Early Grades Darron Lee: C+ Not a very impressive year, but the speed and in my opinion the ability to play were there. Give him some time to learn the ILB posistion and I think we can see a breakout in his future. Big off-season for Lee, he needs to add a good amount of bulk and work on his play recognition. His raw abilities are undeniable. Can certainly see bust potential, but can also see a very important piece of this defense. Christian Hackenberg: INC A true redshirt season. Probably the most polarizing draft pick the Jets have taken since Mark Sanchez, Hackenberg will start games for the Jets at some point. Turning 22 at some point next month, still young enough to harness his skills and improve accuracy. Needs to show improvement this offseason and preseason. Reps will be for the taking, and if we can see him move into the backup role (hopefully behind a true stopgap QB) expect him to receive some late season reps at starter. Jordan Jenkins: B- Up until the last four weeks, I would have had this pick a little lower than B-. This was my favorite pick of last years draft. I think his upside is essentially Calvin Pace, which is not something to be ashamed of finding in the middle of the third round. Expect improvement from him this year as he's certain to line up as a starter at one of the OLB positions. Would not be surprised to see 50 tackles and 6 sacks from him this upcoming season. Juston Burris: B It drives me crazy that he did not see the field earlier on. Yes he did show some negative signs (he's able to be beaten over the top when there is not a safety giving him protection) but for the most part, an impressive rookie season from the fourth rounder. Would love to see him use his size and strength more this season. Think he'd be a good fit in a man coverage role against some of the bigger receivers in this league. Corner is one of the toughest transitions for a rookie, so that's why i'm a little more bullish on his grade. Brandon Shell: B+ A surprise, but when taking offensive lineman, this is what I want to see. A 3 year starter at a larger SEC school, Shell took a while to play, but when he did, boy did he look good. Pair him with a healthy Winters, and you have to hope you have a solid right side of the line for a few years. I think he needs to develop better run blocking skills, plus, I haven't gone back to see how often they provided him with a TE, extra lineman or running back help on the outside, but he looks the part and seems to have the pass blocking skills to be a top 15-20 RT IF he can improve his run blocking ability. Lac Edwards: D I hate taking a special teamer in the draft unless it's a late round returner who can really flip a field. Edwards did not impress me one bit, occasionally having a solid hangtime, but for the most part hurt us in field position battles. He needs competition in camp this offseason in the form of an undrafted FA, but I would be mildly surprised to see him back unless he makes large advancements in his game. Charone Peake: C+ Charone is an interesting prospect. I kind of want the Jets to take an Enunwa approach with him. Little by little increase his exposure and playing time to see how he can advance on the field. I saw nothing that screams to me future starter, but I did see the foundation of a solid contributor, which for a seventh round player is all you can ask for. I would hope he gains an extra chance this year to see if he can slowly develop into a good WR3 or 4 with special teams ability, but I can see him being the product of a roster crunch after training camp (I'm predicting the five/six deep we go into the season with are Decker, Enunwa, Anderson, Smith, Jalin Marshall and a rookie). Overall, solid, and in the wise words of Marshawn Lynch, "it ain't get no realer than solid". This class has question marks for sure, but the fact of the matter than all seven have a chance to return this upcoming season bode well for Macc. If I had to choose now, I'd say Jenkins, Shell and Burris end up being the better picks from this draft, but ultimately it will come down to what Hackenberg becomes that will determine the legacy. For next season we need to see further improvements, if Lee still gets demolished going up against guards, he immediately becomes a risk to get cut, and burris and shell have to improve as well. Jenkins is the only player right now I can see starting multiple years for our football team.
this^ a 7th rounder is lucky to make the team. he had a good impact and played well when given the chance. It hurt him that anderson outshined him as an UDFA but they should count too though. My grades Darron Lee -- C played well against the run and was all over the field. struggled in pass coverage though Christian Hackenberg -- N/A you can't grade a project QB who never took a snap all season Jordan Jenkins -- B- played well setting the edge while in their and also applied good pressure. he made some really nice stops on run plays to the outside that stood out to me. Juston Burris -- A didn't play until late but he was arguably our best CB last season when in there. for a 4th round CB he looks like he'll be a 2017 starter. hard to not give an A when you find a starter at any position in the 4th round Brandon Shell -- A same as burris. for a 5th rounder who played great when given the chance and will likely start at RT in 2017 Lachlan Edwards -- F we all thought quigly was bad? lac was worse. I miss weatherford Charone Peake -- B for a 7th round WR looks like he can stick around our roster for a while. hard to give a bad grade to a 7th rounder when they make the team and play well. UDFA anderson - A++ didn't even get drafted and was our best WR the last half of the season once petty got in. 1st time we had a WR who can strech the field or take a short 5 yard pass the distance in a long time. 42 catches and 587 yards as an UDFA in basically half the season?? last time anyone performed like that was victor cruz. He should be our number 3 WR going into next year with decker and enunwa starting assuming marshall gets cut
+1000 Agree on all Grades but with mercy gives Edwards a D Mr MAC has fallen abit from my grace but I still consider him a better GM then previous ones. Give the man a B and go to the head of the class (away frm Bowles sorry} Lee should NEVER been a first round pick ; we all know about the Hack selection
I know it's not directly related to grading the draft. But what happened to the other Aussie punter that we signed after going undrafted as the best punter in college, and then released to make room for Fitz after he got his contract, did he end up signing with another team?
I'll include here a quote from an article that Red Menace posted in another thread that perhaps some of you ought to take into consideration in your judgment of Mac. That is no easy thing to accomplish. It appears that Mac has laid the foundation for a younger, faster team that has great chemistry. There are good young players with talent on both sides of the ball.
Do UDFA count? Yes they aren't drafted but they made the team. They should count for something, IE scouting department.
Darren Lee - B- Christian Hackenberg - N/A (didn't play) Jordan Jenkins - C+ (came around at the end) Juston Burris - B+ Brandon Shell - B Lachlan Edwards - F Charone Peake - C
Stupid picks like Lachlan Edwards that end up being shitty is what hurts the special teams coverage units. We didn't use any of our last three picks to draft linebackers or safeties that could've potentially improved those units. It's infuriating. It's nice to try to find these diamonds in the rough with Shell and Peake being potential contributors next year, but we better load up on linebackers/safeties at the end of this upcoming years draft. Same thing with drafting Jarvis Harrison/Deon Simon in 2015. Hopefully Maccagnan is seeing this in that our special teams has been horrible the past two seasons. We need those picks to be special teams contributors so we don't need players like David Harris, Tommy Bohanon and Bilal Powell covering punts. We've basically completely ignoring trying to improve ST the past two years outside of drafting a punter that ended up being just as bad as Ryan Quigley and his fucking 25 yard punt during the last Bills game. This is from the other game he had a punt blocked in for a touchdown. Going to take a shot at friggain Quigley every chance I get though.
Darron Lee D- Hackenberg F- The average between the two is a failing grade. I have NO idea why Mac was ever so stupid as to draft that little twerp? Lee sucks in any single way you grade him. Hack never even played a single down in 2016 and that is pathetic from a 2nd round draft choice. As far as I'm concerned Mac should be fired for being such a stupid asshole. This on top of Todd Bowles. Bowles is another incompetent jerkoff that I wouldn't give a mop job.
In our board mock I got to pick for the Jets this year. I took Noah Spence. While Spence went a good bit lower than our pick (may have looked like a reach on draft day) I think that would have been a solid pick for us looking back now.
There were MANY that Mac could have taken over Darron Lee that could have had an enormous impact on the 2016 season. OL are the safest picks in the draft. Two linemen were taken in the 1st round AFTER Lee that played much better for their respective teams. All I can make of this is that Mac must have panicked? The original plan was to take a top linemen and when he couldn't consummate a trade to move up, Mac came uncunted and we ended up with Darron Lee. In other words, he didn't plan for all of the scenarios that could possibly happen? In other words, his planning sucks.
2016 NYJ draft overall: C- Laremy Tunsil (just like La'el Collins the year before) was a sure-fire high 1st round picks that dropped in the draft due to 'circumstances' (Tunsil to the 15th because of the pot gas mask video, Collns as an UDFA because of that murder investigation). Mike Maccagnan on drafting OL: "I think historically when you look at teams that are successful, one of the things that they do in the draft is they find value in offensive linemen prospects that they can kind of groom and develop. They don’t have to always be high picks," he said. "A lot of teams are very successful building good offensive lines through the draft through picks from the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round and sometimes even college free agents." Obviously he can't stick to that mindset come hell or high water should a blue-chipper be staring him in the face at LT since D'brick's long term replacement has to be found and Clady's a hiccup away from another trip to IR. But looking at the '17 draft, ND's Mike McGlinchey is returning to South Bend in '17 and while 'Bama's Cam Robinson is a road grader beast, some question his ability to play in space which is why he's projected to be picked anywhere from 10-20. Ryan Ramcyzk (Wisc.) is having hip surgery and Bolles of Utah will be 25 in May. Overall, slim pickings. Me if I'm Maccagnan, if I'm not grabbing Marshon Lattimore (CB, Ohio St.), I'd look to gamble and trade down to where I thought I could still land Robinson (his work vs. Myles Garrett was good enough to consider him). .
You must have missed the part where Mac tried to trade up for Tunsil in the draft, I think with a couple of different teams, and was unable to. IMO Marshon Lattimore isn't worth taking at #6. No CB is, but especially in this draft where the difference between Lattimore and any of the other top 10 CBs isn't that great. There are at least 8 players (Garrett, Hooker, Adams, Foster, Howard, Cook, Fournette and Williams) right now that are arguably better prospects (and each of whom I'd rather have) than Lattimore, and there will probably be more by draft day. Barnett could be rated higher. Then there is Watson, who by virtue of being a QB, could be rated higher. I'd rather stay put and take Robinson (who I'm not high on), or trade down, gain another pick or picks and take Ramczyk or a CB, rather than take Lattimore at #6.
Mac also tried to build a winning team last year. There is a big difference between trying and accomplishing something. Mac clearly did not offer as much as he should have for Tunsil.
Good post. I'm largely in agreement but I think Shell could start for multiple years if he continues to learn and improve. It would be nice if the Jets could pick up some more young linemen this year. An offensive line that plays together for several years has added value above the sum of the individuals.
That's ridiculous. You have no idea what he offered or what the other teams were asking. None of us knows, so to say that he "clearly did not offer as much as he should" or "clearly he made a fair offer" or "clearly he offered too much" is absurd. The other team(s) could have been trying to rob the Jets blind. He could have offered more than he should have and still been rebuffed. He could have made a fair offer, or may have tried to get a deal. As important as an LT is, you don't give up the ranch to move up to take an LT, especially when you have all the holes the Jets have. It's one thing to give up the ranch to move up to take a QB, and quite another to move up to take an LT.
No I "didn't miss the part" where Mac unsuccessfully tried to trade up (notably inc. the NYG). As for the rest of your hectoring lecturing, did you say Garrett? Snowball's chance in hell he's available at #3 let alone when the Jets pick. If he somehow fell to #6 then I'd grab him in a heartbeat but another Leo Williams-type scenario isn't happening with Garrett. I see Adams gone just before #6 as well. I'd be fine with Hooker - he'd be an either/or pick (as in Hooker-S or Lattimore-CB). Question is do the Jets have any safety plans with Revis in '17? Howard will be available 10-20. Williams, nice player with Jet-needy edge rush skills - also comes with red flags. Foster, real nice player I'd consider had they not drafted Lee; wouldn't be crazy about dropping consecutive #1 picks on an interior LB. No CBs worth a #6 pick? Dee Milliner anyone? Lattimore's big, fast and can play press. As for the "10 other CBs" close to being on the same page as Lattimore: Tabor/Fla. is the only other CB I'd pick later in the draft. King/Iowa is a gamer but without top end speed and and while Humphrey/Bama has Dee Milliner-like 4.3/4.4 speed his game has holes (me, I think he's overrrated). Cook's a very tempting HR sexy pick that could be had with a trade down (and the one RB I'd consider) while Fournette (who Bama stoned) will probably be picked higher in the 1st round than Cook and whom I would only consider if there weren't so many other areas on the roster that are talent-strapped. As for trading down for Ramczyk, no thanks -
Sorry, but the way your initial post is worded, it makes it sound to me like Mac is only trying to find OL in the 3rd round and lower, and sounded like you were unaware or had forgotten that Mac tried to trade up for Tunsil. I wasn't trying to lecture you or put you down. I'm sorry you thought I was. I agree that there's a snowball chance in hell that Garret is there at #6. I was just pointing out that I think there are a number of players better than Lattimore. If you like him, fine. I wasn't trying to say that you were wrong or weren't entitled to your opinion. I was just giving my opinion. Who do you think will take Adams? I've seen some sites have him rated higher than Hooker, but others have Hooker rated higher. I'd love to add either to our secondary. I sure hope that Revis isn't on the team in 2017. How about you? Why don't you like Ramczyk? What don't you like about him? Is it just the hip surgery that scares you? Is it the fact that he only has one year starting at a major college? I've seen him play a couple of times and he looked plenty good to me. Based on what I've read, he's the most natural LT in this draft class and has excellent agility and lateral movement.
