By Ken Berger
You don't win by appeasing public opinion on draft day. You win by protecting your quarterback and knocking down the opposing quarterback. I look for the Jets to get that replacement for John Abraham later in this draft -- maybe even with their other first-round pick. But they absolutely did the right think by selecting D'Brickashaw Ferguson with the fourth pick.
Despite all the articles you might have read hyping up the Reggie Bush angle, the Jets -- quite correctly -- were never seriously tempted to give up multiple picks and move up for Bush. Matt Leinart was never a serious part of the discussion. They need a star left tackle, and they need all their picks to rebuild this roster.
The most popular decision? Probably not. But from a serious football standpoint, it was the right one, without a doubt.
By the way, John Doe: How did that three-way trade work out that you wanted to read so much about?
Comments (31)
I think it's crazy to take an offensive lineman, any offensive lineman, at No. 4, especially one who's a suspect run blocker. No. 4 is for the marquee player, especially since the Jets now will have to pay No. 4 money. I think the Jets have it backward in trying to fill the quarterback need with a third-tier prospect. They should have taken the best-available quarterback at No. 4, and protect him with a second-tier left tackle. The gap between Leinart/Cutler and the other QBs is greater than Ferguson and second-tier tackles.
I love Brick, but I still say we should have looked to move down for two or more picks. If we could have come out of this draft with 8 or 9 prospects, we would have better odds of some of them becoming impact players, than if we only come out with 7. History shows you cannot predict where the superstars are going to come from.
Again, nothing against D'Brick, but he's just not a No. 4 pick. Look at the rest of the draft. Fourteen picks already, and the Jets are the only ones to go for an offensive lineman. At that spot (and for that money), they should have gone for an impact player, such as Huff, Davis or even Cutler (if they were that down on Leinart). Is D'Brick really five picks (and a couple of million dollars) better than Leinart?
Let's look at Virginia's stats: The Cavaliers relinquished 2.75 sacks per game with a conservative offense. That's a sack every 12 plays.
And let's remember the Jets are in this position because of all of their knee-jerk cuts. At the end of the season, the need was a future QB and RB. Because of the cuts, they have holes everywhere. Again, the GM is a CPA. It's just like in journalism, with bean-counters serving as editors. You need reporters to become editors, and football guys to become GMs.
Don't forget Mandarich & Gallery.
Interesting all the NFL scouts psoting here. Remember, there are no givens, no matter where a person is drafted. Tony Mandarich was no good and Tom Brady and Terrell Davis were 2nd Day picks. Once drafted, it's up to the coaches to continue to teach and get the most out of their players. I like the draft so far, especially getting Kellen the QB from Oregon in round 2. It's good we're not Bills fans as their draft is awful. Nice job Marv!
Hey, Ken-doll. Where are all those Jets fans who insisted that there was no way Leinart got past the Jetsies at No. 4? All of a sudden, they're really quiet.
And that chucklehead who thought I was a moron for picking Mangold at 29 after they had signed the immortal Trey Teague in free agency, where's he?
As I posted here several days ago: football games are won and lost in the trenches. I said on Tuesday that the Jets should draft Brick and Mangold--and they did!!!! Great picks--couldn't be happier. This is how championships are build.
ken, is that really bob glauber? Ouch, why is he ripping you like that? Well I knew that 3 way would not happen, I just wanted to know who was involved.
anyway, schlegal could be the steal of the draft.
No, taking D'Brick early shows that there was no need to grab him so early. Nobody else was grabbing quality offensive linemen. As for D'Brick being a 10-year guy, uh, yeah, sure. How many 10-year Jets do we have now? We never retain our best.
All I know is this: We could have had Leinart, Justice and White. We end up with a one-dimensional tackle, a center who is no better than Mawae (why, oh, why did we cut him?) and a quarterback who was second to . . . yep, that's right, Leinart. This is what happens when my CPA tries to draft players.
What good would taking a QB be if there's no one to protect for him.
Jets have had a very smart draft. O-Line will be set for years.
Very happy with the Jets' picks. Ferguson and Mangold turns what was the Jet's weakness into a strength. Let's face it, you can't win in this league without winning in the trenches. Glad they didn't trade up for Bush. That would have been a grandstand play. On the righht team, he's the final piece, but on most teams, he's a better version of Eric Metcalf.
Clemmens could be intersting too - sounds like he has the intangibles. I'm glad the Jets haven't reached for anyone, and appear to be moving about this methodically, according to their plan.
Also love getting Washington's #2 next year. Now I can root even harder for Danny and his overpaid boys to struggle next year !
Ferguson is absolutely the right way to start. The O line is what makes the offense, that extra second lets WRs get open, RBs find the hole, and QB find the right receiver. The fact that they further solidified their O line with Mangold is another huge step up.
The new GM and Head coach clearly aren't after the fancy stuff, they are putting the jets back on the right track by getting the men they need.
Ferguson just destroyed those DEs during the Senior bowl. He's def the right man.
Though I do think they wasted ac ouple of picks trying to make sure they get Clemens... good pick I think, but no need to rush.
btw - the 2nd round from Washington, gives the Jets fans a reason to root for the other NY team :). Hopefully that 2nd round pick is a good one. In the tough NFC East, I think it has a chance of being in the ballpark of 15-20 in the 2nd round.
I like the moves made in the first day, but a few questions come to mind when going over the whole process. I understand that RBs are almost a dime a dozen, but does anyone feel that we missed out on a possible great addition with Brian Calhoun. Also, this Eric Smith guy...is he really a better pro prospect than Darnell Bing?
Very happy taking D'Brick. WOuld really have liked to take Addai at 29 instead of Mangold. Do people expect Mangold to start immediately at Center, or will Teague start?
Trading down and taking Clemens seems great.
But the third round IMO seems pretty awful. Looks like we wasted the 3rd rd picks this year as much as last year taking Pouha.
I agree that we could have down a better job in the 3rd round. we bypassed some big names for who? Tangini better know what they are doing.
The only thing I can think of is that these last two picks are absolutely Mangini system guys, I would sure like to hear Tannenbaum and Mangini explain their rationale behind the Schlegel,Smith picks...
I live in Columbus and have watched Schlegel play for the last two years. I'm not even a Buckeye fan (Sooners!) but this guy is very good and was just overlooked because he had Carpenter and Hawk around him. Schlegel got to the ball like these guys did and he can run through walls and does. He's just a big, hard nosed player, something like Belichik or Mangini would want on the team. I also got to meet him briefly a few weeks ago and hear him speak and he is a solid well grounded guy who just loves playing football. He may have been drafted too early but he is not a wasted pick. He'll be a contributor this year in some form. As for Smith...
First of all you are not lining up with an all rookie offinsive line next year, it's hard to say when these guys will start paying dividends. If they were so big D'Brick they could have traded down to the Cards and still got him and more. They didn't get maximum value out of it. Not taking Leinart shows Jet's management is afraid to take any risk.
I have a hard time undrstanding this whole "safe" think with the Ferguson pick. What - we should've taken the big name who most people say doesn't ahve the arm strength to make it inthe leage (never mind inthe Meadowlands)? "Safe" to me means they weren't "stupid." Ferfuson is not the final piece, but LT is one of the main building blocks in developing any successful team.
I am hoping they go for Gabe Watson and Max Jean-Gilles tomorrow. Alan Zemaitis wouldn't be bad.
All I know is we could have had Leinart, Justice, White and Bing.
Anyone else think Tannebaum/Mangini didn't have a very good time out in California?
I've seen Bing and Smith play in person. I think Bing is the better safety.
This is the first time I've ever been disappointed in the Jets' draft, mostly because of the available talent we didn't grab. But whatever. I still love the J-E-T-S.
One last thing on D'Brick: You can't judge him or any other perimeter blocker based on all-star games, which limit the amount of blitz schemes. Going one-on-one against a defensive end in a limited-blitz game is just like a simple blocking drill in practice. Blocking changes when you have to worry about stunts and twists among the linemen, or linebackers looping. Again, D'Brick is a solid guy with agility; I just wouldn't take him or any other lineman at No. 4. That's high-bonus territory.
please explain the rationale for taking shlegel and smith on the first day - or at all? had these picks been made by the previous regime Jet fans would be screaming for their heads. Herm and Bradway spent too many picks on too slow 'character' guys (hobson, askew, pouha, etc).
also, they seem to have passed on some really exciting athletes, most notably Chad Jackson at #35 and Addai at #29 (tho i love Mangold).
Ken - - Yes, if you could get the rationale for the Schlegel & Smith picks, that would really help some of us get a sense of Tannini.
Those picks seemed like reaches, at least according to so many draft *experts...* lots of us are scratching our heads.
Thanks, and keep up the great work!
I'll start out by saying that im happy with most of the first day picks. However, things start to get fuzzy after the QB Clemmons (i hope he's our charlie frye). Im not a big college football fan but I heard so much hype about Ko Simpson and Darnell bing, yet watched the Jets take smith. Im also curious why WR Chad Jackson wasnt good enough for mangini but was good enough for the guy he's trying to mimic in New england.
I don't beleive it, last year the Jets mortgaged the whole draft for Doug Jolly then they played Chris Baker all year because he decided to wake-up. Now they draft another Tight End. This whole draft is about pass blocking and mark my words next year half way through the season we will be stuck with Patrick Ramsey and a slightly improved line. And we will have the same record as the 2004 Redskins.
About Schlegel though, is it really that he was overshadowed by Hawk and Carpenter, or did Hawk and Carpenter make Schlegel look better than he really was/is? And I'm still hoping that they look at William Kershaw (OLB from Maryland) as one of their free agent pickups. I really think that he is an underrated player who can turn into a starter in the league. A valuable pickup who I feel was better than half of the LBs that went off the board in the second day.
your headline said the Jets didn't draft a QB. They drafted 2.
I find it humerous that so many fans can have so many opinions while being positive they are completely right. Everybody has to let loose their opinion on players who they don't really know and whose final grades won't be available for 2 - 4 years from now. Hey people, get a grip and wait and see how these players shape up. Or why should you care? If Eric Smith becomes an all-pro 3 years from now nobody will remember that you said he was a wasted pick.
I loved our first 3 picks. Two excellent choices that fill significant needs and a quarterback to lead the team as they reach their primes. The draft is about the Mangini system. Character, commitment and talent make a hard nosed, hustling team. Thats why the OT and RB from USC were ignored.
Who knows if the LB, or the safety or the QB turned RB/WR will be good picks. For years we have cheered the quality of our drafts and look where we are. All these guys are hard working, team leaders who will give their all on every play. Hopefully they have the talent to match. I'll take that over what I saw last year from some of our players.
I like the plan. I think we are headed in the right direction. The rest is coaching. I think Mangini's team will erase the frustration of watching Edwards try not to lose the game. Give it a chance.