I started thinking about the importance of the draft. Having spent quite some time this week on scouting reports for the first round, it got me thinking about the current Jets team, and their draft status coming out of college. Maybe something that will only interest a few. I put together some tables for the Jets starting line-up's in 2009/10, just to get a good idea of how much it can benefit a team to get it right early. So take a look for yourselves, I put down some conclusions at the end, but I just found it interesting to really see the draft status of our starters from last year.
*I added Braylon Edwards in as a starter even though he joined mid-season.
Click the comments section to open up full story, and cleaner table.
Offensive Starters
| Position | Player | Round Selected | Selected by Jets (Y/N) |
| QB | Mark Sanchez | 1 | Y |
| RB | Thomas Jones | 1 | N |
| FB | Tony Richardson | UDFA | N |
| TE | Dustin Keller | 1 | Y |
| WR(1) | Braylon Edwards | 1 | N |
| WR(2) | Jerricho Cotchery | 4 | Y |
| C | Nick Mangold | 1 | Y |
| LT | D'Brickashaw Ferguson | 1 | Y |
| LG | Alan Faneca | 1 | N |
| RT | Damien Woody | 1 | N |
| RG | Brandon Moore | UDFA | Y |
Defensive Starters
| Position | Player | Round Selected | Drafted By Jets (Y/N) |
| NT | Kris Jenkins | 2 | N |
| DE(1) | Shaun Ellis | 1 | Y |
| DE(2) | Marques Douglas | UDFA | N |
| ILB(1) | David Harris | 2 | Y |
| ILB(2) | Bart Scott | UDFA | N |
| OLB(1) | Calvin Pace | 1 | N |
| OLB(2) | Bryan Thomas | 1 | Y |
| CB(1) | Darrelle Revis | 1 | Y |
| CB(2) | Lito Sheppard | 1 | N |
| SS | Jim Leonhard | UDFA | N |
| FS | Kerry Rhodes | 4 | Y |
Conclusions:
- Of the 22 main starters for the 2009/10 New York Jets, 11 were selected from the draft or the un-drafted pool by the New York Jets. (6/11 on offense, 5/11 on defense)
- The starting Jets consisted of twelve 1st round draft choices. 6 of which the Jets selected themselves (3 on the offensive side of the ball, 3 on the defensive side)
- The Starting Jets consisted of two 2nd round draft choices. Both on the defensive side of the ball.
- The Starting Jets consisted of no 3rd round draft choices.
- The Starting Jets consisted of two 4th round draft choices. One on the offensive side of the ball, one of the defensive side of the ball.
- The Starting Jets consisted of no 5th/6th or 7th draft choices.
- The Starting Jets consisted of five UDFA players. Two on the offensive side of the ball, three on the defensive side of the ball
- Of the five UDFA players, only one was scouted and signed by the Jets (Moore). Three were scouted and signed by the Ravens (Douglas, Scott and Leonhard) , and one was scouted and signed by the Cowboys (Richardson)