Draft Notes: The Elijah Moore Edition

Sometimes you get a little lost in the shuffle. When the Jets first turned this card in, my immediate reaction was that we should have traded back and selected a wide receiver. There were a few available that I really liked the look of like Terrace Marshall Jr.

Then I actually spent some time thinking about it. Through the whole process we’ve been speaking about Elijah Moore as a first round prospect. I’m surprised that the Giants elected for Kadarius Toney instead of Elijah Moore at #20 overall.

So if we were talking about Moore as a first round prospect, and most media outlets had him in the top 25 players in the entire draft, and the Jets had a top 25 grade on him…why risk moving back? The more I thought about it, the more I liked this selection.

We need to be realistic, this roster is not going to be rebuilt into a championship contender in one year. So I’m all in favour of a quality over quantity approach. You saw some of Idzik’s drafts, some of Maccagnan’s, plenty of prospects, but very little true talent.

In Saleh’s press conference he explained how excited Mike LaFleur was when Moore started dropping. We talk about giving Zach Wilson some weapons, but we also need to give our rookie coordinator some weapons to work with as well.

The Jets have spent a fair amount of resources trying to improve this offense. From drafting Mims last year and signing Davis and Cole in March, to drafting Wilson, Vera-Tucker and Moore this year.

There will be people who question why we’re not addressing the defense, but those people probably forget that we’ve recently handed out contracts to Carl Lawson, Sheldon Rankins, LaMarcus Joyner, Jarrad Davis and Vinny Curry, and the draft is not yet concluded.

So what are we getting in Elijah Moore? We’re getting exactly what we needed to round out this passing offense.

We’re getting a guy with 4.35 speed coming off a season where he put up 86 catches for 1,193 yards and 8 touchdowns in just 8 games.

We’re getting an elite route-runner who had one of the lowest drop rates in college football (10 on 200 catchable targets).

We’re getting a guy who isn’t afraid to go over the middle and get hit, a guy who came down with 73% of his contested catches in college football.

We’re getting a guy who averaged 5.9 yards after the catch per reception and showed enough wiggle to force 18 missed tackles.

Put simply we’re getting the best slot receiver in the draft, a player with elite start-stop ability. A player designed to excel in a system like the Jets.

Who’s Left?

Photo by Beau Brune/Collegiate Images/Getty Images

There is a lot of talent still left on the board, and the Jets have a fair few picks today to really round-out this draft class.

Jabril Cox from LSU is the stand-out prospect for me. I had a high 2nd round grade on him, so I’m absolutely shocked that he’s sitting here to start the 4th round. There may be a few size concerns with Cox but you don’t have to overthink this one too much, he’s an elite cover linebacker/safety hybrid that gives your defensive coordinator scheme flexibility. With a high 4th to our name, Cox has to be on the table.

Outside of Cox, North Carolina running back Michael Carter is still available. Tennessee guard Trey Smith is another guy who I thought would be long gone, but he’s still available. As is Miami TE Brevin Jordan, Florida State safety Hamsah Nasirildeen, Michigan State CB Shakur Brown and many other prospects who could make impacts in year one.

As things stand here are the Jets picks for day 3:

#107, #143, #146, #154, #186 and #226