Revisiting the NFL draft

Draft day, Cleveland Ohio:

The Browns war room was said to be equally divided right down the middle about which player they want to take with the seventh overall pick.  Cleveland had already decided to take a CB with the pick so the only remaining question was which of the two top rated CB's would they take?

Would they take Florida CB Joe Haden or Boise St. CB Kyle Wilson?

Among those in the war room who were said to be in Haden's corner was Browns HC Eric Mangini while defensive coordinator Rob Ryan (brother of Jets HC Rex Ryan) was solidly in favor of taking CB Kyle Wilson.  There was even talk about the possibility of Cleveland moving up the board if one of the top CB's came off of the board before the Browns were on the clock, guaranteeing them one of the top two highest rated CB's in the draft.

With the Browns war room reportedly deadlocked at four votes each Cleveland GM Mike Holmgren wound up being the tie breaking vote, in essence allowing his HC to select Haden with the Brown's first round pick.

Here is a very interesting little tidbit about the first major pick of the Holmgini era (or the Mangrem era if you prefer) with regard to the selection of taking Joe Haden over Kyle Wilson.

According NFL.com's Michael Lombardi:

With rookies being liberally scattered throughout the Cleveland secondary many in Brownsville are hoping that  Haden becomes the cornerstone of the new secondary in Cleveland, although not everything being said so far about Haden has been positive.

After speaking with a few coaches throughout the NFL about Haden Lombardi reports many of the them expressed the same concern about "Haden not being too impressive in camp and that he might not have the necessary speed to be a starting NFL CB" while others have opined about the possibility of Haden being shifted to safety.  If that were the case it would be very difficult to justify taking Haden as the 7th overall pick of the NFL draft.

If any case given these kinds of developments Jets might have found not only the best CB in the whole NFL draft at the bottom of the first round but if Wilson proves to be as good as advertised he could combine with new guys like Brodney Pool and Antonio Cromartie and with holdovers from last seasons roster like Revis, Coleman, Leonhard and Lowery to turn what was a very good secondary with depth issues last year into not only the deepest but maybe the best overall secondary in the NFL.

A secondary like that, when combined with an already rock solid front seven. could transform what was a very good  young Jet defense last season into an elite defensive unit in 2010. 

It could also mean that once again the Jets may be the beneficiaries of yet another questional personnel move by Eric the Mangini.  Don't forget that Mangini practically handed Sanchez to the Jets on a silver platter and that he also dealt Braylon Edwards to the Jets for not much more.

On both occasions the Jets struck a deal with the Browns for seemingly very little in terms of personnel and/or  draft picks to trade up for a franchise QB and to trade for a Pro Bowl caliber WR. 

While it is still way too early to definitively say just how good this Jets team may or may not be W-L record wise in 2010 I do believe what you can say even right now about the 2010 Jets is that if they can stay healthy and not have lengthy contract holdouts to serve as a disruption to team harmony so that the players play to their expected levels this Jet defense has a chance to be a very special group, a real game changer anytime it steps onto the field.. 

This is a team that can be very tough to run on, a team that can be very tough to pass on and a team that most importantly can be a very VERY tough team to score on.