the NFL. Hopefully Yeboah will have developed and look a lot better in 2022, but he should be the #4 TE unless he is greatly improved. As you have the roster, we basically only have 2 TEs and Yeboah. If we suffer an injury there, then that limits what MLF can do. IMO we need 3 viable TEs and then Yeboah.

I agree with cutting Rankins and initially, I thought the same as you, give Marshall a shot, but several posters pointed out that his weakness is playing the run, so I think Rankins has to be replaced either in FA or in the draft. DJ Jones of SF and Larry Ogunjobi of the Bengals are just two possibilities. There is a long list of potential FA DTs the Jets could sign.

I absolutely hate the trade for Ridley, but at least you were trying to surround Zach with a lot of weapons, so you get an B for effort there. I don't think JD would even think of doing that, but if he actually did, I would be very upset at least initially. While I would hope that it would work out, I would think it foolish to take such a big risk and give up a high 2nd rounder AND another pick in the future. Ridley's mental issues aren't clearly defined, we don't know where he is in the treatment process or how treatable his issue is, and it's just too risky. It's not like he has been burning up the NFL, either. He is also due to be a FA after the 2022 season, so he would either be a one-year rental or the Jets would have to give him a big contract after this season. They are not in a position to take that kind of risk either at the WR position or with the cap space. This move is a deal breaker for me.

I agree that Mosely could be willing to take some of his salary as bonus and help the team capwise. I don't think that either Fant or McGovern will take a pay cut, nor should they. I think your reasoning there is flawed. With Fant, one can easily make the case that with his high level of play last season and his versatility, that he is worth every penny of that contract. Why should McGovern take a pay cut? He has played pretty well and he's on his last year of his contract with the Jets. They have zero leverage unless they're willing to extend him, and I don't think they should even consider that, as he hasn't been that good.

I like the Njoku, Xavier Woods, Tomlinson, and Oluokun signings in FA. Re-signing Piniero is OK, but for a million or so more, why not sign Younghoe Koo who is young and a more proven kicker? I don't like the Feeney re-signing. He played decently at C at the end of the season, but was awful at OG earlier, and so any value in his versatility is lost imo. He should definitely be upgraded/replaced. You'd save more by cutting him than Edoga. I don't think Witherspoon is very good or would provide that much competition for our young CBs, but I guess he would be OK since he knows the scheme.

I like your draft much more than the trades and FA moves. I agree with Colorado Contrails that just getting #52 pick and some future pick is not nearly enough for trading down 10 spots in the draft. I do not think Burks or Wilson will be there. London might not be, either. IMO if you want one of the top 3 WRs and to have your pick of which one, then you need to stay put at #10.

I really like the Zion Johnson, Chad Muma, Jeremy Ruckert and Kerby Joseph picks. Coby Bryant could be a good pick, but I don't think it necessary to both sign a CB in FA and draft one. CB is not really a critical position of need. We can give the youngsters one more year to see how they develop. I would add a better vet in FA and call it a day. I'm also not sure that Bryant falls to pick #114. Some have him rated pretty highly, and I can easily see him going in the 2nd or 3rd round at the latest.

I don't like the Robinson pick at all, especially when there are so many good RBs that will be available in the 4th and 5th rounds. That leaves your RB corps of MC, Johnson, Robinson and Perine. Perine is not a scheme fit, and he needs to go. Johnson can't or won't block and can't catch, plus didn't know his assignments last season. That isn't acceptable imo. The Jets may have to keep him due to all the other needs they have, but he need to drop to #3 on the depth chart and the Jets need to draft a better RB than Robinson. Tyler Allgeier would be my choice, but he could go in the 2nd or 3rd round, and that's too early. Still, that leaves Kyren Williams, Tyler Badie, Abram Smith, James Cook, Jerome Ford, Rachaad White, Dameon Pierce, Hassan Haskins, and Jerrion Ealy ALL as better prospects than Robinson for our scheme. If the Jets want more of a FB type or a RB with more power, there's White, Pierce, Smith, and Haskins, and there are some good FB prospects they can probably get as UDFAs like Zander Horvath and Jeremiah Hall.

 

“Quality depth” isn’t picked in the 1st round let alone at #4.

POSSIBLY needing an OT in 2023 is not a reason to spend a 1st round pick one one in 2022

 

I guess you missed the part where I said he would start at RG and the Jets could potentially keep him there long term. Unless you have a horsehoe hanging out of your ass, you aren't going to find a starting caliber-OT in the 3rd round or lower, either. If they sign Tomlinson, then they may opt to wait for an OT until the 2nd round, but that's taking a risk that Becton will be healthy, win back his starting job and playing well. THAT is the main reason I think it reasonable to take an OT at #4 if KT isn't there and they can't trade down. If they drafted Neal or Ekwonu at #4 and he beat out Becton or Fant, they potentially trade one of them as well.

 

I guess you missed the part where a RG was signed in this mock off-season.

 

In what you quoted above, I mentioned Tomlinson by name. Drafting an OT may seem high, but it's insurance for Becton. If they can't trade down, it may be better than taking Hamilton. I'm torn on that.

 

“Quality depth” isn’t picked in the 1st round let alone at #4.

POSSIBLY needing an OT in 2023 is not a reason to spend a 1st round pick one one in 2022

 

I don't know why you're intent on keeping on with this and picking an argument or fight, but I'm not interested. We simply will have to agree to disagree.

 

I’m cool with that, but I’m going to hold your desire to draft a backup OT at #4 in the same light as footballGod who wants to draft another QB this year.

 

As I've said, taking an OT at #4 is not necessarily as a backup OT. That's YOUR take. I'm saying that he's being drafted as insurance and could wind up being the starter this season at OT. Besides the Jets may not sign an OG in FA or re-sign LDT. They may draft an OT to play RG.

None of those choices are ideal. I'm hoping that the Jets like KT and he is there or they will be able to trade down, but if not, at least at this point, I'd take Ekwonu over Hamilton. That could change by the draft. My mind is open.