S81 New York Jets Off-season, pt. 2
by KlyVertigo | 6 years ago | 0 Comments
For part one of our special two-part series, we focused on the New York Jets Free Agency. For this second part, we shift focus to the draft. The Jets came into the off-season with seven total picks, and the talk around the Meadowlands was that the Jets were focused on addressing three positions of need. In this second part, instead of focusing on all seven picks, we'll take an opportunity to look at three of the Jets picks.
Round 1, 6th overall
RT London Norwood
RT London Norwood (Florida) is a beast of man and an excellent pick by the Jets. He brings a power and a real nastiness that is unrivaled. Putting up 39 reps on the bench (T1st - all OL), combined with his 4.6 in the Shuttle (5th - all OL) and 7.48 in the 3-cone (T3rd - all OL), makes his unique combination of raw strength and speed a real presence in the run game. He has an innate ability to seek out defenders and engage them with reckless abandon. The Jets may have picked a perennial all-pro if they find a way to not keep him on an island.
Round 2, 62 overall
HB Jarman Livings
HB Jarman Livings (Maine) is a young back with an impressive resume of making defenders miss with ease. His coaching staff at Maine reported that Livings is a pinball with all of the cuts, spins, and bounce back runs. His combine scores were respectable for a late 2nd pick, and any team that acquired him would be better for it. However, Livings wasn't the player that the Jets needed, as they just spent money on signing HB Jalen Richard, an exact carbon copy of Livings. We don't like the Jets going HB here, and if they had to then we'd rather see the power back that they've been missing for so long.
Round 3, 70 overall
LE Keeshawn Gideon
LE Keeshawn Gideon (Maine) was an odd pick for the Jets here. He's a great defensive end and an ideal fit for their scheme, but all the talk was that the Jets were going to look to shore up the other side of the trench. In either case, Gideon is a pretty good pick for the Jets. He provides a strong presence in defending the run game and consuming blocks. He gained a reputation for his impressive power rushing skills, but has a concerning habit of running out of gas often. While he will be in instant starter, his playing time will have to be heavily managed as the coaching staff looks to work on his stamina.
Draft Grade: C+
The Jets absolutely won with their first pick. The only negative that we can see with this pick is that unfortunately he is only one man, and cloning technology hasn't been mastered. But beyond the first round, the Jets made some eyebrow-raising decisions. They spent heavily in Free agency on WR and HB, only to turn around and draft at those positions as well. They also picked CB for two consecutive rounds. While they are serviceable players, neither of which are true scheme fits and will be projects at best. Finally, the Jets didn't address that second offensive lineman like they needed to. All in all, the Jets definitely couldn't done a better job, and the strength of Norwood is the only them giving the grade they have.
Folks, thanks for your time this off-season. Week 1 is right around the corner and the Jets will travel to Dallas to match up against the Cowboys.