http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/n...orts-columnistsLeinart? Jets might passDec 22, 2005By virtue of the ease of their schedule, and the ease by which they have lost far more games on the schedule than they've won, the Jets currently find themselves in a tie with the Saints for the third pick in the 2006 draft.No, the Jets won't get half a player, as has been the case with a couple of their first-round picks under the current regime. (OK, Bryan Thomas has come around, but Santana Moss had to go to Washington to play like a first-round pick.)Should the Jets and Saints remain in a tie, the NFL would resort to its tried and true solution for resolving conflict. And we're not talking arbitration. We're talking coin flip.The Jets presumably will do more than flip a coin to decide which player to draft in the first round. With their most likely draft position being No. 2 or 3, some intriguing options are emerging.Well, intriguing or troubling, depending on your point of view.Imagine the backlash, the outrage, if the Jets wound up with the second pick and passed on USC quarterback Matt Leinart. Fans would be in their usual draft-day froth. The NFL might want to consider banning beer sales within 20 miles and two months of the event.The fact is, there are strong indications that the Jets aren't high on Leinart, fearing that he could be a weak-armed, injury-prone clone of Chad Pennington. After losing two quarterbacks to season-ending injuries this season, the team is not eager to invite a scenario that could result in a repeat.If they wind up with the first pick, they will take Reggie Bush. It's a no-brainer. But the second and third picks aren't as clear cut. And the Jets' reasons for shying away from Leinart, if that's what they do, make plenty of sense.For one, they need multiple picks and a veteran quarterback to compete with Pennington more than they need another "quarterback of the future." Pennington, who will be 30 next season, has taught them that the future might never get here.Right now, the Jets seem interested in hearing offers to trade down for another first-round pick, a move that might allow them to pluck immediate starters at two of these three positions before Mel Kiper has to reapply his gel: left tackle, running back and cornerback.That's right, cornerback. If the Jets have more than one first-round pick, they might be able to give their offense a boost while also replacing one-year wonder Ty Law with prolific cornerback Jimmy Williams of Virginia Tech. J-Will is said to thrill coach Herman Edwards.The left tackle on the Jets' radar - and everybody else's - is Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson of Freeport. As for running back, the team seems determined to ignore Chalk Talk's advice by bringing Curtis Martin back for one more year at a reduced salary. They apparently have researched the number of Super Bowl rings won by Chalk Talk: zero.Few running backs in the history of football have been as special as Martin, and for that reason, the Jets are correct to believe they can find a serviceable, though decidedly non-Bush-like running mate for Curtis later in the draft.They're also beginning to form the opinion that better options exist for their quarterback mess than Leinart. If they still believe that four months from now, they can expect to hear the loudest draft-day boos since the Eagles selected Donovan McNabb instead of Ricky Williams in 1999, then they can only hope this decision works out nearly as well.
To me, Leinart is a left handed Chad Pennington.I dont think Vince Young would be a better choice however, I would rather the Jets went and drafted a Jay Cutler, or Omar Jacobs should one of them fall to the second round and then have them compete with Brooks Bollinger and Chad Pennington for our QB job.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ven0m @ Dec 24 2005, 01:55 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>To me, Leinart is a left handed Chad Pennington.I dont think Vince Young would be a better choice however, I would rather the Jets went and drafted a Jay Cutler, or Omar Jacobs should one of them fall to the second round and then have them compete with Brooks Bollinger and Chad Pennington for our QB job.</div> I'd rather see Bollinger roll with it. Even Shanahan said he could be a solid starter in the NFL. Why waste the cap space?D'Brickashaw Ferguson is a wet dream. I would love to have him on the team. Adrain Jones has shown that he can be a good, although unspectacular, offensive lineman. We can save cap room by cutting Jason Fabini who had lost a step even before his injury.As for corner I completely agree with the need. Ty Law may be a cap casualty and even so, are Miller and Barrett really a tandem to hold down the fort in the future? Miller and Williams would be sweet, but we can't have Williams and Ferguson. I'd take Ferguson and fill our CB need somehow else if it were me.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jon_Vilma @ Dec 26 2005, 02:45 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ven0m @ Dec 24 2005, 01:55 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'> To me, Leinart is a left handed Chad Pennington.I dont think Vince Young would be a better choice however, I would rather the Jets went and drafted a Jay Cutler, or Omar Jacobs should one of them fall to the second round and then have them compete with Brooks Bollinger and Chad Pennington for our QB job.</div>I'd rather see Bollinger roll with it. Even Shanahan said he could be a solid starter in the NFL. Why waste the cap space?D'Brickashaw Ferguson is a wet dream. I would love to have him on the team. Adrain Jones has shown that he can be a good, although unspectacular, offensive lineman. We can save cap room by cutting Jason Fabini who had lost a step even before his injury.As for corner I completely agree with the need. Ty Law may be a cap casualty and even so, are Miller and Barrett really a tandem to hold down the fort in the future? Miller and Williams would be sweet, but we can't have Williams and Ferguson. I'd take Ferguson and fill our CB need somehow else if it were me. </div> Welcome to the site. 1) I agree with you, Im starting to think Bollinger could be a solid starter in the NFL. Maybe he will never be a Peyton Manning, but I dont see why he cant turn into a solid NFL starter in the right system. In Brooks's last 2 games, he is 42 for 68 (61.7%), with 446 passing yards, 3 Touchdowns, No Interceptions, and 66 yards rushing, and that is playing with 9 players on offense out (Pennington, Fiedler, Mawae, Fabini, Cavka, Martin, Blaylock, Chrebet, Baker). Those are the kind of numbers that starting QB's put up.Brooks Bollinger won the Dennis Byrd Award for Most Inspirational Play on the Jets, so it shows that the guys are starting to believe in Brooks and his abilities, since it was the players who voted on the team awards. However, I think we need to bring in somebody to compete with Pennington and Bollinger for the starting job (....and dont give me Jay Fiedler)2) For the draft, im in the mindset that if Reggie Bush is there, we NEED to take him.If Reggie Bush is not there, then I would be happy with either D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Mario Williams(only if we lose John Abraham), or I would trade down for either Marcus McNeill or DeAngelo Williams. 3) I dont think Cornerback is really a need, I think that Justin Miller has done a terrific job for us as of lately, David Barrett has always been decent, and that Derrick Strait is a very solid nickleback. However, I think we should use like a 4th round pick getting some depth in there.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ven0m @ Dec 26 2005, 06:50 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'>Welcome to the site. 1) I agree with you, Im starting to think Bollinger could be a solid starter in the NFL. Maybe he will never be a Peyton Manning, but I dont see why he cant turn into a solid NFL starter in the right system. In Brooks's last 2 games, he is 42 for 68 (61.7%), with 446 passing yards, 3 Touchdowns, No Interceptions, and 66 yards rushing, and that is playing with 9 players on offense out (Pennington, Fiedler, Mawae, Fabini, Cavka, Martin, Blaylock, Chrebet, Baker). Those are the kind of numbers that starting QB's put up.Brooks Bollinger won the Dennis Byrd Award for Most Inspirational Play on the Jets, so it shows that the guys are starting to believe in Brooks and his abilities, since it was the players who voted on the team awards. However, I think we need to bring in somebody to compete with Pennington and Bollinger for the starting job (....and dont give me Jay Fiedler)2) For the draft, im in the mindset that if Reggie Bush is there, we NEED to take him.If Reggie Bush is not there, then I would be happy with either D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Mario Williams(only if we lose John Abraham), or I would trade down for either Marcus McNeill or DeAngelo Williams. 3) I dont think Cornerback is really a need, I think that Justin Miller has done a terrific job for us as of lately, David Barrett has always been decent, and that Derrick Strait is a very solid nickleback. However, I think we should use like a 4th round pick getting some depth in there.</div> Thank you.1) No, Brooks will never be as good as Peyton, but he could be as good as McNair, Plummer (the Broncos version), Big Ben, or Jake Delhomme. I already thinkhe is better than some current starters (Aaron Brooks, Joey Harrington, JP Losman, Trent Dilfer). Maybe we could bring in a veteran like Fiedler was supposed to be, but I don't want to give up on a good thing in Brooks.2) I totally disagree with you here. We do not "NEED" to take Reggie Bush. For one, Reggie is overrated. And I know when someone says "overrated" it sounds like they are saying "Reggie Bush is crap and can't play," but I'm not saying that. But people are billing him as the next OJ Simpson-Barry Sanders-Gale Sayers (none of which won a superbowl mind you), and while he IS a great college RB that doesn't always transfer to the pros. He ran behind 3 All-American offensive linemen, and got to play in the PAC-10. The "best RB ever" and "already a top 5 NFL talent" wasn't even the best RB in college in the past 5 years. Both Larry Johnson and Cedric Benson outdid him. He IS overrated and overhyped. You can never tell how good a college prospect is going to be, so if it comes to a trade, I don't want him. Not to mention that RB's are a dime a dozen in the NFL. This can be easily demonstrated by looking at the Colts and the Seahawks. Both had their top-3 RB's on the market for 2nd round picks and no one bit. Edge nor Alexander is worth a 2nd round pick in the NFL, because there are more than 32 players in the NFL capable of starting as a RB for a team.The game is won in the trenches. D'Brickashaw Ferguson is the highest rated Tackle to come out since Orlando Pace. Jason Fabini is looking like his age, and suffered a season ending injury this year. Replacing him with Ferguson would be a huge plus for both our running and our passing game. With Mawae back we would have an above average O-line overall rather than the Goodwin-Gragg dead weight we have pulling our line down now. Prospects like Reggie Bush come along a lot more often than prospects like Ferguson.For our running game in general I think Cedric Houston is looking like a fine young player. He only dropped so far in the draft due to injury and really should have been a 3rd round pick, if not a late 2nd. Houston, running behind a shambles of an offensive line, is doing better than a healthy Curtis Martin was. What we DO need is a power back to go with Ced to become the new Curtis-Lamont type tag team. The player I would REALLY love for us to grab in the 3rd-4th round is Cedric Humes out of VT. He's got some great moves for a big man and would be the perfect change of pace to Houston. It may be becoming a trend in the NFL to have 2 RB's, but that's probably because it works so well, and there is so much talent at the RB position. The two Cedrics would be a lot like the Martin-Lamont pairing, the Dunn-Duckett pairing, and the Bettis-Staley pairing (of last year). Plus, it would save us major cash if we still have Curtis Martin next year. Curtis and Reggie would be a LOT of money at 1 position. And no team can afford to tie up that much money at one position and remain competitive. It would be like drafting Leinart and keeping Penny.3) Corner is a need for the long term. David Barrett is either the most overrated or the most underrated CB in the league. Some plays I'll think it's the latter, and then a few plays later I'll think it's the former. Ty Law might be a cap casualty, and though Miller is coming along quite nicely I wouldn't be very happy with him Barrett and Stait for the long term. If we do indeed luck out and get Ferguson, I would hope that we spent our 2nd or 3rd round pick on a CB that can be a role player for a year and then be able to start in 2007-2008 next to Miller. (for the other 1st day pcik I would like a DT since Pouha seems to be a wasted pick).
How isnt Bush the best collegiate Runningback the past 5 years? Name another runningback in College who averaged anything close to 8.9 yards a carry, 12.4 yards a reception, and has his best games against the tougher opponents in USC's schedule. I agree hes not the best ever, or a top 5 RB yet, but most likely he is going to be one. And when you have the chance to draft a player who can turn a franchise around like LaDainian Tomlinson has done to SD, you have to take him. Nobody would trade a 2nd round pick for Alexander or James? LMAO. Where did you get that from, cause if the Colts were only asking a second rounder for Edge, there would be 29 teams giving the Colts a call. A decent runningback is a dime-a-dozen, you can pick up a Dominick Davis, or a Kevan Barlow rather easily, but an Elite Runningback is an extremely valueable commodity. Reggie Bush has the potential to be an Elite Runningback, and you dont pass one of them up if given the chance.I agree with you that we need some major offensive line upgrades, but I would rather adress it in Free Agency and Later(Non-First Round) Draft Picks. Goodwin, Gragg, Fabini, Kendall MUST GO, Then we keep Adrian Jones, Brandon Moore, Kevin Mawae, a Free Agent guard (Steve Hutchinson?), and a Second Round Pick Tackle (Winston Justice?) has the potential to be a very solid offensive line IMO, Then we draft some depth also in rounds 3-4. I think Houston would make a great change of pace back for Reggie Bush. PS: Cedric Humes is more of a Cedric Houston clone then anything. Houston is a very powerful back already. We should then go with a speedy back to further compliment Houston's power.As for Cornerback, I do take your point, but we have much greater needs right now then Cornerback. The only way id really want to draft a CB is if somebody big falls in our laps in either round 2 or 3.And most of the time, a rookie Defensive Tackle looks useless, because they either need to bulk up, or work on their technique at the pro level and it takes them some time to develop that. Pouha might be a very good player for us down the line, so the only way Id spend a Day 1 Pick on him is if someone big falls in our laps in round 2 or 3.
