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Predictions are hard, especially about the future.
So said Yogi Berra. Or Niels Bohr. Or some other sage, take your pick amongst dozens it's been attributed to. Whoever first said it, I'll bet they couldn't have predicted their little joke would end up being attributed to dozens of other famous guys. Thus proving the kernel of truth in the joke.
Nonetheless, it is time for us to once again wade into the murky waters of future world and predict what is going to happen with the Jets on Draft Day. Only one rule here: nobody gets credit for predicting that a chorus of boos will rain down when the Jets make their first round selection, regardless of who it is. That one's just too obvious.
Last year these were my predictions:
1. The Jets will neither trade up nor down in the 2013 draft.
2. The Jets will make a 2nd rd pick. The fans will be excited about said pick. We will expect said pick to eventually become a star. Said pick will eventually take his place alongside nearly all other Jets 2nd rd picks and never amount to anything.
3. The Jets will take a QB in the draft. He will never amount to anything.
4. The Jets will take a player in the 6th and/or 7th rd who will have slipped farther than expected. The fans will declare him the steal of the draft. He will never amount to anything.
5. The Jets will sign 3 or 4 players as UDFAs who the fans are convinced should have been drafted. Fans will be nearly delirious with excitement about how Idzik "worked the draft" and "filled all the holes" and "Idzik is a genius" and "In Idzik We Trust". The UDFAs will never amount to anything.
I nailed #1, the jury's still out on #2 and #3 (though in the pre draft webcast I did correctly predict Geno Smith would be the Jets opening day quarterback), #4, meh, maybe T-Bo counts, maybe not, and #5, well I'm not too sure fans were all that excited about the UDFAs last year. A mixed bag all around.
This year I plan on topping my record from last year. Which undoubtedly means I won't get a single thing right. So now, without further ado, I will consult my magic crystal ball (well, it's actually just a marble I saved from my childhood, and it's kinda all chipped and dirty after all these years, but I still think it's pretty magical) and make several sorta, kinda semi-bold predictions which will astound and amaze you, right up until they all prove laughably wrong, at which time I will disavow any knowledge of them and claim the NSA hacked my account and planted those predictions to discredit me. Or I'll blame it all on that Salmon guy; he's always been a little fishy. Anyway, on to the future!
1. For the first time since 2005, the Jets will make two selections in the 2nd round. And for the first time in Jets history (well, not really, but it sure feels that way), both 2nd round selections won't end up sucking. In fact, both will end up being solid starters for the Jets , although not necessarily in Year 1, and at least one will develop into a Pro Bowl player.
2. The Jets will select a quarterback in the draft. That quarterback will either be Jimmy G or Blake Bortles.
3. The Jets will not select a cornerback in the first round. They will select at least two of the following three cornerbacks later in the draft: Bradley Roby, Rashaad Reynolds and/or Dexter McDougle.
4. The Jets will not select any of the names most often associated with their first round pick. No Ebron, no Cooks, no Beckham, and none of the first round cornerbacks.
5. The Jets will both trade up and trade down in the draft.
6. The Jets will select one or the other of wide receivers John Brown and Matt Hazel, but not both, late in the draft. If it's Brown, he will end up replacing Jeremy Kerley when Kerley goes free agent in 2015.
7. The Jets will not select any offensive linemen in the first two rounds, but they will choose a guard and a center sometime in the draft. The guard will be Ryan Groy, who will make Tanner Purdum expendable, as Groy can long snap.
8. The Jets will not draft a linebacker.
9. The Jets will draft two tight ends.
10. Finally, the prediction of the Jets 1st round pick (drum roll please). In the first round, the Jets will completely break with recent tradition of devaluing safeties. The Jets will select safety Calvin Pryor out of Louisville.