In an Alternate Universe

Manish Mehta spells out how last night could have turned out had earlier picks gone differently.

The Daily News has learned that Gang Green was in love with Alabama safety Mark Barron and would have made an aggressive attempt to trade up for him if he slipped past the No. 10 pick.

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The Jets gave South Carolina’s Melvin Ingram, who was rumored to be on their short list, a late first-round grade.

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Coples was the highest rated player remaining on the Jets’ board, but if he was gone and they couldn’t pull off a trade, Stanford guard David DeCastro would be been the pick.

I am very happy Tampa Bay grabbed Barron after hearing this. I thought 16 would have been too early for him. Taking a safety that high means he had better be a star. There are not many true impact safeties in the league, and you need to get impact players in the first round. I cannot imagine the thought of actually giving something up to move up in a trade.

DeCastro would have been a safe choice. You seldom go wrong taking a safe pick and improving your offensive line in the first round. Coples has rare potential, though, so I will not complain about the move right now.

It is interesting to see the Jets did not love Ingram as much as everybody thought. His versatility seemed like a great fit in this defense, but it seems like the team would have only considered him after a trade down. He would not have lasted that long anyway.