FanPost

Ed Reynolds

As a kind of follow up to the excellent piece that David Wyatt posted on this site with the positional rankings of safeties (http://www.ganggreennation.com/2014/4/18/5627588/ranking-the-safeties-available-in-the-2014-nfl-draft), there was just a great interview conducted by SB Nation on Ed Reynolds - the safety out of Stanford who David ranks as Tier 3 and a fourth round pick.

The entire interview can be viewed here: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/4/19/5631512/2014-nfl-draft-ed-reynolds-interview-stanford-safety

Granted, this is just a short media interview, but I was really impressed reading this. I think this kid really loves the game of football and is a real student of the game. He reminds me a bit of Jim Leonhard (not playing style, size or color) but as a guy who will really know the nuances of Rex's defense up and down and be a real coach/QB of the defense on the field from the Safety position. I think an issue the secondary has had in the past couple of years is that we really haven't had this type of defensive leader in the secondary who is an extension of the coaching staff out there. I think Ed Reynolds could be that guy, and could be a vital cog in the Jets secondary for years to come.

I would be very happy with the Jets taking him in the fourth round (using the Tampa Bay pick) and plugging him into the secondary. While I would still love to see the Jets aggressively target Jimmie Ward in the second round, I think the real value will be focusing on Reynolds in the early stages of Round 4.

For me, a perfect draft at this point would look like this:

18 - Darqueze Dennard

49 - Jace Amaro or Jarvis Landry

80 - Jarvis Landry (doubtful still there)

104 - Ed Reynolds

This gives us 4 starters with our first 4 picks - all of whom should make an impact next year. This would also give the Jets Front Office the freedom to take lottery tickets like Brandon Thomas (1 year red shirt) and Colt Lyerla (high risk/high reward).

This is a FanPost written by a registered member of this site. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not those of anybody affiliated with Gang Green Nation or SB Nation.