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1 Jets Drive – Some things that caught my attention from today’s press conference featuring Mike Tannenbaum, Terry Bradway and Joey Clinkscales . . .
Jenny Vrentas of the Star-Ledger asked a question where she referred to the 16th pick as no man’s land.
I actually disagree. I think somebody very good, who the Jets have ranked very high, is going to slip to their spot.
Tannenbaum said there are probably 12 players they would feel comfortable with picking at 16, and since every team has a different draft value boards, there is an excellent chance one of those 12 players will slip to their spot, with Quinton Coples being a prime candidate . . .
The Jets brass were asked a few questions about the running back spot, and they were really talking up Bilal Powell, a tailback they picked in the fourth round last year, out of Louisville. They expect Powell to take a big step this year.
Though, with that being said, they will likely pick another running back. Bradway feels this year’s running back class is pretty good, and he feels eight or nine backs will go in the first four or five rounds.
And remember one thing about Powell. While he will be entering his second year in the league, he’s getting a new playbook thrown at him, so that could hurt his progress. Just when he was getting comfortable in Brian Schottenheimer’s system, he now needs to start over with Tony Sparano’s. That isn’t easy for a young player . . .
The Jets don’t feel this is a good draft for tight ends and offensive tackles.
But tight end really isn’t a big need with Dustin Keller, Josh Baker and Jeff Cumberland (if he’s healthy).
As for tackle, obviously they are set on the left side with D’Brickashaw Ferguson, but the perception is they have a big need on the right side.
But they already have three candidates in house for the job – Wayne Hunter, Vlad Ducasse and Austin Howard. They are going to let those guys battle it out.
However, if they want to add a tackle in this draft, while it’s not a good left tackle draft, it’s pretty solid at right tackle – there are a ton of draftable right tackles this year, led by Bobby Massie of Ole Miss . . .
Good question today from Wall Street Journal’s Chris Herring. Since the Jets are clearly looking to add another 3-4 passing rushing OLB, Herring wondered what they learned from the Vernon Gholston experience that would help them this time around.
Clinkscales talked about how tough it is to project college defensive ends to NFL 3-4 outside linebackers, and it’s hard to tell if the player has the instincts to do it.
So it a nutshell, the biggest issue with Gholston were his instincts.
And this makes Melvin Ingram a little bit of a risky pick (though he will likely be gone, anyway). He was just a one-year starter at South Carolina, and it was at defensive end, and he’s a little immature. So that is a risky combo of factors. Hey, he might turn out to be great, but you better think long and hard about this pick.
However, in the case of Alabama linebacker’s Courtney Upshaw and Dont’a Hightower, they both played in the 3-4 in college, so you know they can do it . . .
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