Content available exclusively for subscribers
New Jersey – An interesting Day Three for Gang Green in the 2014 Draft. In Part I of our breakdown of Day Three, we look being a look at this prolific draft day . . .
4th rounder Jalen Saunders can come in and immediately fill the Jets’ punt return job, and they can take it slow with him as a receiver, as they get him bigger and stronger.
Shaq Evans is a perfect example of why it was okay to wait to pick a receiver in this draft. It was so deep with wide receivers, a guy like Evans in Round Four, is as good as some of the receivers who went in the second round.
He’s a nice-sized receiver (6-1, 213) who runs under 4.5. He could turn out to be a major steal.
The Jets’ third 4th round pick, offensive tackle Dakota Dozier, will move to guard. He has starting potential, but the Jets need to learn their lesson from how they handled Brian Winters, another college OT moved to guard. Winters was rushed into the starting lineup way to fast, and he struggled. Best scenario – Dozier is redshirted this season, and perhaps is the heir apparent to Willie Colon.
Jets fifth rounder, linebacker Jeremiah George, was a very productive player at Iowa State, but he doesn’t seem like a great fit for the Jets’ 3-4 defense, at 5-11, 234. We will see on the defensive front, but at the very least, he should be a special team’s standout.
I don’t like the Tahj Boyd pick in the sixth round.
Let me ask you all a question, why would you pick a quarterback who isn’t a great decision-maker and isn’t good at reading defenses? Why?
“They have got to keep it simple for him, that is what concerns me most,” said one unnamed scout.
Why, because Rex’s son plays at Clemson?
Playing NFL quarterback is one of the most difficult jobs mentally in all of sports. It really is.
Look, I’m not looking to pick on Boyd. He’s a great kid, and a terrific college football player.
But to pick another guy without great pocket presence who struggles with progression reads, to me, makes little sense.
I hope Boyd proves me wrong. He’s a impressive guy.
However, to me, the Jets needed to add another quarterback with starting potential, who is a strong processor, who is good at going through his reads.
It’s clearly not set-in-stone that Geno Smith is their long-term answer. He has a lot of things he must improve on. For instance, he needs to speed up his clock and show better awareness in the pocket. He also needs to expand his field vision and not telegraph passes to his primary receiver.
While he did a half-way decent job in December, he still has a lot of things he must improve, and only time will tell if he can do it.
Michael Vick is very-injury prone.
I’m just not seeing it from Matt Simms so far – he’s passes don’t have enough arc, and he also needs a lot of work on reading defenses.
So I just don’t know if letting Rex pick the quarterback, partly based on his strong affection for Clemson, was the way to go . . .
May 10, 2014
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Monday.
