According to ESPN The Magazine and Football Outsiders, the Jets have one of the best groups of decision makers when it comes to drafting players. The war room is of course led by General Mike Tannenbaum, who always credits assistants like Terry Bradway, Joey Clinkscales and others. Gang Green was ranked fifth, after the Colts, Ravens, Giants and Dolphins.
This is what they wrote about the Jets:
Mike Tannenbaum spent his first three years as GM drafting ineffective personnel for Eric Mangini's misfit 3-4 defense. Those picks - CB Darrelle Revis ('07, RD1) and LB David Harris ('07, RD2) - look smarter in Rex Ryan's attacking D. In '09, Tannenbaum traded up to snag QB Mark Sanchez.
And of course, RB Shonn Greene. All of General Mike's picks are after the jump.
This is how Aaron Schatz and company came up with their rankings:
For each teams' picks from 2000 to 2007, we calculated the Games Started Above Average (GSAA), a weird-science metric that compares the number of starts a player had during his first five seasons to the starts of a baseline player of similar draft value. But we also factored in the draft history, expertise of decision-makers and overall efficiency of every operation.
Here are the Jets draft picks since Mike Tannenbaum became the GM.
2006 - RD1 LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson (#4), C Nick Mangold (#29), RD2 QB Kellen Clemens (#49), RD3 LB Anthony Schlegel (#76), S Eric Smith (#97), RD4 WR Brad Smith (#103), RB Leon Washington (#117), RD5 TE Jason Pociask (#150), RD6 CB Drew Coleman (#189), RD7 DT Titus Adams (#220)
In 2007, the Jets trade up twice to end up with four picks, the smallest draft class in franchise history at the time. RD1 CB Darrelle Revis (#14), RD2 LB David Harris (#47), RD6 OT Jacob Bender (#177), RD7 WR Chansi Stuckey (#235)
2008 wasn't so great. RD1 DE Vernon Gholston (#6), TE Dustin Keller (#30), RD4 CB Dwight Lowery (#113), RD5 QB Erik Ainge (162), RD6 WR Marcus Henry (171), RD7 OT Nate Garner (#211)
Keller was really the only notable pick of this year, but we essentially used our picks before the season to acquire DT Kris Jenkins. We basically got Lowery for injured LB Jonathan Vilma. We got rid of DT DeWayne Robertson for a fourth round pick in 2009, which we gave to Detroit to get Greene. We also acquired QB Brett Favre for a 2009 pick.
2009 - RD1 QB Mark Sanchez (#6), RD3 RB Shonn Greene (#65), RD6 OL Matt Slauson (#193)
For 2010, our draft picks have already gone towards a Pro Bowl cornerback and a Super Bowl MVP receiver.