Since CBSSports.com brought NFLDraftScout.com into its fold a few years ago, the site is my pick for the Web’s best free NFL Draft content. (For semi-free, of course, ESPN is still the worldwide sports leader in many things, including the draft.) Their information on 750 draft-eligible types is accurate, voluminous and well-organized.
They also present us with a bunch of big mockers, and what I thought was interesting with this week’s set of six mock drafts is that five different players are tabbed as preferred choices for the Jets at the No. 9 spot in Round 1. Here is a summary of their early views on whom the Green & White’s should take.
LSU OLB Barkevious Mingo is the one player who got two votes this week, from Pat Kirwan — one of my favorite NFL talk-show hosts, holding forth with Tim Ryan on Sirius XM NFL Radio most afternoons — and Dane Brugler.
“The Jets don’t have any outside linebackers for their pass rush,” Kirwan states. “Mingo has a solid 40 time of 4.58.”
“The Jets have struggled to put pressure on the opponents’ backfield,” Brugler offers, “and Mingo is one of the most athletic defenders in this draft with undeniable upside.”
But Mingo is far from a majority candidate at this early stage. Clark Judge, whom I still give kudos to for his remarkable first-round mock two years ago, logically tabs Texas S Kenny Vaccaro for the deep middle, writing that “The Jets could go almost anywhere with this pick, but with both their safeties unsigned I’d start here.”
CBSSports veteran football writer Pete Prisco is in agreement not with Mingo, whom he sees going much higher, to Jacksonville at No. 2, but with the position he sees the Jets zeroing in on as he projects BYU OLB Ezekiel Ansah to them: “They can stand him up and finally have a dominant edge rusher.”
Rob Rang chimes in with a pick that he admits will take some getting used to for many Jets fans: USC QB Matt Barkley: “While it might seem unrealistic that head coach Rex Ryan would gamble on a Southern Cal passer as a potential replacement for [Mark] Sanchez, don’t be so sure. Clearly this is a team in need of better play at the position immediately and Barkley is the most pro-ready of this class. Furthermore, new general manager John Idzik might have a greater appreciation for Barkley, considering his time working with Barkley’s former head coach, Pete Carroll, in Seattle.”
Finally, Will Brinson checks in with a selection that is the same as former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum made in one of his first appearances on the NFL Network set last week: Tennessee WR Cordarrelle Patterson, who Brinson says “is raw and doesn’t have a ton of experience playing at a high level, but his athleticism is pretty jaw-dropping.”
We’ll have our own draft coverage in the two months ahead here on NewYorkJets.com, both in written form from John Holt and myself plus others and in video from my partner Eric Allen and our all-over-it multimedia department. Let us know what you think of these picks and any others, as you’ve been doing, and stop by our home page to cast a vote in our “QBs in the Draft” poll.
