Third-year Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan has received advice for months from his front office staff, his coaches, Jets fans, talking heads, football analysts and the New York media on who to pick at No. 6 in the 2017 draft.
He gets a chance to apply it tonight when the Jets make their decision. He likely knows what he is going to do since he and his staff have been thinking about this for months now. Unless the best player available comes around, then things can change.
Whatever happens, the Jets can’t draft a quarterback as their first-round pick. They have more pressing needs to fill the roster than getting a quarterback. It’s pointless to draft Mitch Trubisky or Deshaun Watson since they would have no one to throw to, not to mention the offensive line could get either of them hurt.
The Browns may have done the Jets a favor by reportedly choosing Trubisky as their No 1 pick of the 2017 draft. That’s a huge break if it comes to fruition since the Jets have been smitten with the North Carolina quarterback’s arm for months. It could have been easy for Maccagnan to be tempted to draft him.
But if the Browns draft Myles Garrett as the No. 1 pick, then the Jets could select Trubisky. It would not be a good idea since he has no one to throw to. He will not have time to throw as he runs for his life with an awful offensive line. That’s not a way to develop a quarterback with nothing to work with.
Same can be said for Watson. Yes, the Clemson quarterback has positive attributes when it comes to knowing how to win and how to be a game-changer, but he needs to be in a right situation for him to be successful just like Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was this past season. That means he needs to have the wide receivers, running back and the offensive line to do well. The Jets don’t have any of that for him to be successful, so it would be a wasted pick if they choose him.
Trubisky and Watson don’t need the pressure of being a savior from championship-starved Jets fans when they don’t have a chance. The Jets can’t afford them to be in a position to fail. It would be wise if the Jets draft a cornerback, a wide receiver or an offensive lineman this season. If I was Maccagnan, I would draft Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
The best-case scenario would be the Jets to trade their first-round pick for multitude of picks. That would be the best option for the Jets to fill their needs. They could use so many picks in that regard after watching how bad this roster was this past season.
If Gang Green can have a good draft with so many picks, they can draft a quarterback with the No. 1 or No. 2 pick next spring. The Jets’ 2017 schedule certainly has them in a position to be a bad team. Plus, this team has dumped so many players such as Darrelle Revis, Brandon Marshall, Nick Mangold, Erin Henderson, Nick Folk, Breno Giacomini and Ryan Clady, so the Jets are going to have a hard time winning games this year, especially with no quarterback to work with.
USC quarterback Sam Darnold and UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen are viewed as the top quarterbacks for next year’s draft. It would make more sense to draft either of them next year as the Jets are filling out the pieces for them to work with. It makes logical sense for the Jets to wait.
The Jets might as well use this year to evaluate Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg and make a decision on them once in for all. Under Maccagnan, all he has done is draft quarterbacks in his two years of being a general manager. Let’s see some resolution on both of those guys once in for all.
It’s unlikely both are going to be around after next season, so they might as well fail now and the Jets don’t have to look back again.
The Jets could draft a quarterback for business reasons. After all, they need fans to come to the games this season. That would be a bad idea. A team has to draft a player based on football reasons, not just to what will help them make money or be in the back page of the New York tabloids. A popular pick does not make the team any better.
Maccagnan is smart enough not to draft a quarterback just so he can get fannies in the seats. If he drafts a quarterback this year, it will be because he believes that guy is the Jets’ next great quarterback.
He better be right with his conviction if he drafts a quarterback or else he won’t get a fourth chance. He already had two chances of finding the right guy in the draft, and so far, Petty and Hackenberg have not panned out.
It would be wise if the Jets general manager don’t waste his third chance this year on a quarterback. That way he could be in a position to save his job by drafting either Darnold or Rosen.
If he does draft a quarterback this year, he has put himself on the hot seat with no room for error.
