according to the daily news, after choosing not to sign Sidney rice to a free agent contract yesterday, the jets have scheduled visits from odell beckham and brandin cooks, arguably two of the best five receivers in this year's rookie draft class. this news doesn't come as a huge surprise, though the timing, immediately after signing Johnson at running back and showing rice the way back to the seahawks, brings up an interesting question with regard to the jets' intentions in the first round.
many fans here believe, and perhaps rightly so, that the free agent additions on offense may have added enough firepower for the jets to contemplate actually shifting away from offense and drafting one of the top corners or, possibly in the case of aaron pryor, a safety in the first round. is dimitri Patterson, for example, really an answer at cornerback? or would drafting justin gilbert (if available, possibly by trading up) or dennard a better option to address a potentially critical hole in the defensive backfield? if we're gonna go d, personally i would prefer pryor, who, although he might be a bit of a reach at the eighteenth spot, could be an answer, THE answer at safety for years to come. the kid is an absolute monster. add a corner, a big one, to back up Patterson and walls, and, voila. a competitive, VASTLY improved defensive backfield. with a punishing missile coming up in run support.
whatever he ultimately decides, its clear that idzik continues to be focused, and appropriately so, on developing the personnel side of the equation. which is a good thing. the hey, we're looking at wide receivers everybody move keeps the others thinking about what the team's intentions, which may or may not directly involve these two players, truly are. beckham and cooks both provide answers in the first round offensively; of the two, i think cooks is clearly the better player, an explosive weapon anywhere he lines up. scary and productive, the threat of him lining up in a competent pass offense, complemented by a suddenly dangerous run game, is enough to give the competition pause. idzik will be vigorously kicking the tires on these blue chips as the jets continue to carefully deliberate their options in the draft. the point is, though, that beckham and cook could ultimately just be fancy green smoke as the jets are really considering the efficacy of drafting a top corner or a safety (namely pryor). or not. marquise lee, anyone?