Scenarios for the New York Jets for Tonight’s Round 2 and 3 of the Draft

Sep 25, 2011; Oakland, CA, USA; New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum during the game against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Mike Tannenbaum is a happy guy getting back to work tonight. He got a good value pass rusher last night, Quinton Coples. Now, he and the team get back to work for rounds 2 and 3 of the NFL draft. Knowing they can’t necessarily fill all of these needs, here are some possibilities that the Jets get done tonight:

TRADE UP FOR COURTNEY UPSHAW

Surprisingly, a name that the Jets had been associated with for a while now fell out of the first round, Courtney Upshaw from the University of Alabama. There were concerns that caused him to fall out of the first round, but he could be a good value here in the second round.

If they want to go for another front seven defender that is not named Upshaw, there are others that the Jets were high on, visited with, that are still available. Ronnell Lewis and Zach Brown are still available at the linebacker spot, as well as Kendall Reyes, Vinny Curry, and Andre Branch are all still on the board. They may be able to really fortify the pass rush tonight.

DRAFT A SAFETY

Two guys that the Jets were interested in, Mark Barron and Harrison Smith, have been chosen. However, they could still go here tonight, as guys they were interested in are still on the board, like Brandon Taylor and George Iloka.

I wouldn’t be upset if they worked on the thin safety position tonight.

ADDRESS THE WAYNE HUNTER PROBLEM

Although the Jets haven’t been rumored to address offensive tackle early in the draft, they might consider changing that strategy as there are some high graded names available going into tonight. Cordy Glenn, Jonathan Martin and Mike Adams all potentially could have been picked tonight. Bobby Massie is a pick that has been associated with the Jets as well, and would be a good value pick here.

WIDE RECEIVER

Those of you that follow us here, know that I don’t consider wide receiver as high of a priority as the previously mentioned positions. However, there are plenty of names that the Jets have worked out and/or are high on still available, and Tanny might be tempted here. Stephen Hill, Alshon Jeffery, and Rueben Randle are three names that stand out that the Jets were quite interested in. Chris Givens is another that the Jets have been paying a lot of attention to. They may have to trade up to get a Hill or Jeffery, but don’t put this out of the realm either. They could do a lot worse.