My opinion could change several times between now and the draft, but as of right now, barring some team in the 10-20 coveting Fournette so much that they're willing to give up a king's ransom to move up and take him, and the Jets are then able to take Dalvin Cook with their #1 pick and then Ramczyk with their 2nd round pick, Fournette seems like the best option at this point.
I highly doubt Ramczyk falls to the second. It's a weak tackle class, he's a good player who comes from a program that has a pedigree for producing top flight NFL offensive lineman and was just named a first team All-American. I'd imagine he's the second tackle taken, if not the first if Cam Robinson displays those character concerns in the interview process. He might even be in consideration for our first round pick. If he shows quick enough feet in the evaluation process to the point where we think he can play left tackle then take him. Hell if he shows signs of solidifying the right tackle spot for a decade I'd take him. Take away two of the three quarterbacks, Jonathan Allen and Myles Garrett and we likely have our pick of any player in the draft. A trade down to the 9-14 range seems to be ideal in a perfect world to take Ramczyk, Jamal Adams or one of the thousands of top corners. I just don't want to see us stay put and take a corner. Seems like we'd be reaching for Ramczyk too. Jamal Adams might be the selection. Also don't like the idea of taking a runningback, especially not Fournette if we're keeping this offensive coaching staff in place. Fournette in a shotgun offense is a colossal waste of his talent similar to DeMarco Murray in Chip Kelly's offense. Dalvin Cook is a much better fit, but even still. Our running game can be effective with the $8 million we have invested in Powell/Forte the next two years and a mid round rookie.
I agree regarding Ramczyk. I believe right now he is ranked as a second round prospect. That's why I had the Jets taking him in the 2nd, but I agree. He's definitely the second best OT, and may even be better than Robinson, or could rise above Robinson due to Robinson's character issues. I definitely think he'll move into the first round, and if the Jets trade down, I'd be very happy if we drafted him. I agree. The 5th or 6th pick is too high to take a corner, and unless Ramczyk blows up the Combine and rockets up the rankings, it would be a reach to take him that high as well. Good point about Fournette and Gailey. I also agree that our offense could be effective with a mid-round draft pick used on a RB, but I am hoping for more than just "effective." With the way the D has played this season, ironically, we may be counting on the offense to carry the team next season. That's why I think a Fournette or Cook might be the best choice if we can't get Garrett or Ramczyk. Thanks for the mention of Jamal Adams. I haven't had time to watch much college football this year, and haven't started researching players listed as top picks. I'll do some research on him. Still, I hope we will be able to use our 1st round pick on a quality offensive player if we can't take Garrett.
I agree that taking Fournette and using him in the shotgun doesn't play to his strength - from what we've seen - but two things: 1. If they got Fournette, they wouldn't have to resort to using the shotgun all the time. 2. With a talent such as his, he should be able to produce however you use him. Again, I think a Fournette (Or maybe Cook) would make a bigger impact than any other player you could take, short of getting lucky and finding a franchise QB. The best OT would help certainly, but he wouldn't fix the whole OL. A great pass rusher would help too, and would help the secondary as well, and that's a close call, but given that they're likely going to have a young QB, hes going to need the kind of help a great RB can provide, so to me, that's the "tie breaker". I don't think I'd go with even great DB with a sub-10 pick (Dee Milliner anyone?). And I don't think trading down helps a team like the Jets, who really need to add impact players. True you can "get more bang for the buck" possibly, but that's not guaranteed either. I want to see them draft a game changer, whatever the position is.
I just don't really think a runningback is a position that needs to be filled with a first round pick. I posted in the draft forum in a thread that only 5 of the top 40 rushers in the NFL were first round picks (Gurley, Zeke, Gordon, Ryan Matthews, Mark Ingram & Jonathan Stewart). Some of the best runningbacks were picked in the second &a beyond (David Johnson, Le'Veon, DeMarco Murray, Blount right now at least, Shady McCoy). Zeke & Melvin Gordon are really exceptions to the rule and Gordon was awful his rookie year, while Zeke runs behind the best offensive line in the league. With Powell & Forte under contract, they're serviceable enough to get us through another couple seasons. Fournette would be nice, but I'm not sure he experiences a ton of success running behind the dumpster fire we have of an offensive line.
I guess we have different philosophies, but that's okay. But I don't think an OL is the best use of a low draft pick. D'Brickashaw was a great OL, but even he didn't fix the OL by himself. I think you can get above average - meaning better than what the Jets have now - OL down lower, but I wouldn't trade down to get them either. I think if you have a chance to get a true impact player you take him and fill needs with later picks. On that basis, if I didn't take Fournette or Cook, I would go with Allen if he's there. I doubt seriously if they have what it takes to trade up to get Trubisky or Garrett, so that's out.
We've tried the mid round offensive lineman thing for the past decade. D'Brickashaw and Mangold headed the best offensive line in the league for three years and they were both first round selections. They DID fix the problem and for a long time. We've been messing around with these Jarvis Harrison, Jacob Bender and Adrian Jones type of players in the mid-rounds since back to the Terry Bradway days and it hasn't been working. G Jarvis Harrison - 5th rounder T Jacob Bender - 6th rounder T Nate Garner - 7th rounder G/T Vlad Ducasse - 2nd rounder OL Robert Griffin - 6th rounder T Oday Aboushi - 5th rounder OL William Campbell - 6th rounder G Dakota Dozier - 4th rounder T Marlo Cavka - 6th rounder G Dave Yovanovits - 6th rounder T Adrian Jones - 4th rounder Some examples of the mid-round offensive lineman we've selected over the past ten years that were barely even activated. Slauson & Brian Winters are the only two who were/are relatively solid. Teams CAN build their offensive lines through the draft. We've proven so far that we cannot. Maccagnan's draft philosophy is to build the offnensive line in the later rounds. So far he's 0/1 with Jarvis Harrison. If Brandon Shell hits then maybe he'll prove me wrong. He looked awful in preseason though. C Nick Mangold - 1st rounder (All-Pro) T D'Brickashaw Ferguson - 1st rounder (pro-bowler) T - Kareem McKenzie - 3rd rounder (10 years as a quality starter) G Randy Thomas - 2nd rounder (9 years as a quality starter) It doesn't always have to be a first rounder, but it needs to be higher in the draft than these 5th round or later losers we keep getting. Maccagnan should turn in his GM credentials if he takes Jonathan Allen. I don't care if Warren Sapp and Alan Page are there. We better not take another fucking 3technique.
Good post! I agree that Mac needs to really make the OL a priority in the draft and FA, and use some earlier draft picks to address it. While I think good OL can be found in the middle and lower rounds, and even as UDFAs, Bradway, Tanny and Idzik sure failed miserably in that regard. Hopefully, Mac can be better at it than they, but still think he needs to use a 1st round pick at some point on the LT position, and at least a 2nd round pick on the RT spot. I also agree that Shell looked awful in preseason. Hopefully, he will prove us wrong about him, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. He'll probably see some action in the next 3 games. I hope that it's at RT rather than LT, and hope he doesn't get Petty hurt again! I'd love to see us trade down in the 1st round and add Ramczyk, nab a CB with our 2nd round pick, and then maybe add another OT with the 2nd or 3rd round pick we get for trading down. If we don't re-sign Winters or replace him with another FA OG, then adding an OG in the 2nd or 3rd round will be a priority.
Well, a big reason NYJ runs out of shotgun is because it's Fitz's preference. With Petty in that spot, that should no longer be a problem.
It's Petty's strength too, and honestly the majority of passers in the NFL and almost all of those coming out of college.
I've been saying for the past two years we have to address the OL with a high pick. If there is an alternative like signing a good left tackle in the FA market, then go right ahead. But otherwise I don't see how we have a choice. The OL has got to be restocked this draft. Whether that means trading up or maybe trading down, I have no idea.
The only worthwhile free agent tackle that isn't a dinosaur is Riley Reiff and he's probably rated as around middle of the league and better suited on the right side. The rest are old or below average starters. It's a pretty tall order to replace both starting tackles in a single offseason so we're likely looking at Ijalana starting at one of those spots whether it be a rookie or a free agent on the other side.
They can be. But it's a harder proposition to find starting NFL tackles especially those that can start right away. Mid rounds are better for guards and we can honestly go into 2017 comfortably with Carpenter & Winters as the starting guards. If we don't go tackle in the first, which I'd say is a good possibility given the weak talent at the top, we absolutely need to take one in the second. Luckily this seems to be a deep tackle draft with limited talent at the top. Cam Robinson & Ramczyk are likely the only first round prospects with McGlinchey stating he's going back to Notre Dame (god knows why). I'll be ecstatic if we can get Roderick Johnson in the second (3-year starter, 2015 2nd team TSN, USA Today All-American) and Derek Barnett in the first. The possibilities would then open up to likely take a corner in the third and a runningback in the fourth to pair with Powell/Forte and groom into the starter the following year. I just think we have enough potential speedy talent at receiver in a Chan Gailey spread-type of shotgun offense to the point where a top tier runningback behind a shitty offensive line would be a waste. It's less a difference in philosophy than it is looking at the situation at hand. Runningbacks can also be manufactured as a product of an offense without needing a top talent. It happens throughout the NFL.
Quite possibly. But I do know it's what killed Chris Ivory. He needed a head of steam when he got the ball.
I appreciate the thoughtful reply, thanks. Yours is probably the more dependable approach - "Slow and steady wins the race" - but I guess I'm impatient and want to see a dramatic improvement like right NOW, hence the "crush" on Fournette. And yours is likely the way they'll go, but we'll see. Sadly, when you root for the Jets, the REAL season - Mock Draft Season - is the only thing to get excited about.
I like Bilal as the #2.. Hopefully we can trade forte for a late pick if we get our hands on fournette
Bilal was fricken awesome in SF, and he has pretty fresh legs. I just don't believe he can endure a full season. https://streamable.com/6y8r
I think if the coaches/GM thought Powell was a feature back he would've been starting and getting most of the plays. He's not the real answer, and even if Forte comes back healthy, I don't think he is either. A game-breaking back, who can also catch passes, would be the biggest help this team could get, short of a franchise QB (of which there aren't any probably in this draft).
