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Did the Jets trade up with one player in mind?
I asked a very plugged in league source, a guy who works with the league, who has great connections with most of the teams, who he thought the Jets are looking to pick at three.
He said, “I know, but I have been sworn to secrecy.”
I didn’t press him because he’s always been good to me, and clearly he wasn’t going to talk about it at this time.
But I did glean something from what he said.
I think many of us thought the Jets traded up to three with a few different players in mind.
Todd Bowles said last week that the Jets traded up with “six or seven” players in mind. This quote got the coach criticized in some quarters. After all, why trade up from six to three if you like six or seven players. The math doesn’t make sense there. If you like six or seven players at the top of the draft, why not just stay at six and keep three second-round picks the Jets traded to Indianapolis for the chance to move up?
Odd quote, but it might have been said to throw some other teams off the scent of what the Jets thinking is.
Also, it’s possible that Todd isn’t entirely plugged into what the GM is thinking. They aren’t that close.
So who is that one player the Jets are targeting? I’m not going to lie. I have no idea.
One draft analyst, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, wrote something about who the Jets are targeting.
“My belief has been throughout this process that the Jets covet Josh Allen,” Miller wrote. “I reported back in November sources at Wyoming told me no team has done more work on Allen than the Jets. He’s a big (6’5″, 233 lbs), athletic, strong-armed quarterback with the ideal tools to run offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates’ scheme.”
An inaccurate QB is a good fit for the West Coast scheme? I’m not sure about that. Bill Walsh, the forefather of the West Coast offense, valued accuracy perhaps more than any other QB trait. He felt arm strength was a little overrated. Walsh was more into accuracy and decision-making.
Also, with all due respect to Mr. Miller, I don’t think teams spending a lot of time scouting certain prospect connotes inflated interest. Why would a team make it that obvious? I think the Jets were just doing their due diligence.
I’m not saying they won’t pick Allen. I’m just saying that all the work they did scouting Allen doesn’t mean they have extra interest in him.
The Jets might pick Allen. After all, Maccaganan’s first two quarterback picks – Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg – both struggle with accuracy.
So clearly inconsistent accuracy in college QB prospects isn’t something that bothers Maccagnan.
I’m not being a wise guy, just dealing with the anecdotal evidence we have of this GM picking quarterbacks.
So we will see what happens on April 26.
But it’s quite possible, if this source is correct, that the Jets traded up with one guy clearly at the top of their list.
April 2, 2018
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