Grading a draft in the immediate aftermath can only be about whether you potentially filled needs, got value at your draft positions, and added depth. I think they filled needs and added depth in the trenches and at RB. Value, not so much. But the key was the trenches so I'll give them a B overall.
I gave a C to C+. I think The McDonald pick was a huge reach. He is simply too small for his position. I cant exclude the fact that we missed on a top tier OL by agreeing to the pick swap with GB. No way should GB have gotten both the pick swap and very lenient terms on the likely upgrade of the 2024 pick to Round 1. That trade giveaway has to be factored into our draft. As for the rest, I like the Round 2 pick. Beyond that we delude ourselves into thinking that anything past round three is much more than a crapshoot. Hopefully a couple of those guys can make the roster and eventually play on something more than special teams, but we cant expect more than one of those late round picks to start this year barring injuries.
I’ll go with a B+. Had we drafted JSN instead of McDonald and kept pick 170 and taken Christopher Smith, it would’ve easily been an A for me. Outside of those 2 moves, I really liked all of our other picks. McDonald: Arguably the best pure pass rusher in the draft. Not the complete package as an EDGE yet but will be an immediate contributor as a rookie. Tippman: Plug and play starter at C, hopefully our Mawae/Mangold of the future. Warren: Solid developmental OT prospect who’s farther along as a pass protector than a run blocker. Solid OT depth. Abanikanda: Fantastic RB prospect. Potentially the best value pick JD made all weekend. I could easily see a path to him being the Week 1 starter at RB as Breece continues to recover from his ACL last year. Barnes: Seemingly a solid ST contributor. 9.12 RAS score which is 235 out of 2652 since 1987. Always nice to have athletic LB depth too. Bernard-Converse: Similar to Barnes, most likely a ST contributor. 9.77 RAS score which is 52 out of 2222 CBs since 1987. Again, same as Barnes, I’ll take some super athletic depth at S. Maybe they like him at FS? If so, he’s got a decent path to start sooner rather than later. Kuntz: JD seems to have a pattern. Use all of these late-round picks on exceptional athletes and hope that Saleh and the rest of the CS can develop them into starters/quality depth. Kuntz has the highest RAS score from the TE position ever at a perfect 10. Seems to project as more of a Gesicki-type TE so it’ll be interesting to see how they utilize him and how they plan to develop him. If he can become an adequate run-blocker, the sky is the limit for him. Overall, a lot of potential from this draft class. Now it’s up to the CS to get the most out of them. Hopefully they’re up to the task!
I know it's a cop out to say idk bc none of us do but this was weird draft overall and I really have no idea. I'll say it doesn't FEEL like we got a ton of help but I haven't seen any of the players we got play.
I completely agree with everything you're saying. That's exactly where I stand as well. I just don't know, but it doesn't "feel" like it was a great draft. I guess I would grade it a B-. Hopefully everyone turns out to be a stud and we can up it to an A+ down the road.
I don't see this as measuring up to an "average" draft ("C") whereby a few guys are still on the team a few years down the road. I'm including the loss of Broderick Jones in my grading. We traded him for McDonald.
Yeah, for sure. When my worst complaint is I feel like they stretched a bit for that first round pick, then I really don't have a lot of complaining at all and that's a good thing.
I’m going with a B-. Hated the swap of number 1’s with GB as it hurt not to get a blue chip OT. I liked the OC pick and the trade down with NE to get extra picks. The TE is fascinating with his size and hands. Quite frankly I’m not sure about our first pick. Most of the “experts “ rate it poorly, but I’m pretty sure that JD sees something there. All said the draft seemed to be effective. Now we wait with cautious optimism. I was also happy to see AR at the Rangers game. He saying and doing the right things. Let’s hope the good feelings keep coming. Go Rangers on Monday night!
yeah at first take I gave the Draft a B (excluding the A plus AR acquisition) Great analysis KY but even by your own analysis ...you gave it a "B+"? Really? In agreement about the Brooklyn RB and high rated Tippman But after that all I heard was the word "developmental " from your Post and I can get behind that lol...take away Israel and the Wisconsin center is D material ..cmon now!
I think JD recovered nicely from the absolute botch job he did losing Broderick Jones on the pick swap, and the mad scramble that ensued, and earned a solid C+. Maybe we can stretch it to a B- even, but not above that the way I see it. It was nice to get depth, but we didn't really get starters at major position of needs, such as OT and DT. Unfortunately in this draft BPA didn't align with the most important needs we had. But, the depth helps, guys have potential, and we just need to hope they realize it to the fullest.
At this point I'm going with a B+. I was initially pissed at passing on a T/IOL or stud WR with the first pick, but after I calmed down and read some of the analyses of McDonald and what he's capable of as a pass rusher, I got over it. But while I understand the rationale behind "You can't have too many pass rushers", I think the Jets are putting that theory to the test. IMO I think you should have at least one stud - i.e. 10+ sacks every season - pass rusher, who you can supplement with other guys who aren't quite as productive. The Jets haven't had that guy for years, so I'm hoping McDonald can be that guy - the reviews indicate he might be able to be. And BTW, I'm not killing JD for having to swap picks with GB to get Rodgers. If Rodgers plays for 2 years at or close to his career norms, the cost for acquiring him is worth it. The pick of Tippman turned the draft round for me. I think the Center makes all the difference in good OL (and QB) play, and having been groomed and trained by Jason Fabini is pedigree enough to have me believe Tippman can be the next great Jets C. If Warren weren't injured, he might well have been a 1st rounder. My only question is: how serious was the injury and has he fully recovered and won't be bothered by it in the future? Apparently a lot of other teams who needed a T weren't sure about that. I hope JD has done due diligence. But if he works out, he could be a steal. I love the Abadikanda pick. He has all the tools to be able to be a #1 back and to break plays to the house, even if he does need some polishing. He should definitely provide insurance while Breece works to return to form. Breaking Dorsett's one game yardage record is no small feat, and speaks to his ability. Barnes and Bernard-Converse I still don't know much about except their really high RAS scores are promising. Being able to add quality at positions of need late in the draft is how good teams are built. We'll see how they actually do on the field, but they're very promising. I'll set aside the "C" word jokes for now with Kuntz and say that I think he might turn out to be another steal. He certainly has off the charts physical ability. I can only hope that JD & Co satisfied themselves to his mentality and character (including a high S2 score) to ensure that he won't waste that ability like some other past draftees by the Jets (Gholston and the like). If he can learn how to block even a little bit so he can stay on the field every down, he could be huge difference-maker, like Gronk and Kelce. So to recap, right now I see a B+, but it could become at least an A. In any case I think Douglas has hit another HR.
I am hoping McDonald will be Von Miller and also Broderick Jones busts to stick it to the Stealers. But, right now I see him as basically a Huff, who btw is only a year older. There is a lot to prove, a lot to develop, and he is two years older than a typical draftee. So, there is potential there, there is high floor, I understand the selection a lot more now and like the kid. But for me it hard to get over the fact that our starting OTs now are very flimsy and JD wasn't able to come away with a stud OT, who did fall to our original pick. Also it looked like NE was very much open to dealing with the Jets as later picks indicate, so either way there was a shot at Jones. That's why I went with C+ to B-. But if McDonald becomes Von Miller, that's different story. The grades now are just what we guess based on evaluations today. Another possibility I see now is that JFM will become a starter at DT. If he can handle that, it would be really great, because we lost two good DTs, including a starter, and didn't get equivalent value back.
Well I'm not as certain as you seem to be that Jones would've worked out. Frankly, I don't know enough about him (or any of the draftees) to be that certain. There's a lot of other things besides stats and measurables that go into whether a player succeeds or not, and most of that info can only be obtained by exhaustive reviews and interviews. So for me, it's not like JD missed on a slam dunk prospect because he had to trade back to Rodgers. I think JD has proven himself knowledgeable enough to know what he was giving up. Further, we don't even know if he was looking to draft a T with his first pick. Rumors are that he was actually looking to take Bijan Robinson if he was there at #15, and given how RBs have been devalued, there was a good chance he would've been, so that may be why Douglas was willing to swap picks with GB. Also, we really don't know how Douglas & Saleh view the state of the current OL. I agree with you that I don't have a lot of faith in it, especially Becton, but again, we're not privy to what the actual state of affairs is with OL and maybe it's much better than we think it is even before the draft (though I remain skeptical until proven otherwise). So I too was really bummed that he didn't take a T - or at least the best WR available - at #15, but reaching out of need is never a good idea and that's what that would've been. It was obviously a strange draft, confounding even the "experts" with where some players were taken and by whom, as well as all the trades. As with all drafts, it's unlikely that all the drafted players will work out, but I have a higher confidence level in Douglas's picks than I did in most past Jet GMs.
I don't know for sure who will work out or not, it's all a game of percentages, and I thought these were high with Jones to the point where I feel JD would have taken Jones and had to scramble after losing him. I would not have reached out for Harrison as Warren to me is not that much worse of a prospect. Jones is a different story, but like I said though, he recovered nicely overall. I am just very worried about both Brown and Becton. Out of the players we took, I think Tippman will end up starting day 1. One other thing to note though is that both Tippman and Warren had major injuries in College. Tippman had both rotator cuffs repaired. Hopefully after the repair thy are actually better than the original Much like Becton's knee, which I believe was realigned as a part of last surgery. These major injuries add to the risk factor though. It's good we have CMG as another C.
I think a B is fair. McDonald has taken way to much crap. He’s a very good player, people are lost regarding him. Too much was focused on them going OL here, this pick was good. Tippman is a hr. People complaining they didn’t take the Minnesota guy, Douglas knows this position more than anyone. If he liked this guy better, he’s better for the Jets. The RB they got is a steal. The LSU guy they got is a steal. Rest we shall see.
Again I've never seen him play so I'm not in anyway saying he's not good. McDonald just feels like we could have gotten him later. Like we could have got JSN and macdonald. But who knows in the end I'm trusting in the scouting. We've seen them make picks like this in other drafts and we hope they know something we don't.... And they don't Hoping last draft was a turning point for them
