Reactions to the New York Jets 2013 NFL Draft Day One Selections

Apr 25, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Sheldon Richardson (Missouri) is introduced as the number thirteen overall pick to the New York Jets during the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

It was an interesting debut draft night for John Idzik and company. I think that is obvious. No matter what you think about these two players, this was a perplexing pair of picks to begin the draft. I wanted to take a little time, let the picks sit in my head a bit, and this morning, give you my final opinions.

The first thing that stuck out to me, and I got back to the draft late, was the fact that the Jets weren’t able to trade out of one of, or both of the picks they had. It seemed that there were a lot of trades to be had, and we know that John Idzik’s mantra is that the draft is a “lifeline”. I found myself quite surprised that he didn’t find a way to trade down from one of, if not both of the picks. There were rumors of several teams that wanted to trade up. But, we aren’t in the rooms with the team, so we can’t really judge based on lack of a trade.

Now I am going to take the picks backwards, starting with the Richardson choice. This one is the particularly perplexing choice to me. Don’t get me wrong, Richardson is immensely talented. He and Sharrif Floyd were the two most athletic defensive tackles in the draft. Take a look at his stats from the last two years at Missouri:

For a guy playing the interior, 4 sacks is a terrific year as a senior. Here are some highlights:

The guy is a force to be reckoned with. Sheldon Richardson gets excellent pressure up the middle, and is always around the football. The thing for me is that he reminds me of someone. Muhammad Wilkerson. As an interior lineman, it doesn’t seem that the Jets filled a need with this pick. Jarvis Jones, whom we heard that the Jets were high on, was still on the board. I really would have liked to see the Jets land Jones with this pick.

Apr 25, 2013; New York, NY, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell introduces Dee Milliner (Alabama) as the number nine overall pick to the New York Jets during the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Now for the selection of Dee Milliner. The more I thought about this one, the more I understood it. The reasoning behind the choice is obvious, they want him to step in and replace Darrelle Revis. They now have a new shut down corner, that likely won’t be Revis, at least right away, but can step right in and start.

When I first heard the choice, I truthfully hated it. The way the secondary has played with Cromartie and Kyle Wilson on the outside, the Jets had bigger needs than a cornerback. With pass rushers still on the board, it seemed that this was a bigger need. That, and the comments Milliner made the other day about already being as good as or possibly better than Revis, made him seem like a bad guy.  He certainly didn’t seem like the type of guy I wanted in the locker room.

That part may still be true, but I thought more and more about the idea of a corner, and it made much more sense.  Yes, Kyle Wilson improved as the starter, but were we ever really confident when the ball went his way?  No.  Frankly, we got sick of him and the finger wagging.  Wouldn’t it be nice to put Kyle Wilson back in the nickel, where he was much better suited?  Well, with Milliner in the fold, the Jets can do just that, and make the secondary that much better.

So, overall, this brings me to a grade of a C for yesterday’s work.

What did you guys think?  Vote in the poll below:

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