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It’s a very good point.
The Athletic reports: “A source said [Deshaun Watson] is aware that any trade with New York would limit the Jets’ ability to build a quality roster around him.”
It’s very hard to argue with this thinking.
The Jets have two first round picks (two and 23), a pick near the top of the second round (34) and two third round picks (66 and 87).
And they have a lot of needs, so Watson’s agent, or whomever put that information out there, is spot-on.
The Jets have a lot of holes to fill to become a playoff contender, so if you trade away a lot of these premium draft picks to get Watson, which is what it would take, what kind of team would you have around the QB?
And Watson needs a supporting cast. He’s a good QB, but probably not the elite QB some in the media would leave you to believe.
I stumbled upon an interesting article on a draft website called NFL Mocks. The writer Joel Deering had the guts to go down a path that many won’t.
“Watson has the same record with the Houston Texans since he got there as they did the four years leading up to him arriving. In the four years before Watson arrived, the Houston Texans were 29-35 and 1-2 in the playoffs. In the four years since Watson has been Houston, the Texans are 29-35 and 1-2 in the playoffs,” wrote Deering. “With that being said, Watson only started six games during his rookie season. That doesn’t give him a pass though. Watson’s career record as a starter is 28-25. If you do the math, he’s only won 52.8% of the games he’s started. To me, that number says NFL’s most overrated quarterback rather than one of the NFL’s best.”
You can decide whether you agree with Deering, but remember that old Bill Parcells quote, “You are what your record says you are.”
I could be wrong, but to me, Joe Douglas needs to keep these picks and knock them out of the park. Even if he hits on four of five, that would be huge for the Jets. History tells us it’s going to be hard for Douglas to nail all five picks. Last year, it looks like he hit on his first and second round picks, but his two third round picks from last year struggled, and the jury is still out.
So let’s say they land a QB, edge-rusher, CB and coverage linebacker, that would be very helpful to the Douglas-Robert Saleh rebuild.
And as we’ve brought up before, having this kind of draft capital in 2021 is huge with the cap going way down. Most teams would love to be in the Jets shoes with five picks in the first 87.
The bottom line is Watson is a good QB, but probably not elite, based on his won-loss record, he needs a strong supporting cast around him to be successful.
So the person from his camp is definitely onto something, that trading a bunch of premium picks away for Watson, would make it hard for Watson to be successful with the Jets, sans the requisite pieces around him.
February 22, 2021
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