There are some other intersting names on this list. Like Mike Taylor. That's one I don't remember at all. http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/NYJ
Marino was the 6th QB taken. Nobody thought much of him coming out including Miami but that was what was available when they picked. There are a million stories like that though.
Wow there are so many where to you want me to start? Johnny Mitchell, Blair Thomas, Russell Carter, Ron Faurnot, Johnny Lam Jones, Cadigan, & on & on & on. Even in the last 5 draft drafts we have not come close to securing a top level player
I don't understand the posters saying Ken O'Brien because he was drafted before Dan Marino. If that's the case, you might as well say Al Toon was the worst draft pick since he was picked before Jerry Rice. Toon was a pretty good player, just not the greatest of all time. The worst draft pick was clearly Blair Thomas. The guy did nothing and was injured half the time. He single-handedly destroyed Bruce Coslet's coaching career with the Jets. Of course, many thought he was going to be pretty good, but come on, when a guy is injured for his junior season in college, shouldn't you get just a little bit worried? The worst part was two of the defensive players chosen in the next 3 picks: Cortez Kennedy, Junior Seau. How would the 90's have been different if we had either of these guys instead of Blair Thomas? Even worse, the Giants drafted Rodney Hampton that year near the bottom of the round, and he was still better than Blair. Just terrible.
I'm suprised no one has said Me-shawn. Even though he wasn't a bust, and he had a great 97-98 season, he was a curse on the Jets locker room. I was happy to see him leave.
I think alot of people that are saying Blair Thomas is the worst ever were too young or forgot about Johnny "Lam" Jones. As another poster indicated, the Jets gave up a 1st rounder to move up and take this guy who was a track star in college and not a football player. Jones contributed as little and actually even less than Thomas, and we gave up a 1st to boot. To me it's hands down Jones as the worst ever. Also, I think a lot of posters are not taking into account the thread starters statement "Your answer should take into account what the consensus was at the time." To me that says picks like Thomas shouldn't be considered because the consensus at the time was that he was a top 5 pick. Picks like Jones, Lageman, Roger Vick, Bryan Thomas, and Ron Faurot fit the bill. Also picks like Brady over Sapp would be valid because a very highly touted player was passed over. If you want to say Thomas was the worst pick ever based on talent and how high they were picked it would have a lot of merit in another thread/discussion, but the inclusion of general consensus excludes this pick IMO. That being said, I would still say Jones is the worst pick ever.
This is ridiculous. How far do we get in '98 without Keyshawn? I read his book, and while I think he's a crazy a-hole, I can understand why someone would be upset. I think part of the animus against Keyshawn stems from the fact that he didn't get along with everyone's favorite white guy overachiever Wayne Chrebet. No Jets fans were complaining when he was moving the chains and grabbing all those inaccurate Testaverde passes. Bottom line, the guy stepped up when he was on the field. -X-
I am not a Jets fan and have no opinion on this, but just out of curiousity, what do you mean by "take into account what the consensus was at the time"? Do you mean, what draft pick did everyone think at the time was bad or what draft pick wasn't as good as what people thought at the time?
Kyle Brady over Sapp was pretty bad, but so was OBrien over Marino... I understand the arguement in the Brady/Sapp decision with the possible drug concerns but I feel like when you get a specimen like Sapp you just don't pass up on him. He was projected to be and ended up becoming an amazing player and probably has 3 more good years i him. Yes, Brady has been around a while and contributes when he's on the field but I wouldve taken the risk.
I think a lot of people have completely missed the point. Try to answer the question not in retrospect but in terms of at the time. What Jets picks made you scratch your head the most the second they announced it?
When Brady was picked (over Sapp), the Jet fans in the audiance went absolutely NUTS, booooing, hissssing, thumbs down, looking confused, like "Who the F is Brady?". Because the draft was held in NYC, the audiance was dominated by Jet fans, and every singe one of them was VERY pissed. Many were even tossing cups. The announcers kept saying they had never seen anything like it before. It took a while for the crowd to quiet down so the show could go on. Based on that, Brady was a day 1 bust, and sucked on the field too. How many passes per game did stone hands drop???? My god. Vote: Brady.
