New York Jets Monday Mailbag: Draft targets, running backs, & more

In the New York Jets Monday Mailbag, we answer all your Jets Twitter questions weekly. In the inaugural edition, we discuss draft strategy, free agent running backs and more.

Welcome to the first ever New York Jets Monday Mailbag here on The Jet Press! This is a new series that will look to answer any and all questions you may have about anything and everything pertaining to the Jets.

To have your question included in future editions make sure to follow us on Twitter at @TheJetPress and be on the lookout for a tweet every Friday asking for your questions.

In the very first edition of the series, we take a look at potential draft targets for the Jets with their first-round pick as well as a few potential free agent running backs the team could target. With that, let’s get on with our questions.

OL or DL with #3 pick?

— Spencer Sticek (@SpencerSticek) February 8, 2019

Personally, I’d prefer the Jets take a long, hard look at any potential trade down offers that they might have. It makes sense given that there likely won’t be a player in a position of need for the team who will also be valued that high.

But if the Jets were to select a lineman at third overall, I’d have to say they should pick a defensive lineman. More specifically they should pick Quinnen Williams. I know that selection will upset the angry mob portion of the fanbase but there simply isn’t an offensive lineman that should be valued that high.

Alabama’s Jonah Williams has received his fair share of hype but many teams feel that he should be a guard in the pros due to his lack of length. While I still think he can play tackle, he likely wouldn’t be playing that position in his first year with the Jets.

I like Andre Dillard from Washington State and Jawaan Taylor from Florida but even a top 10 selection for either seems a bit rich at the moment. The Jets best bet to take an offensive lineman in the first round would be to trade back and take one in the back half of the top 10.

But if they’re not trading down and Nick Bosa isn’t on the board, Quinnen Williams is probably the best pick to make.

Should the jets pursue Kareem Hunt or LeVeon Bell?

— Spencer Sticek (@SpencerSticek) February 8, 2019

Hunt no. Bell yes.

Kareem Hunt is a talented back who would come at a much cheaper price and has significantly less mileage than Bell. But general manager Mike Maccagnan has, historically speaking, stayed away from players with domestic violence incidents in their background and in this case it would be hard to blame him.

On the other hand, the Le’Veon Bell approach has been and will continue to be a hot topic of debate until he officially signs on with his next team. Honestly, the debate isn’t likely to end then either.

But this is a team who has the cap space to get a deal done. Sam Darnold will be on his rookie contract for four more years and the Jets would be foolish to not do everything they can to build a winning team around him as quickly as possible.

Bell is an outlier in the sense that he is an elite player at his position hitting the open market. The Jets will overpay for Bell, that much is a given, but essentially everyone in free agency is overpaid. I’d rather overpay for an elite talent than overpay for an above-average talent.

Could it blow up in their face? Absolutely. But the opportunity is there and the Jets would be wise to take it.

No more complacency. It’s time to be aggressive.

What are your best running back duos if they don’t land Bell?

— Michael Pallas (@mtpallas) February 8, 2019

Regardless of whether the team lands Bell or not, the Jets running back room is set to look very different in 2019. Bell is an exception in that he is one of the few true (excuse the pun) bell-cow running backs left in the NFL. But in almost any other instance you need a pair of backs or sometimes more to compliment each other’s skillsets.

A name that intrigues me in free agency as a fallback option is Tevin Coleman. Coleman is an excellent pass catcher and could be this offseason’s version of Jerick McKinnon in the sense that he’s a player who’s never been the feature back for his team but will get paid to be just that.

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The only problem with Coleman is that his style compliments well with a downhill, punishing running back which the Jets do not currently have. I doubt the Jets would double-up on running backs in free agency, although Mike Davis is interesting if he hits the market, so I would expect them to find a partner for Coleman in the draft if they go that route.

If they’re going to roll with Elijah McGuire as one half of a running back duo, players like Mark Ingram or Latavius Murray could make sense but neither interests me too much.

If they look to the draft, someone like David Montgomery would be an excellent compliment to McGuire but they’d likely need to acquire a second-round pick to make that happen, that is if he sneaks out of the first round.

What´s your take on the hire of Jim Bob Cooter as RB coach? Detroit´s running game was non existent under him, wasn`t it?

— sunmoonrise31 (@sunmoonrise31) February 8, 2019

People seem to be focusing way too much on the title with this hire. Jim Bob Cooter is considered by many to be one of the brighter, young minds in the game and it was a bit surprising to see the Detroit Lions move on from him this offseason.

It was even more surprising to see there be such a lack of interest by other teams in Cooter as an offensive coordinator, a position he held for four years in Detroit. I think it’s a pretty good hire just to land another coach with experience working with quarterbacks on the roster.

Cooter has been praised for his work with Matthew Stafford and while some questioned his playcalling in Detroit, the lack of a running game definitely shouldn’t fall solely on his shoulders.

Before Kerryon Johnson took over this year, the Lions were using a combination of LeGarrette Blount, Theo Riddick, Ameer Abdullah, Zach Zenner, and Dwayne Washington to lead the backfield. Not exactly the most accomplished group of runners at their disposal. And it’s not as if the Lions have had one of the better offensive lines in the game either.

Next. Top three free agent WR targets for the Jets

The bottom line is that Cooter is an excellent mind to have on the coaching staff, semantics aside.

Also, he’s got a pretty awesome name.

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