The Complete 2014 NFL Draft - New York Jets

Some of you will disagree, but I'm giving this draft an A. I'm very happy with how the New York Jets did. Let me explain. The Jets had twelve picks going into the draft, and most of us thought they'd trade up, since twelve rookies aren't going to make the roster. Instead, I think John Idzik realized that the end of the draft, where they had the bulk of our selections, is a lottery. With that in mind, twelve lottery tickets is better than nine or ten. There's rarely a big enough change in talent from the 5th-7th Rounds that trading up is really necessary, so the team clearly wanted to add as much competition as they could.

And that's what the team did. They added a lot of competition at the team's two weakest positions, wide receiver and cornerback. They got several likely starters in Calvin Pryor and Jace Amaro, and Dakota Dozier has a great chance at starting eventually as well. Amaro and Dozier in particular were great picks from a value perspective. If you notice though, there's a trend between all of these picks.

First, they added competition at every position. The best man will play, and that only means something if there's talented competition. There is now. When John Idzik said the draft would be our lifeline, this is what he meant. Furthermore, these players are almost universally fast and physical. They're tough, aggressive players that will make opposing teams miserable. They'll impose their will on them. Those are some good traits to have. Lastly, they're largely versatile players. Pryor can play both strong safety and free safety, Saunders can play receiver and return punts. Finally, the back end of the draft can play special teams. Considering how bad the Jets special teams was last season, this added depth is extremely important.

As I said, I'm very happy with this draft and what it represents. John Idzik has done an excellent job rebuilding the team. Now, let's see how they put it together in training camp.