The New York Jets select...

The Jets have found a way to keep draft junkies on their toes this off season.  With the new additions of Cromartie, Tomlinson, Pool, Holmes and Taylor there are few holes that need to be filled on this team.  The reality is no one really can predict what will happen when the 29^th pick of the draft is announced tonight. 

               
So after much thought, speculation and arguing with myself (come on you all know you do it too).   I’m making a bold prediction:  


          The New York Jets will draft a cornerback within the first two rounds.


Now that you’re done saying “this girl doesn’t know what she’s talking about” … let’s take a look at why I think a new CB will be drafted in the next two days.

                

It’s a well known fact that the more cornerbacks you have the better off a team will be.  Cornerbacks are the equivalent to pitchers in baseball.  You can never have enough good ones.  The evolution of the passing game makes this fact even more true.  Mike Tannenbaum himself admitted “Rex loves corners”.   Rex is one of the defensive coaches that believe the mantra that you can never have enough depth at that position.   

                
Cornerbacks get injured all the time due to the speed at which they play and the constant cutting they have to do to be effective on their feet.   The Jets felt the impact of injuries last season most at this valuable position.  Aside from Revis, there were many games in which two of the Jets cornerbacks were sidelined with injuries.

                

So let’s recap our current CB situation:   Strickland and Sheppard are gone.   Their names were on the injury list most of last season anyway so good ridden.  The Jets made a great move by acquiring ProBowler CB Antonio Cromartie.  With him opposite Revis, I can confidently say the Jets have the best cornerback tandem in the NFL.

Despite this, they still lack depth.   Our only other CB’s on the current roster are Dwight Lowery, Drew Coleman, and Marquice Cole.   Without going into the specifics of each player, it’s obvious that this position could use some more talent.

                

Still don’t believe me?  Let’s take a look at last season.  We know that NFL teams are going towards more of a pass-oriented system.   With that being said, it’s not rare to see up to four corners on the field at the same time.   The Jets need to be prepared to face those 3 or 4 wide receiver sets that more and more teams are using.  The Colts are a perfect example.   Think back to the AFC Championship game and tell me that having more talented depth at the cornerback position wouldn’t have helped us win that game.

                
In thinking about next year’s regular season games, Baltimore and New England (pending Welker’s return) are three games in which cornerback talent and depth play a key role in winning these games.

                

This year’s draft class has some great cornerback talent.   The latest Top 5 draft rankings at this position are:
          1.       Joe Haden – Florida
          2.       Kyle Wilson – Boise State
          3.       Devin McCourty – Rutgers
          4.       Kareem Jackson – Alabama
          5.       Patrick Robinson – Florida State


I think 3-4 cornerbacks could be drafted in the first round.   Leaving a lot of talent to be picked up in the second round as well.   While I’d be more than happy to see any of the names listed above fall to the Jets, I'd be ecstatic to see local Rutgers boy Devin McCourty become one of our very own.  Brandon Ghee (Wake Forest) and Perrish Cox (Oklahoma) are two picks that would also make me very happy to see wearing Jets Green.


In a few hours we’ll see if my prediction is right.    I do think Mike T will also address depth at the OLB/DE spot and we could very well hear Jerry Hughes or Jared Odrick’s names from the podium.  


This year proves to be an exciting draft. 


Trade up, trade down, or stay at #29…..it will be a great draft that will only add to our trip to Dallas next season.

               

               

For a fith-round pick....and two water coolers

Many fans across Jets nation are waking up to some good news this morning.  Yes it's true – Mike Tannenbaum the trade king himself has done it again.   Santonio Holmes is now a New York Jet.   The trade news broke late last night.   The Jets have acquired the Superbowl MVP in exchange for their fifth-round pick in this year’s draft….and two water coolers.

This is a great move by the Jets.  I’ve been a huge fan of Santonio since he entered the league in 2006.  The 26 year old former first-round draft pick, has 3,835 receiving yards since entering the league 4 years ago.  The guy’s a playmaker period. 

While most Jets fans couldn’t be more happy about this trade, the haters from the “teams in blue” started coming out of the woodwork quickly spewing their jealous hate.

Congratulations to Giants and Patriots fans for passing elementary mathematics.  Yes you are correct:  16 – 4 =  12.  The notion that an organization would stay away from stealing a player like Holmes simply because of a pending four-game suspension is ludicrous.    

The Jets have a decent receiving corps without Holmes.  They made it to the AFC Championship game without him.   This four game suspension will not make or break this deal.   It’s a win-win situation really; the Jets have had far worse “busts” over the years.  This low-risk, high-reward move by Tannenbaum is one of the best this off-season by far.

Some say Holmes is the next Ricky Williams of the NFL?   I hardly think so.  He violated the substance abuse policy, that’s all.   The domestic violence charges from 2006 were dropped.  The latest “glass” incident is a mess of a case and charges have yet to be filed.   It’s your typical gold digger making an accusation to make some quick money.  

Spare me.

Up until this month, Santonio Holmes was not a name thrown into the mix as one of the “bad guys” in the NFL.  I could name players on one hand that have had more serious off-field “issues” than he has.    I’ve been quick to say that I don’t want players who are cancers to the team on the Jets.  In my eyes, albeit no angel, Santonio Holmes is not one of them.  

I’ll take Holmes’ harmless stupidity any day of the week.  He’s an angel compared to Brandon Marshall.  No training camp hissy fits, no DUI, no multiple arrests for domestic disputes, no altercations leading to a murder.  He’s no Randy “I’ll play when I want to” Moss, or Chad “I punched my coach” Johnson.  They exemplify the type of players you should worry about. 

Drug use is Holmes’ crime of choice, the same situation our beloved Shaun Ellis was in not too long ago.  

Some Steelers fans are mourning their loss by the famous “his off-field issues were a distraction to the team” excuse.   Yes, his distractions hurt the team so badly that he ended up making one of the greatest catches in SuperBowl history.   If the Steelers were worried about distractions they should look at their very own starting QB.  Now that’s what I call a distraction.

The Steelers didn’t let go of Holmes because of a four game suspension.   They aren’t making a statement about what they stand for.  History has shown that Dan Rooney is all about football and nothing else.  Did he allow Jerome Bettis to walk after being accused of forcing a girl to perform sexual acts?  Nope, he extended his contract.  Did he fire Bill Cowher after his alleged affair with his secretary?  Nope, he extended his contract too.  

Be happy Jets fans and be prepared to defend all the hate.  It’s been a long time since teams considered the Jets as a threat, so embrace it and get ready for one hell of a season to come!