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New Jersey – Most mock drafts mean very little. They are guesswork – combining the draft value rankings with a particular teams needs.
But one particular mock draft, published on March 15, is worth paying attention to, in regards to the New York Jets’ pick.
Charley Casserly, of the NFL Network and NFL.com, had the Jets trading the sixth pick of the draft to the Cleveland Browns, in exchange for the 12th pick overall.
He didn’t say what else the Jets would get, along with the 12th pick. Obviously there would be a lot more. Casserly didn’t give the Jets the Browns 19th pick of the first round. The Browns have two first round picks.
But what else they would get is a moot point right now.
The mere fact that Casserly has the Jets trading the pick to Cleveland is noteworthy.
You can’t ignore this mock draft in relation to the Jets, and just dismiss it as another run-of-the-mill mock.
Casserly is very close with Mike Maccagnan and was instrumental in “Mac” getting the Jets’ GM job.
Casserly was a consultant to Woody Johnson during the general manager and head coach search, along with Ron Wolf.
Maccagan is a Casserly-disciple, having scouted for him in both Washington and Houston.
The two are close. They talk.
And here is the interesting thing about the Casserly mock, vis-à-vis the Jets – not only did he have the Jets trading the pick, but just as important to point out, Marcus Mariota was available.
In the mock, the Jets passed on Mariota, traded the pick to the Cleveland, and the Browns picked Mariota.
To me, the fact that Charlie presented this scenario in his mock draft, sheds light on the fact that the Jets likely aren’t enamored of Mariota.
To me, knowing how close Charlie and Mike are, Charlie doesn’t put himself out there, saying the Jets are willing to trade the pick, allowing another team to pick Mariota, unless he knows that the Jets likely aren’t going down the Mariota road.
And with Johnny Manziel in rehab, and his future unclear, the Browns, who are getting crushed in the media in Cleveland (and owner Jimmy Haslam cares about bad PR – probably too much), this kind of splashy move makes a lot of sense.
Remember, when Charlie and Mike were together in Houston, they passed on college-system QB Vince Young, and picked Mario Williams in the 2006 draft. They got crushed at the time for it, but it was the right move.
Young couldn’t make the transition from a simplistic college offense to the NFL game.
Mariota is attempting to make the same transition. I’m not saying he can’t, but most of these gimmick-offense college QB’s don’t make a successful transition. So keep the Vince Young scenario in mind when thinking of Maccagnan/Mariota.
We should all take the Casserly mock draft seriously. Nobody has better insight into Mike Maccagnan. And he also talks to him quite a bit.
March 16, 2015
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