Building Through the Draft

by John B on Apr 12, 2010 10:23 PM EDT

An old saying in the NFL is the best teams make the most of their mid round picks. A lot of people think that means teams only do that by selecting rookies. The Jets are showing the league a different approach. Draft picks have become ridiculously overvalued in the NFL. Now there's something to be said for holding onto first and second round picks. Those can turn into talented players at discount rates. Mid to late round picks are different, though. There are stories every year about guys who work themselves out of a low Draft position into an excellent career. These guys are in the minority, though. Most guys taken in the middle to late stages never become impact players.

Think about it. Holding onto a pick instead of landing a top notch player is crazy. The odds of the guy the Steelers will take with that fifth round pick being better than Santonio Holmes are small. The Jets are most likely going to end up getting the better of this trade.

People need to think of it in different terms than they are used to doing. Santonio Holmes is now part of this Draft class. He was the Jets' fifth round pick. Those picks are there to help teams get good players. That is what Mike Tannenbaum does. Thomas Jones was part of the 2007 Draft class. When you consider Gang Green also landed Darrelle Revis and David Harris, that goes down as one of the greatest classes in the history of the league. Kris Jenkins was the third and fifth round pick in 2008. I'll take him over the guys the team could have selected any day.

Other teams have been slow to catch on to Mike Tannenbaum's common sense. It's to New York's advantage.

Tweet Comment 19 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I agree

basically we selected a 26 yr old known top ten reciever in the league in round 5 you take it every time

by Markis ThatGuy Jones on Apr 12, 2010 11:07 PM EDT reply actions

not sure i understand if holmes is a 5th round pick

then why are you gonna pay him 1st round $ if u want 2 have him more then 12 games..i would think hes a 1st rounder that may or may not survive a bout with cancer after this year.hypothetical

by Troy O on Apr 12, 2010 11:11 PM EDT reply actions

How will he command first round dollars coming off a suspension, playing in only 12 games, in a run-heavy offense, where the ball will be spread around to multiple weapons when we do pass?

by Crackback on Apr 12, 2010 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions

What are you talking about he hypothetically has cancer?

by Crackback on Apr 12, 2010 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions

if he leaves after this year .sorry ..it was the best i could come up with this late

by Troy O on Apr 12, 2010 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions

WTF?

...you're a jet all the way.

by OnceYoureAJet on Apr 13, 2010 1:14 AM EDT up reply actions

if the jets have that attitude he will have a short jet career

by Troy O on Apr 12, 2010 11:18 PM EDT reply actions

If he thinks he can make more elsewhere, God bless. We’ll just re-sign Edwards and roll with him and J-Co and Keller.

by Crackback on Apr 12, 2010 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s a great way of looking at it and I totally agree.

by revis_island on Apr 13, 2010 12:24 AM EDT reply actions

NO!! This is the antithesis of the Patriot Way, which the media has instilled as the official and unquestionable Golden Law of Team Building.

Either you’re wrong or Scott Pioli is, and judging by how awesome Kansas City is, I think you owe us all an apology.

http://www.jetskvetch.com
Come join me as I fanatically follow the goys in green!

by Max VV on Apr 13, 2010 12:44 AM EDT reply actions

The big difference between getting Holmes in a trade and drafting a WR

is that Holmes is in the last year of his contract and will cost big money to resign, a 5th round rookie contract is much cheaper. So if you want to have long term success you better be able to draft well in addition to these short rentals like Holmes and Cromartie.

by secret defense on Apr 13, 2010 12:16 PM EDT reply actions

Who says he’ll be expensive? He’s missing 4 games, playing in a run-heavy offense, and won’t be the clear number 1 option. Doubt he’ll put up the numbers to demand top salary. And he has a recent suspension hanging around his neck. Might lock him up for cheap.

by Crackback on Apr 13, 2010 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

If demand was so high for him we wouldn’t have gotten him for a 5th.

by Crackback on Apr 13, 2010 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

If he’s productive then he will cost a lot to resign. If he’s terrible then it’s a bad trade. If he’s just used as a slot receiver and doesn’t put up the numbers he did in Pittsburgh why would he want to resign with the Jets instead of some more WR-needy team that he’ll make a bigger impact on? As to why Jets got him for a 5th, the Steelers were considering releasing him, and many other teams were mad at them because they didn’t know about it and would have offered more for him.

by secret defense on Apr 13, 2010 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions

If he’s productive we either re-sign him will probably get Bray for cheap. Both are unlikely to have productive seasons.

If he’s just a slot, and his numbers are down he might want to stay with a winner and an up-and-coming QB and have a shot at multiple titles.

As for getting him for only a 5th, Steelers could have gotten more if they waited, and if others teams have sour grapes thats a good thing.

The fact is he’s good, he’s a Jet, and we got him for only a 5th rounder. If it was a bad move, nobody would care about it.

by Crackback on Apr 13, 2010 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

sorry, my reply is below

by secret defense on Apr 13, 2010 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Never said it was a bad move

I’m just saying there’s only so much cap room and you’ll have sign Mangold and Revis to big money, thus you’ll have to choose which bunch of players among Edwards, Cromartie, and Holmes to resign, all of whom you gave up picks for and probably won’t have the room to resign them all. And if you haven’t noticed about the NFL, the players will go where the money is. The only cases where players would sign for less money is if they already made a ton of it and will take less to win a championship. There no chance any of these young players will want to pass up the big contract.

by secret defense on Apr 13, 2010 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

But they all have to play for their contracts. Thats the beauty of it. Yes, its a win now mentality. I love it. I’m tired of playing for later. We’re loaded with young talent at our core and are primed to take a shot right now and we’re going for it. If we don’t make it, we sign back as many of these guys as we can, snatch up another couple really talented players with one year left on their contracts and take another shot. I like the strategy. Sanchez, Revis, Mangold, Ferguson, Greene, Harris and Keller aren’t going anywhere. Add who ever we draft high this year to that mix. We’re primed for many runs at the big one.

by Crackback on Apr 13, 2010 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions