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A few random thoughts on some of the Jets’ picks after the first round . . .
I’m going to bounce around.
The Jets picked Rutgers cornerback Blessuan Austin in the sixth round.
He was a player on the rise as a sophomore, but then had knee injuries the last couple of years.
But if he had continued the trajectory he was on a sophomore, when he had 14 PD’s, he would have likely been a second-day pick.
He can a 4.65 forty at Rutgers Pro Day before the draft, but he’s faster than that. He still wasn’t 100 percent healthy coming off the second knee injury at the Pro Day.
He is 6-1, 198 with smooth hips and can climb the ladder to go up and get the ball.
The Jets are going to handle him like they did 2017 sixth-round cornerback Jeremy Clark (now a safety). When Clark was drafted he was coming a knee injury in his senior year at Michigan, and the Jets had him start the season on PUP. It’s like buying a roster spot for an extra player. On this list, the player doesn’t have to count on the roster or practice squad, but you can keep him around. So Austin will likely spend most of 2019 on PUP.
Let me jump up to the third round.
I don’t like the Jets third-round pick Jachai Polite, I love it.
It’s well-documented the Jets needed to a dynamic edge-rusher at OLB in this draft, especially after not addressing the position in free agency.
Obviously, they didn’t do it in the first round, passing on Josh Allen and picking Quinnen Williams.
They didn’t have a second round pick.
So in Round Three they grabbed Polite, one of only three players to amass double-digit sacks in the SEC last season. The other two were Allen and Montez Sweat, who both went in the first round. Allen went to Jacksonville and Sweat to Washington.
Polite, while he had 11 sacks last year at Florida, slipped to the third-round for two reasons. First off, he reportedly didn’t interview well at the combine. Also, he ran poorly at the combine (4.84 forty).
But here is the deal people – if you get a talented edge-rusher in the third round, he’s going to have warts. If not, he’s going in the first round.
As for the bad interviews, he was only 20-years-old at the combine, and clearly has some growing up to do (like a lot of 20-year-olds). But, also, I get the sense that his agency didn’t prepare him very well. Reps often coach-up guys for the combine. Polite seemed unprepared.
But I don’t think he’s a bad kid. He just needs to grow up, and I think having two former Florida teammates on the Jets defense – defensive backs Marcus Maye and Brian Poole will help him. So will veteran outside linebackers Jordan Jenkins and Brandon Copeland and his fellow Daytona Beach resident – defensive end Leonard Williams.
As for the forty time, I think that is overrated when you watch him play. His game isn’t about speed, but short-area quickness and flexibility to get under tackles. In the short-area quickness and flexibility departments he gets high grades.
So I have no issue with the Jets rolling the dice to fill a big need. They did in in third round, not the first.
Will get more into the rest of the Jets’ draft in our next update.
April 27, 2019
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