Even IF this was somehow a decent contribution to the forum, it could've just been posted in the conveniently titled "Darron Lee" thread.
The guys at NFL Draft Scout paint a very encouraging picture: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/2060774/darron-lee
Love this pick. We have been slow at LB for years. This guy is super fast and with our coaching staff I think he can be very effective in our defense. I think there is a lot of room for him to grow into the position even more so the ceiling is high. I also read that this kid is a super hard worker with a non stop motor. It's great to finally have a GM who appears to get it as far as talent and building a team. Screw flashy moves, lets build a winner to last for a change.
Not one person said prior to the draft we needed "closing speed" on defense. The consensus was that we needed or could use an outside pass rusher, linebacker and possibly CB depth. Now all of the sudden we draft Lee and all the FO homers start to rationalize a seemingly poor schematic fit pick with "we needed closing speed" nonsense...GTFO here. As I said before Davis had closing speed and was fast to arrive to plays only to miss the tackle or out completely out run the play. He also had terrible technique in coverage. Speed don't mean shit if you can't play game. Davis is gone and we already acquired Carter another fast LB. Lee was drafted because he was the BPA. Bowles will FIND A WAY to use him, like he did with the abundance of great d-linemen last year and good safeties the year before in AZ.
I think a position where we had NO ONE is a whole lot more of a need than a position where we have a guy who just put up career numbers and another guy that had a 1000 yard season behind him. I'm not saying Lee is going to jump in right off the bat and play 3 downs (he's not, Bowles said as much) but he's going to be a starter and it's easy to see how he fits with this defense. Truth be told, I'd have been over the moon happy with Treadwell or Doctson, but Lee was just as good a pick and fills even more of an immediate need IMO. Depends on who is available when we pick, but I'd think if someone like Cook is available in round 2, we take him.
Since you seem to strictly be playing Devils advocate, who would you have taken in that position? How far down your list of players is Lee. And Jets fans have been complaining about team speed all year, it's nothing new. Mac made a point to say he was going to address it this offseason. If this is your first time hearing about the need for speed at linebacker, that's surprising. Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Mac has proven 2 years in a row now that he will draft BPA no matter what. I prefer drafting BPA in an area of need and schematic fit. I don't think Lee is the latter. Ideally I would have preferred we traded down and acquired more picks since we only have 6. Before anyone say you need a trade partner, please be advised that the Redskins who picked right after us was able to trade down. I'm sure that deal could have been available to us. If I couldn't trade down, I would have drafted Treadwell. If we wanted to, we could have a pretty nasty 4-3 line-up. Mo, Sheldon, Leo, Mauldin/Carter or Henderson,Harris,Lee
I think because because the Jets have the most pathetic draft history in the NFL. Most fanbases have the luxury of waiting to see how their team's new pick pans out. We've been resigned to assuming that our new pick is a bust until proven otherwise. While there have been some bright spots like D'Brick, Revis, John Abraham, and Chad Pennington, it's been extremely rare for anyone that Jets have drafted to be an impact player with them or any other team.
Ok, I understand your specific point and I agree no one was discussing "closing speed". Though, we absolutely (me included) were concerned about speed outside and our LBs ability to cover. How many times was Davis forced into coverage and subsequently burned? There were some cringe worthy highlights of Davis chasing a receiver from behind and the receiver walking into the end zone.
