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The first round of the 2015 NFL Draft is in the books. For the New York Jets, it looks pretty good.
Let me give you all some advice, friends. Don't overthink this one. I'll be honest. In the lead up to the Draft, I was overthinking it. I was skeptical of whether the Jets should pick Leonard Williams. With the defensive line already full of young talent, could he make it that much better? Wouldn't a player at another position have a bigger impact? Then the Jets picked Williams, and I got to thinking. Words of the best personnel guy in the NFL today and his Draft philosophy came to mind.
"We take the best player," general manager Ozzie Newsome said.
Sometimes it really is that simple. Two years ago, I was full of criticism when the Jets took Sheldon Richardson. I said defensive line wasn't a weakness. I wasn't sure how the pieces would fit. Now, you might say that John B wasn't smart enough to see what a good move that was. And you'd have a point. What you can't say is John B is dumb enough to make the same mistake twice. The Jets just added a heck of a player tonight. Through this entire process, I have gotten the impression that if we took positional value and need out of the equation, most people would rate Williams as the most talented player in this class. Can he play with Muhammad Wilkerson, Richardson, Quinton Coples, and Damon Harrison? Sure. The first three are quite versatile, and so is Williams. The Jets have four defensive linemen who can line up pretty much anywhere now and win their assignments.
We will have plenty more to come. For now, here are the first round results.
ick | Team | Player | School |
1 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | QB Jameis Winston | Florida State |
2 | Tennessee Titans | QB Marcus Mariota | Oregon |
3 | Jacksonville Jaguars | DE/OLB Dante Fowler Jr. | Florida |
4 | Oakland Raiders | WR Amari Cooper | Alabama |
5 | Washington | OL Brandon Scherff | Iowa |
6 | New York Jets | DL Leonard Williams | USC |
7 | Chicago Bears | WR Kevin White | West Virginia |
8 | Atlanta Falcons | DE/OLB Vic Beasley | Clemson |
9 | New York Giants | OL Ereck Flowers | Miami |
10 | St. Louis Rams | RB Todd Gurley | Georgia |
11 | Minnesota Vikings | CB Trae Waynes | Michigan State |
12 | Cleveland Browns | DT Danny Shelton | Washington |
13 | New Orleans Saints | OL Andrus Peat | Stanford |
14 | Miami Dolphins | WR DeVante Parker | Louisville |
15 | San Diego Chargers | RB Melvin Gordon | Wisconsin |
16 | Houston Texans | CB Kevin Johnson | Wake Forest |
17 | San Francisco 49ers | DL Arik Armstead | Oregon |
18 | Kansas City Chiefs | CB Marcus Peters | Washington |
19 | Cleveland Browns | C Cameron Erving | Florida State |
20 | Philadelphia Eagles | WR Nelson Agholor | USC |
21 | Cincinnati Bengals | OL Cedric Ogbuehi | Texas A&M |
22 | Pittsburgh Steelers | DE/OLB Bud Dupree | Kentucky |
23 | Denver Broncos | DE/OLB Shane Ray | Missouri |
24 | Arizona Cardinals | OL D.J. Humphries | Florida |
25 | Carolina Panthers | LB Shaq Thompson | Washington |
26 | Baltimore Ravens | WR Breshad Perriman | Central Florida |
27 | Dallas Cowboys | CB Byron Jones | Connecticut |
28 | Detroit Lions | OL Laken Tomlinson | Duke |
29 | Indianapolis Colts | WR Phillip Dorsett | Miami |
30 | Green Bay Packers | S Damarious Randall | Arizona State |
31 | New Orleans Saints | LB Stephone Anthony | Clemson |
32 | New England Patriots | DT Malcom Brown | Texas |