The New York Jets and General Manager Mike Tannenbaum may have gotten the best steal in this draft not once, but twice. With a couple of bold moves by Tannenbaum, who has been known to be a draft day trader, the Jets may have added the core of their offense for many years to come.
Since this team was severely set back by first the Brett Favre hysteria, and then by his announced retirement the Jets were in a position to make a big deal, and that is exactly what they did. They traded away, the 17th pick and three players to the Cleveland Browns for the #5 overall pick and used that on USC QB Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez was the number one rated QB in this draft, and since he was then able to go out and win the Jets starting QB job, and so far as lead them to a 2-0 record with a win over the New England Patriots, Sanchez’s entry grade to the NFL has to be an A.
This is a team that knows how to draft and they victimized the Detroit Lions twice in this draft. First, early on, it looks like the selected the better pro quarter back, and then they pulled a deal to move up to 65th in the 3rd round, giving up their third (76th overall), fourth (115th overall), and seventh (228th overall) picks.
The Jets used their pick on Shonn Greene the Running Back from Iowa. While the Jets still have Thomas Jones as their starter he is 31 and Greene gets a year or two to develop into the starting RB of tomorrow for the Jets. Greene was the fifth rated RB in the 2009 draft, and looking at his potential future we have to give his entry grade as a B+.
So the Jets trade away a few Eric Mangini players to Mangini in Cleveland, and most of the late round draft picks to the Detroit lions and potentially get two starting offensive pieces that will make big differences for this club in years to come.
As far as the draft goes, it is pretty hard to ask for something better. With that in mind here are the initial draft grades for the New York Jets:
Round 1- A
Round 2- B+
Talent- A
Need- B+
The Jets also added, Guard Matt Slauson with their 6th round pick (193rd overall).
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