Content available exclusively for subscribers
While Mark Barron would fill a major need for the Jets, a couple of factors might make it too risky for them to pick him at 16.
He missed the combine after his recent surgery for a double hernia.
And remember, a couple of years ago, he missed some time at Alabama with a torn pectoral muscle.
So we are talking about a player with two surgeries in three years.
It just shows you the brutality of the safety position.
When you’re a defensive back, who is constantly flying up to tackle often much bigger running backs or tight ends, it takes it’s toll.
Look how banged up players like Eric Smith, Jim Leonhard and Brodney Pool have been in their careers.
If you are the Jets, while Barron is a unique talent, do you really think it’s good business to pick a player who already has significant wear-and-tear, and he’s only 22.
Now if he slipped to the second round, you jump on him, but at 16, considering his injury-history, and his one arrest, it’s very hard to pick him there.
And since he just had the hernia surgery, he’s probably not going to be able to run before the draft. The recovery for this surgery generally takes six to eight weeks.
The scouting community wants to see this guy run. There is speculation that he runs in the 4.5-4.6 area, but the need to see him do it.
If you are going to pick a safety in the first round, he better have great speed, with three perfect examples being Kansas City’s Eric Berry, Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu and Seattle’s Earl Thomas, all running in the 4.4 area when they came out. A first round safety better have great range.
So if the Jets really want Barron, they could trade back to the end of the first round, an area where it would make more sense to pick him, or try to get him in the second round.
But with so many question marks surrounding the Mobile-native, and 16 is too high.
So where do they turn?
Alabama running back Trent Richardson is a possibility if the Jets are comfortable with a knee that concerns some scouts.
With Matt Slauson coming off major shoulder surgery, they could go for Stanford guard David DeCastro.
But some teams are dead-set against picking guards in the first round – there are so many good players, all over the league, at that position, who were picked in the mid-late rounds, or even undrafted.
The Jets’ two guards, the last two year where Slauson, a sixth-round, and Brandon Moore (pictured above), who was undrafted, and a defensive tackle in college.
I interviewed Gil Brandt about this, and he said he didn’t like picking guards in the first round. He didn’t think it was good business.
The best move for the Jets at 16, if they don’t trade out of the spot, is to go with a pass rusher – a couple of the better ones in this selection process should be there when they are on the clock, including Illinois’ Whitney Mercilus, South Carolina’s Melvin Ingram, Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw and USC’s Nick Perry. At least two of these guys, and maybe more, should be on the board when the Jets are up.
(Premium will return by 9 pm on Saturday.)