FanPost

When's the last time the Jets drafted an impact player? They really haven't under Rex Ryan...

Something odd is going on with the Jets. When Rex showed up, the Jets had just had a few really good years in the draft picking up lots of impact players like Nick Mangold and Darrelle Revis. It's been awhile since the Jets drafted someone of that caliber. Why is that? I don't think it's the draft process, since the people running that outfit are pretty much the same people that ran it under Eric Mangini. I think there's another problem...

The NFL Draft has become this ridiculously overanalyzed process that's now broadcasted on primetime television over the course of a long weekend. People are obsessed with the future NFL superstars in a very odd way. While I understand where it comes from, I don't think the draft process is as important as it's made out to be. There's a reason that certain organizations continue to replenish their depth and come up with impact players on a regular basis. The Patriots, the Steelers, the Ravens, the Giants, the Packers. All these teams seem to just be better at the draft process than every other team. No matter where they pick, they always seem to pick the right players. Except that's not it.

The difference between those teams and us is not in the way they pick players. The difference is what the teams do with the players once they get them into their program. It's how they train their players that's different than everyone else. And I think that's the problem. Rex Ryan apparently doesn't know the first thing about training players to play in the NFL. Going back to 2009, Rex's first year with the team, here's the list of every player the Jets have drafted:

Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene, Matt Slauson, Kyle Wilson, Vladimir Ducasse, Joe McKnight, John Conner, Muhammad Wilkerson, Kenrick Ellis, Bilal Powell, Jeremy Kerley, Greg McElroy, Scotty McKnight, Quinton Coples, Stephen Hill, Demario Davis, Josh Bush, Terrance Ganaway, Robert Griffin, Antonio Allen, Jordan White

Now I didn't check each individually, but by my count, there is literally 1 Pro Bowl appearance amongst all those players. And that was Joe McKnight as a kick returner. None of these guys even seem to be on their way. I honestly don't even know where to begin. There are some contributors on this list, but really only by default. There's no QB around to take the job from Sanchez. There's no back around to take the job from Greene or Conner. Some of these guys are very talented players, but apparently haven't been put in the right situation thus far.

Rex knows his X's and O's. There is no denying that. But it doesn't seem like he fully understood the responsibilities that come along with being a head coach in the NFL. There's so much more to it than designing blitz packages and being everyones buddy. That's what a defensive coordinator gets to do. The head coach is responsible for making sure his players are ready physically and mentally to play every week. That means drilling technique into their heads and have them on the best training regimen possible. I don't see that happening.

Rex always says they're going to fix it. But they never do.

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