The Safety We Should Really Pursue In the Draft

Everyone one of us here who watched a Jets game this year (I hope that's all of us otherwise some people might be on the wrong site) knows that defensively we have a hard time stopping the Tight End. Actually hard time might be an understatement. Normally this wouldn't be biggest problem in the world because not many teams have a really good TE. Unfortunately for us, a certain team up North that happens be in our division has a pair of really good Tight Ends. We also know that Eric Smith is nothing more than a Special Teams player and a role player who comes in on third down as linebacker. So the sooner Eric Smith gets back on the bench the better.

Now a majority of these Mock Drafts have us taking Mark Barron at 16, and I am not a fan of this selection at all. If we take a safety at 16 that guy better be special a la Eric Berry, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Earl Thomas, etc.... Plus I think this draft is so pass rusher heavy I would love to grab a guy who demands extra attention ( Whitney Mercilus, Courtney Upshaw, Nick Perry ,and another guy I'm really beginning to like in Bruce Irvin). What if I told you guys there was a safety in this year's draft with the following measurables, 6'2 204 and will probably run 4.48-4.52 in the forty yard dash. He excels in man-to-man coverage and plays a very physical style of defense. He has really good ball skills and can also play near the line of scrimmage. He takes on blocks from anyone regardless of their size and is always looking to get in on the action. The best part is this guy probably won't come off the board until the Rounds 2 or 3. The only reason being is that he goes to a 1-AA school and is therefore questioned for level of competition. We all know the Jets aren't afraid of taking small school guys early in the draft e.g Kyle Wilson, Vlad Ducasse, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Kenrick Ellis.

The guy I'm talking about is Trumaine Johnson a Cornerback from Montana. Some people think he can make the transition to Safety. I'm someone that is hoping he can make that transition. We have the best secondary coach in the league in Dennis Thurman and learning from the likes of Revis, Cro, and Wilson (The best CB trio in the league) and a seasoned veteran like Jim Leonhard ( I'm hoping we bring him back) who knows the system could only smoothen out that transition. He's tall, he's fast, and he's physical which is everything we are looking for in a Safety. The best part is he excels at man coverage and off coverage so he should be able to cover Gronk. He's tall enough and has a good enough vertical to compete for those high passes that Brady likes to throw to Gronk. Also he's very adept Blitzer which is always a good thing in a Rex Ryan coached defense. I would love to grab this guy in the 2nd round or trade back into the end of the 2nd round after grabbing a RT.

Here's a write up CBS did on him . Also here is some of his highlights. My favorite part of the highlight is at 2:40 when he makes a great play and gives a hell of an effort to get off the block of the offensive lineman. Check out the score and the time btw.