By Ken Berger
Kudos to Matty Rod, who sniffed out the latest rumor with his seemingly innocent question about what the Jets could get if they packaged their 29th and 35th picks to move up. My trade value board says they could at least wind up with the 13th pick, and now the rumor du jour has the Jets interested in making that deal with the Ravens to select Jay Cutler. It apparently would happen only if Baltimore couldn't select Oregon nose tackle Haloti Ngata at 13. Check back for more later.
Comments (9)
I am becoming increasingly confident as the draft approaches and more information is floated about what the new Jets leadership might have in mind. After all, I thought they handled free agency with aplomb, especially in sticking to their guns in the John Abraham trade. And I love what they have said about NOT taking a kicker in the first round!
My hopes are these: they trade down with the Raiders and still get Ferguson. They then package picks and get Baltimore's pick and select Jay Cutler. I think if the Jets come out of the first round with (possibly) the best OT since Orlando Pace came out and (quite likely) the best QB in the draft, I would give them an A+.
So far I like these guys - no hype, just patience and intelligence. It's going to be exciting to see what happens in the coming years.
But another condition has to be met as well: Cutler at 13 only works if the Cardinals or Rams don't take him 10 or 11, respectively--odds are good that one of those teams will take Cutler. So this deal can't be made until the round begins. And Ngata will probably be gone, too before 13--so this is more smoke than fire.
Best move is still Davis at 4 and either trade him and 29 to Niners for 22 and 6, upgrading at backend of draft and allowing selection of D'Brick at 6--or keep him and get the most explosive playmaker in the draft--for a team that currently has nobody who scares defenses--paired with an OC that will know how to use him (with the exception of Bush).
Who did Jay Cutler play against in college? Did anybody see him play on national TV? This guy is way over- rated! I think he's a career back up at best. Just because he tested well at the combine doesn't mean he'll be a good pro.(Ryan Leaf tested out just fine and by the way so did Rick Mirer and Akili Smith and Andre Ware etc, etc)) If we're going to pick a QB just take Leinert. The guy has done it on the big stage against the best competition.
Here’s my plan for Saturday. If it can be done, package nos. 4 & 29 to Houston and draft Reggie Bush. He is an exciting player and potential game changer whose acquisition should quiet any criticism about passing on the big 3 QBs, no matter how they eventually turn out. Of course, those 2 picks might not be enough to convince Houston and anything more would be excessive in my opinion. There is also the fact that the new regime probably does not have the stones for a bold move such as this (remember, Tannenbaum was here for the disappointing trade that landed Robertson(. Given these factors, here is plan B.
Forget about the offensive side with no. 4 and take A.J. Hawk. He is likely the best football player in the draft and if you are going to run a 3-4, a linebacker corp with Hawk and Vilma is a great start. Hawk could be used on the inside where he would match up better against a guard or center and the smaller Vilma could be moved to the outside where his blinding speed could be used to full effect. The Packers will pounce on Hawk at no. 5 so moving down is not an option. After this, if RBs Williams and Maroney are gone at 29, then grab Miami tackle Eric Winston followed by a quality corner in the second round.
If the Jets are in fact in love with the Brick and assuming the Saints don’t take him, I agree he can be had at no. 7 with the addition of a 3rd round pick from the raiders. The addition of this pick would allow more flexibility in moving up for a stud like Ngata or Jimmy Williams, while still keeping the 29th pick where they could grab an LB like Bobby Carpenter or Demeco Ryans. Once again, RBs Williams or Maroney would be nice, but it is not an immediate need and if you start to build a solid O line a free agent or lower round pick could eventually fill Curtis’ shoes to good effect.
I think Mario Williams (Have you noticed there are an awful lot of Williams’s coming out this year?) would be a waste for the Jets. End is just not an important enough position in the 3-4 to warrant such a high pick. Just pick up a few slabs of beef in the middle/late rounds and see what shakes out.
Being an LSJF (figure it out) I am confidently awaiting a screwup of epic proportions this weekend, but hope always springs eternal in April. My question to you Ken is do you think 4 & 29 are enough to get the no. 1 from Houston?
To Long Suffering Jet Fan (I got it!) - Your idea to give the 4th and 29th pick to Houston for Bush suffers from a classic case of home-team-ism. It took the Jints about five picks including multiple 1st-rounders to jump up to get Manning. You think the cost will be any less in this case? At the minimum, you're looking at our two 1sts this year, our 1st NEXT year, and at LEAST another 1st day pick this year.
At that cost, no way I trade up. As a matter of fact, trading down looks better and better to me. If the top two picks are Bush-Williams, and the Titans pick a QB, we HAVE to see if the Raiders would trade up. The issue of course is that the Raiders could simply call our bluff, since it's obvious we need D'Brick, Hawk, or even Davis more than a QB right now...it's conceivable that Young could fall to them without trading up!
I also think that trading up to get Cutler is a BAD move. Keeping the 29th pick and getting a decent RB like Maroney and then drafting a guy like Kellen Clemens makes way more sense to me...
ken, thanks for the update on the late first early second round trade.
sounds like someone read the nj star ledger this morning.
OK, under the harsh light of commentary I realize 4 & 29 won’t bag you a Bush. I still say Hawk is the way to go followed by an OT and a corner, or vice versa.
I don't really want Cutler at 4 either, but you can't say he didn't play against anyone in college. He played against the SEC for 4 straight years with inferior talent around him. That's the one plus he has over Young and Leinart, he did as well as he did with basically nobody around him.
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