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Behind the Jets continues with a look at the Jets’ value board, and also some analysis of the Jets second round pick, West Virginia QB Geno Smith.
NFL team’s setup a value board before the draft, and the best strategy is to stick to it, and not reach for need.
Mark Sanchez was an example of reaching for need, as was Vernon Gholston.
Another recent example of straying from the value of your board was the selection of fullback John Connor. The GM at the time let Rex make one pick in the draft, and he grabbed Connor, who was a major reach.
Connor is a heck of guy, but not a fifth round pick because he’s too stiff athletically. He has trouble moving laterally, so if the target he’s attempting to block moves to his left or right, he has issues.
John Idzik absolutely, positively will not reach for need. He will stick with his value board under all circumstances.
Hey you spend months setting up the board with your scouts, coaches and personnel executives. If you are going to spend all that time and energy doing that, why not stick to it?
Value, value, value is the way to go, regardless of position.
“I’m very confident the draft we had was a good one,” said Jets owner Woody Johnson. “We stuck to what we believed in and the way we set things up.”
Sheldon Richardson wasn’t a huge need. The Jets entered the draft with two young talented defensive ends – Mo Wilkerson and Quinton Coples, so they really didn’t NEED another first round end, but Richardson was a top four player on their value board, so to have him sitting there at 13, constituted outstanding value.
So they grabbed him. I’m telling you, it’s the best way to run a draft.
Brian Winters in the third round is another perfect example. Some teams had a second round grade on him (I will get into him more tomorrow), so to get a likely starting guard, in the third round, is excellent value.
Don’t get cute – stick to your value board – you spend millions of dollars on scouting (between the salaries of the scouts and all the travel), you might as well go with a system that you spend so much time and effort on . . .
As we continue to look at one pick a day, today we take a closer look at Geno Smith.
The bottom line is this – he was drafted where he should have been picked – in the second round. This isn’t meant to be an insult, just a dose of reality.
He faded down the stretch of his senior season, and missed too many make-able throws.
As one analyst pointed out, and it’s a good point, he got fortunate with some bad throws that should have been picked, but average college DB’s missed golden opportunities. He’s likely won’t be as fortunate in the NFL.
But considering his arm strength (he can make all the throws), athletic ability and speed (ran a 4.59 forty at the combine), he was a very good value in the second round.
He needs to be put on ice this year and developed. He needs work on reading defenses and on his footwork, since he played in an shut-gun offense in college.
He’s not “instant coffee.” The Jets need to red-shirt him this year. If they take their time developing him, they could have something special down-the-road.
May 8, 2013
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