2009 NFL Draft Grades: New York Jets

F. A. V. R. E. Favre! Favre! Favre! Didn't work out so well, did it? I won't say I told you so. Anyway, the Jets choked down the stretch and a lot of the blame goes to the decrepit prima donna that was once a football god. He's gone - well, from New York at least. For the Jets to make the playoffs for the first time since Mangini's first season they'll need to fix a few things.

INTRODUCTION
Basically the offense. The offense needs fixing. They needed a new QB, OL and RB depth (thank you, Thomas Jones), and WRs. When looking ath their stats from last season you'd think I was overreacting. Well remember now, Jones is unhappy and could hold out and Lord Favre may be throwing INTs in the Twin Cities. Plus Lavernaues Coles is wearing Bengals colors now. That 9th ranked scoring and rushing offense won't be back - at least not with the players they had prior to the draft. The defense was pretty average in 2008. They gave up a bunch of passing yards though, ranking 29th in the league in that department. But there have been plenty of defensive additions to believe they'll be improved into a pretty solid unit. As in, ranking in the Top 12 in all major categories. Yeah, a mini prediction but one I'm confident in. But that offense, oy!

"Mangenius" is gone. He really wa sin over his head, basically riding on the laurels of the end of the Edwards/Bradway regime. He never effectively installed his 3-4. Now Rex Ryan enters and brings along Bart Scott plus adding Lito Sheppard. Can Ryan be bold enough to fix the team in one offseason? After all, if "OMG the greatest QB evah" wasn't so awful the last five weeks the Jets - not the Dolphins - may have won the AFC East in '08. Ryan is a great man for the job. New York needs to give him at least the three seasons they tolerated Mangini for.


DRAFT RECAP
Round/Pick/Overall
1/5/5 - Mark Sanchez, QB, USC
3/1/65 - Shonn Greene, RB, Iowa
6/20/193 - Matt Slauson, OG, Nebraska


BASED ON NEEDS

• WR - Try again.
• DL - Try again.
• QB - Check!
• TE - Try again.
• OL - Check!
  
• Specialist - Try again.

Yep, three picks. That's all rookie head coach Rex Ryan had to work with. Some of that is as a result of Mangini trading away selections but Ryan did his fare share of moving around. Ryan traded their first and second round picks to Cleveland in a deal to move to #5 overall. Ryan moved up to the first slot in round three with Detroit by giving away the Jets third, fourth, and seventh rounders. He also swapped the Jets' fifth round selection for Lito Sheppard. Picks were received from the Saints (a third) and Redskins (a fourth) in the Vilma and Kendall trades. Of course Mangini had sent a fourth rounder in the '09 draft to the Saints with Vilma as well as getting Favre for one of their threes. Phew, lots of trades. In the end just three picks. Never good for a team needing young impact players. How did it all work out?

GRADE: 60/100


BASED ON TALENT
Pick 1 - I am not high on Mark Sanchez. I just do not think you can judge a college QB in 16 games. At least two seasons or (24-26 games) is needed. Why did Sanchez rise up the boards so fast? His accuracy. That's all well and good but can he overcome shortcomings in decision making and toughness? We'll find out and probably soon. He should sit for at least a year but, in New York, I doubt that'll happen. Grade: 8

Pick 2 - They made a ballsy move to get Greene. They gave away a bunch to get him they better hope he pans out. He is a good insurance policy if Jones holds out. Leon Washington is a role player not a feature guy so this was a smart pick. RB is the easiest position to adjust to so Greene should contribute immediately. He was the best RB left on the board and fills a position of need. Grade: 9

Pick 3 - They needed help anywhere along the o-line. No immediate starters; just depth. Slauson wasn't a terrible pick. He is a big, strong guard that needs some technique work. But he doesn't have to start immediately with Faneca and Moore on board. That's good for him. I am left wondering whether a better selection would have been his teammate, OT Lydon Murtha, or Cincinnati OG Trevor Canfield. Either way this was a need pick. It probably helped Slauson that the Jets OL coach is former Cornhuskers head coach Bill Callahan... who recruited Slauson to Nebraska. Grade: 7

GRADE: 24/30


OVERALL
I gave the lowest grade to the Jets when compared with the ones below. I think the Sanchez pick, well really when any QB is selected high, is a risky move. If he succeeds this class is clearly better. I have my doubts. They also only had three picks throughout the whole draft and filled just two of six needs. It can't all be blamed on Ryan, Mangini sure gave picks away. They needed at least five to successfully fill their needs. Without those additional two picks the Jets did not get a WR, TE, or DL depth. Too much rides on Sanchez and his arm for this to be an A-type class.

FINAL GRADE: B-

WHY: Lack of picks and ability to fill needs with value players. They did great with what was available - filling needs with high risk, high reward selections. But I can't give them a B+/A- because of the lack of filling more than a few holes.

NOTE: My "final grade" is weighted and is not a simple combination of "needs" and "talent".


SUPERLATIVES
Best Pick: Sanchez
Worst Pick: Sanchez
Sleeper: Slauson
Instant Impact: Sanchez
Developmental: Sanchez


OTHER DRAFT GRADES - New York Jets
CBS Sports (Prisco): B+
CBS Sports (Rang): B
ESPN (Kiper): A-
NFL.com (Brooks): B
NFL.com (Fan's): B
Walter: A

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