Jets Draft Rumors: Is Mike Maccagnan More Likely to Draft a Player If He Attends That Player's Pro Day?

Yesterday we talked a bit about the pro days Mike Maccagnan has personally attended this year. This got me wondering how significant Maccagnan's attendance at a pro day is. He doesn't go to many so does it mean the Jets are much more likely to take a player when he does?

Maccagnan is only in his second year so we cannot draw any definitive conclusions either way. I still decided to look back at which pro days he attended last year.

Oregon (Marcus Mariota)

Among those set to be at Oregon Pro Day: Bucs GM Jason Licht, Titans GM Ruston Webster, Skins GM Scot McCloughan, Jets GM Mike Maccagnan.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 12, 2015

LSU

Delayed tweet, but catching up on some Pro Day stuff: Mike Maccagnan was at the LSU Pro Day three days ago.

— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) March 30, 2015

Florida State (Jameis Winston)

If its not yet been reported, New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan in Tallahassee for Florida State pro-day.

— Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) March 31, 2015

Miami

Spotted at Miami pro day: (HCs) Tomlin, Bowles, S.Payton, Philbin, (GMs) Loomis, Maccagnan, Colbert, Reese, Whaley, Keim, Hickey, Webster.

— Lindsay Rhodes (@lindsay_rhodes) April 1, 2015

The Jets did not end up drafting a player from any of those schools. Winston and Mariota did not fall to the sixth pick. Would the Jets have drafted either had they fallen to six? It is impossible to say.

It seems like Maccagnan's visits to pro days frequently come when the team is interested in a quarterback prospect. It makes sense the team's top decision maker would want to get as many looks as possible at prospects at that position. Interestingly, I cannot find any evidence he was at Baylor's pro day to look at Bryce Petty, the quarterback he actually drafted (although it's possible he was and that nobody saw him).

The point isn't necessarily that the Jets are more or less likely to draft a player based on where Maccagnan is. It is just that we tend to overreact based on small pieces of information that one person is at a pro day or spotted chatting to a prospect at the Combine. The team is thoroughly evaluating hundreds of prospects.

A big part of the job for Maccagnan is delegating and trusting the opinions he gets. There is one notable pro day he was not at last year that the Jets had covered.

#Jets sent coaches to Leonard Williams pro day. Pepper Johnson (DL coach) was one of them.

— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) May 1, 2015