I actually think this is quite an interesting year to have one of the top two picks. It's clearly not 2021. The second QBs picked in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 drafts all turned out to be pretty damn good. We can't let the bad experience of 2021 taint our strategy. Pick QBs high and often!!
I did give him credit, I said he was a good defensive coach. But I don't think they even make play-offs in 2001 without Brady. They were 0-2 with Bledsoe, then of course it's the Jets that take him out and Brady wins 14 of next 17. I am not saying they didn't need defense just because Brady was there. Belichick was a good coach. But without Brady he is not some legend, there is plenty of body of work without him, and there is also older and diminished Brady without Belichick with another coach, and the record speaks for itself. All of the sudden Arians looks like Belichick and Belichick looks like Ariens when Brady switched.
I didn't mean so much the 2nd QB taken (who may end up being the best QB) rather always not getting the guy that the team really wanted: 2009 - wanted Stafford - got Sanchez 2018 - wanted Mayfield - got Darnold 2021 - wanted Lawrence - got Wilson one of the big problems the Jets have had is the inability to ever be as bad as they need to be to get the player they really wanted.
Man, 2009 was long time ago. But we were #17 then, trading up to #5 specifically for Sanchez. Sure, Stafford was a consensus #1, but wasn't even close to being in the cards for us. We won 9 games, Detroit won 0. In 2018 we wanted Sam. Baker was discussed more since the assumption was Sam was going #1 and he was the second choice. That changed on the day of the draft. So, surprisingly we actually got our top guy. And we were all ecstatic back then. And Sam was a good guy, too bad the Jets, and most of all JD failed him. 2021, yeah, that's when we definitely had to tank, like the Jags did, but we didn't. I just heard a podcast by Connor Hughes, where he mentioned Gase was trying to win a game to specifically avoid giving the Jets' next coach Lawrence. I am listing this below. This is yet another reason where you just don't keep a coach, like Glenn, on a hot seat like that. Just get rid of him. But yes that year everyone wanted Lawrence of course. Depending on whether Moore declares, by the time draft rolls, more people may want him, including us, and he seems as good or better than Mendoza.
