The Selection:

“9. New York Jets – Ezekiel Ansah, Defensive End/Outside Linebacker, BYU

The Jets are looking to add a pass rusher and Ansah has the most upside out of anyone in this draft class. If the Jets decide to go an unconventional route, a name to watch would be North Carolina’s Sylvester Williams, who could jump off of the board much earlier than people imagine.”

Ezekiel Ansah is a talented/phsical pass rusher the Jets can use off the edges but his inexperience has been called into question!

The Prospect:

BYU’s  DE Ezekiel Ansah is raw but talented prospect that has been getting alot of looks lately after his stellar performance in The Senior Bowl a few months ago.  At 6’5 271 pounds  with 35 1/8 inch arms, Ansah is a bit of a physical freak.  This year it seems as if every top pass rusher has “redflags” or “concerns” and Ansah is one of those prospects whose talent and upside outweighs his “redflags” or “concerns.”

Few things I noticed when watching Ansah especially at the Senior Bowl;

-Ansah is quick to get his hands on run blocker, gets arm extension to lock-out blocker and maintains good position. Leverage with his knees isn’t exactly the best.

-Ansah’s production as a pass rusher is almost exclusively dependent on his rare physical talent and not his technique.  He rarely utilizes technique when rushing the passer but utilizes his talent instead.  This wont fly in the NFL considering Tackles are coming into the league ready to dominate.

-When he pass rushes with leverage and uses his hands aggressively, he can be a dominant bull rusher because of his rare combination of explosiveness, long arms and excellent strength. In order to become an elite pass rusher in the NFL, Ansah will need to rush with leverage and aggressiveness more consistently and develop a wider variety of pass rush moves.  Of course with adequate coaching and under Rex’s tutelage, I see no reason why Ansah cant be what the Jets need off the edges with Quinton Coples and Muhammad Wilkerson eating up the middle.

Having said that, in this particular mock draft,  Georgia DE Jarvis Jones is still on the board when the Jets select, and actually this mock has Jarvis Jones making it out of the first round undrafted.  That in itself is crazy considering Jones is the best pure pass rusher in the draft and is more seasoned and a more complete pass rusher than Ansah.  I have no problems with Ansah but I REALLY like Jones despite his bad off-season workouts and I believe the Jets are better off selecting Jones here instead of Ansah.

Again, every one of these top pass rushers in this year’s draft have question marks and concerns but I believe you have to select the prospect who has proven without a doubt and consistently despite their flaws and that prospect in my opinion is Jarvis Jones.  Putting Jones, a proven pass rusher on the edges with Coples and Wilkerson eating up blockers on the line can pay big dividends for this Jets defense.

The pick here has to be Jarvis Jones.

As far as Mocks go, most people really don’t pay them that much mind and for good reasons but for the most part they’re a good indication of what teams NEED to do and what direction they should probably head towards, so they’re not totally useless.  I myself entertain them for time to time for more than one reason, one reason being if a mock has a top prospect falling further than we think said prospect should fall and that is the case with this particular mock……

Though Jarvis Jones is considered the best pass rusher in this year’s draft, he doesn’t come without some risk.

This Mock has Georgia’s DE/OLB Jarvis Jones, easily the best most dynamic pass rusher out of this year’s group of pass rushers, falling to the Jets at 9, not impossible or improbable but probably not likely either but just to entertain the thought briefly;  is Jones potential fall going to be based on the uncertainty of his medical condition?  There’s simply no denying Jones’s ability to rush the passer and to play the LB position and there’s no denying the fact that the Jets are in desperate need of an edge pass rusher.  I know there have been mocks that have the Jets possibly going after a NT or DT in the 1^st round but lets not kid ourselves here, the Jets are losing Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas, their primary OLB/edge rushers and replacing them will be critical and a player like Jarvis Jones will definitely go a long way in not only replacing Pace/Thomas but probably and most likely providing infinitely  more production in sacks than Pace and Thomas COMBINED over the past 3 seasons but as dynamic a pass rusher as Jones is, he does come with a risk.  Jones suffers from a condition called Spinal Stenosis , an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal that may occur in any of the regions of the spine. This narrowing causes a restriction to the spinal canal, resulting in a neurological deficit.  Now to be fair, Georgia Doctors cleared Jones to play and there’s no doubt in my mind that they didn’t reach that decision without much examining, research and discussion and there isn’t any reason NOT to trust their decision to clear him but there SHOULD be some legitimate concern about his long-term durability due to this Spinal Stenosis condition, the same ailment that has caused some players like Marcus McNeill, Chris Samuels and Michael Irvin to retire earlier than they wanted to.

Miami of Ohio QB Zac Dysert played in a West Coast System and would make an ideal option for the Jets in this April’s draft.

2.) Best way to handle the QB position for the Jets this year?

When discussing the Jets this offseason, many people will find themselves either avoiding the 8.25 million pound elephant in the room or simply trying to find a way to flush said 8.25 million pound elephant down the toilet and quite honestly, neither option will fix the issue.  Simply put, Sanchez’s $17 million dollar cap hit if cut all but seals his spot on the roster for the 2013 season.  It also virtually guarantees that he’ll get a legit chance to start and in fact I’d say the chances of Sanchez starting is probably better than 70%.  This doesn’t mean that the Jets need to head into this season as unprepared as they were this past season.  The Jets watched as Sanchez and his erratic and inconsistent QB play brought the entire offense and in some cases the team down simply because they didn’t have a viable and legit option backing up Sanchez.  Certainly one of many reasons former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum is the FORMER Jets GM.  This CANNOT happen this season…..the Jets actually have to approach this “Sanchez” situation expecting him to FAIL  (not rooting for him to FAIL) and need to be prepared for it but unfortunately because of the cap situation and the depth issues at key positions, the Jets have to approach this with minimal finances to spend at the QB position.  That means trading for big cap hitting QBs like Matt Flynn or picking up soon-to-be FA QBs like Alex Smith may be out of the question considering their price tags.  It also means they shouldn’t sacrifice talent in their search for a backup in the Free Agent market because of their limited resources, meaning other FA options like Tavaris Jackson, Drew Stanton, Matt Moore, Jason Campbell and Seneca Wallace shouldn’t be considered as serious and legit options to threaten Mark Sanchez for the starting job, they just shouldn’t.

In my opinion the Jets should for CYA purposes, sign one of the aforementioned FA QBs (preferable Matt Moore) but they should undoubtedly be prepared to spend anywhere between a 2^nd – 4^th round pick on a QB in this April’s draft and the 2 QBs I would love for the Jets to consider is FSU’s EJ Manuel and/or Miami or Ohio’s Zac Dysert.  Manuel, the Senior Bowl MVP is a dual threat QB that has the intangibles and upside that is hard to ignore.  Dysert on the other hand isn’t a dual threat like Manuel but he’s not lacking in the mobility department and knows a thing or two about QB-ing a West Coast offense, the offense the Jets will go with now that Marty Morninweg will be coordinating the offense.  Both of these QBs are not only making competition in camp very interesting for Mark Sanchez but have the talent to come in and legitimately replace him if he starts throwing the football like he’s point shaving again.

3.) Brandon Jenkins

The Jets have issues at more than a few key positions on both sides of the ball so as bad as they need a pass rusher, its certainly no guarantee that they will even go pass rusher or even defense in the first round. I like to assume that they won’t go pass rusher as I’ll just utilize the “anything can happen” mantra.  If the Jets decided to not go pass rusher in the first round,  I would like to throw a name in the Draft Board Hat that I would like to see the Jets go after in the mid/later rounds; FSU’s Brandon Jenkins.  Yes THAT Brandon Jenkins.  The Brandon Jenkins that played only ONE snap this past season….. The 6’3 260 pound DE was THE premiere pass rusher in college football in 2010 as he emerged as one of the nation’s best speed rusher at defensive end tallying 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for a loss. His junior and senior years were not as productive as he and Florida State would have liked because of various injuries that cut his season short.  Jenkins was looking to continue his dominance this past season but suffered a season ending foot injury that put an end to his FSU career.  Despite the injury, Jenkins is still a formidable pass rusher and had it not been for the injury, he’d of been the TOP pass rusher coming into April’s draft I have no doubts about that.  Jenkins may or may not participate in the combine or workouts but even without doing so I believe that he’s still worth taking a flier on from round 3 and on….

Stephan Taylor – RB, Stanford -

Stanford’s All-time leading rusher has a lot of doubters and nay-sayers.  They’ve seen tape of him getting bottled up occasionally this past year at Stanford and suddenly forget how talented he is.  He averaged 110 yards per game  and rushed for 1,442 yards this past season, was second on the team in receptions with 38 catches and is a great pass blocker which some offensive coordinators are now coveting more than anything now since the league has now transition to more of a passing league. At 5’11 208 pounds, Taylor is a big, quick running back who has a good combination of speed, quickness, and power, but his greatest asset could be his vision and ability to pick up yards after contact.  When I see him I think of Tampa’s RB Doug Martin who had a lot of doubters himself going into the draft last April.  Jets will certainly be looking for a RB to add to the mix and Taylor should certainly be on their radar.

Eric Fisher – OT, Central Michigan -

The 6’8 305 Tackle out of Central Michigan excels as a pass blocker with an excellent frame. One thing that stands out about Fisher is his long arms which can be used to extend defenders away from his body and push them away from the quarterback. As a run blocker, he shows great discipline with consistently active feet and hands. Fisher is actively looking to move guys off the line and push them around. His athletic feet helps him drive and not lose ground into the backfield and he seems to show fantastic awareness in blitz pickup on stunts, twists and with guys coming off the edge.  With the Jets, everything should start with the line this offseason considering they have questions about OG and OT so it’s no surprise that the Jets will be looking to add or upgrade the Right Tackle position and Fisher is someone that should be on the Jets radar this weekend at the Senior Bowl.  Fisher will have to protect QBs that will be mentioned later on this list and must protect them from Pass Rushers that will ALSO be on this list.

Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson had an inconsistent season in 2012 but will need to show scouts that 2011 was more of who he is as a QB.

Tyler Wilson – QB, Arkansas

The 6’2 218 pound Arkansas QB will have a lot to prove between now and April and the Senior Bowl is as good a time to start as any.  Wilson is a QB that can make all the throws at the next level and possesses above average arm strength but had an inconsistent season at Arkansas in 2012 which undoubtedly caused his draft stock to plummet.  Wilson’s mechanics from the waist to the arm are great.  He has a tight, quick delivery and gets good elbow extension allowing for a tight, catchable ball.  Wilson played from the shotgun for most of his time at Arkansas but has the foot skills to excel under center in an NFL system.  2011 game tape is probably something Wilson wished he use primarily on his resume as he took a step back in 2012 but what he did show in 2011 was the fact that he has all the tools necessary to succeed in the NFL but still has his doubters.  A solid outing this Saturday at the Senior Bowl will go a long way in silencing the doubters and improving his draft stock.  Look for the Jets to be interested in his play this week as I see no reason for them to NOT go after a QB in the draft.