The early reviews on the Jets’ 2017 draft class look pretty favorable.
The team has been working out first-rounder Jamal Adams and second-rounder Marcus Maye as the starting safeties at organized team activities. Apparently the Jets are comfortable enough with that combination to trade Calvin Pryor to the Browns for former Jets linebacker Demario Davis, according to Pro Football Talk.
Pryor was the Jets’ first-round pick in 2014. Their second-round pick was tight end Jace Amaro, who caught 38 passes in his rookie season and was cut last year. He’s clinging to a roster spot with the Titans. That was the last draft before the Jets hired Mike Maccagnan as general manager.
Maccagnan’s first draft pick was Pro Bowler Leonard Williams. In the second round of that 2015 draft, however, he chose Devin Smith, who tore his ACL in April and was released after catching 10 career passes. The Jets’ top two picks last season were Darron Lee and Christian Hackenberg. There’s still a bust risk there in both cases.
If Adams and Maye keep up the good work, they could turn out to be the best first- and second-round picks in a Jets draft since Mark Sanchez and Shonn Greene in 2009. The Jets didn’t get much longevity out of either of those picks, but Sanchez led them to the AFC championship game in each of his first two seasons, and Greene turned in 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2011 and 2012.
In 2010, the Jets drafted Kyle Wilson in the first round and Vlad Ducasse in the second round. Wilson had three interceptions in five seasons with the Jets and Ducasse has turned into a journeyman offensive lineman.
The Jets took Muhammad Wilkerson in the first round of the 2011 draft, but used their second-round pick on Kenrick Ellis, who provided one sack in four seasons.
In 2012, the Jets went 0-for-2 in the first two rounds. They drafted Quinton Coples in the first round and released him in 2015. He was last seen being released by the Rams before the 2016 season. Their second-round pick was Stephen Hill, who hasn’t played since 2013.
In 2013, the Jets drafted Pro Bowler Sheldon Richardson in the second round, but that was counteracted by first-round bust Dee Milliner.
That’s at least seven players drafted in the first or second round since 2010 who legitimately can be labeled as busts. It’s been a factor in the Jets’ inability to make the playoffs since 2010.
Vernon Gholston, perhaps the Jets’ most glaring bust of the 21st century, was taken in the first round in 2008. In 2007, however, the Jets took Darrelle Revis in the first round and David Harris in the second round. In 2006, they used their two first-round picks on D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold. Those two drafts helped fuel the 2009 and 2010 teams that were a win away from the Super Bowl.
It’s an awful lot to ask Adams and Maye to match the impact of those 2006 and 2007 draft picks, but because of those safeties the Jets’ 2017 draft could turn out to be their best one in a decade.
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