Friday Mailbag

Answering your questions

Good morning,

Happy Friday, congratulations on making it through another week. Outside of the Tyreek Hill drama, we’ve had quite a quiet week as Jets fans.

The second wave of free agency hasn’t swung into action for the Jets, but I have confidence that Joe Douglas is burning the midnight oil to try and improve this roster.

Today, I thought I’d get back to the mailbag as it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done one.

Before we get to that I just wanted to give a shout-out to a couple of substack newsletters that I absolutely love. If you’re a Mets fan, you can’t go wrong with Mets Fix - Jeffrey does an absolutely outstanding job. If you’re Knicks fan then you know I’ve got all the time in the world for my man Jonathan Macri and his Knicks Film School newsletter, best Knicks content available…full stop.

Let’s get into it!

Tommy 🦁 @tommyjets

@DWyattHupton How many wrs will the Jets draft? Also have you watched film of WR Bo Melton from Rutgers?

It’s been the week of the wide receiver here on TJW, so why not start with a receiver question.

As things stand right now, I could see the Jets drafting two receivers. If we manage to trade for a + vet then it may only be one, if we just bring back someone like Keelan Cole, then it still could be two.

I know a lot of people have mentioned the Jets playing 12 personnel a lot this year due to the signings of Uzomah/Conklin, but the NFL average for that formation was 21%…which was driven up by Miami’s ridiculous 61% usage. The Jets were at 20%, so even if they go to the top end of the average which is around 30%, they’ll still spend the majority of their time in 11 personnel…so 3 wide receivers on the field.

I have watched some film of Bo Melton, but I think I was only able to get my hands on 3 games worth, so I haven’t seen extensive clips. But what I’ve seen is an explosive athlete who’s good after the catch and can make people miss in the open field.

I think he’s the kind of player you manufacture touches for, he’s got that quickness and elusiveness, and MLF’s system thrives on getting players the ball in space and then letting them go to work. He would be a nice pickup as a return specialist as well, just in case anything happens to Braxton.

RAS score below for Bo Melton

Brian Tumbarello @btum72

@DWyattHupton Pick 10 has to be a WR right?

Everything we hear indicates that the Jets are absolutely looking to get a star at the receiver position. If they can’t do that through trade, signs indicate to them picking their top-ranked receiver at the draft.

Garrett Wilson looked great at OSU’s pro day yesterday and for me he is the WR1 in this class. Drake London would give the Jets that contested catch ability, and he’s much better with the ball in his hands than people give him credit for…but I still think the Jets would go Wilson over London. We’ll see.

Kingsley Newman @kingsleh

@DWyattHupton Are you concerned with the lack of upgrades at WR so far during free agency?

Absolutely. That wide receiver room gives me heart palpitations. Right now we have Elijah Moore and a lot of questions. Corey Davis got banged up last year, can he stay healthy for a full season? What does Braxton look like with more volume…and then you have fringe NFL players who you can hardly count on for production.

The Jets need to give Zach every opportunity to succeed, and that’s why they’ve been aggressively pursuing guys like Hill. I still think a trade could be on the horizon, doesn’t sound like it will be DK, but AJ Brown would make a lot of sense considering he’s entering the final year on his rookie deal.

sarcasmrox3 @AlidoBitLazy

@DWyattHupton Rumors that the Jets met with Cross. Could me smokes but if Jets pick an Ekwonu/Neal/Cross, what does that mean for our current guys? Trades? A 4th overall pick on a back-up?

I’ve already said I’d be beyond disappointed if the Jets took an offensive lineman with the 4th overall pick. You can’t have first-round picks backing up first-round picks, that’s a horrible example of resource allocation. The Jets offensive line was ranked #11 last season by PFF and they’ve added Laken Tomlinson and a returning Mekhi Becton…taking another lineman would be overkill.

If they do, you have to imagine two things are happening:

• They have absolutely zero confidence in re-signing George Fant after the season so would entertain a trade of him.

• They have absolutely zero confidence in Becton reaching his potential and would entertain a trade for him.

You don’t take a tackle at #4 when you have a top 10 rated tackle from 2021 and a top 15 pick in his third year if you’re confident in both.

On the meetings, I fully expect the Jets to meet with most first-round prospects before the draft, so I’m not sure I’d read too much into it.

sarcasmrox3 @AlidoBitLazy

@DWyattHupton Earlier this month I asked top 5 picks if Thib's not there. Do you think the Jets trade back from 4 if he's gone? If so, what are some potential teams/trades?

If the Jets have a stack of Edge/WR prospects ranked the same then I think they absolutely would entertain a trade back, hopefully securing a future first-round draft pick for a draft that’s more top-heavy than this one.

I think you look at any team that needs a QB as a potential trade candidate. I know the Giants publically back Jones, but I can imagine a world where a QB needy team wanting to secure their #1 prospect jumps ahead of them to the Jets at #4.

There is a lot of talk that there are no first-round worthy QB’s in this draft, but every team evaluates differently and all you need is one team to fall in love.

I’m looking at the Panthers at #6, Falcons at #8, Seahawks at #9 as the prime candidates to jump up with the Jets.

AlanMacLaren🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @Divitbhoy

@DWyattHupton Thibs or Sauce at #4?

Now, this is a tough question. Two of my favorite prospects in the entire draft, but I’ve long said that Thibs is my #1 prospect in the draft, so I’m sticking to my guns.

There’s a lot that’s been said about Thibs into the run-up to the draft and in my opinion, a lot of it is bogus.

People talk about his motor, but that wasn’t mentioned once during the season. In fact, his motor was seen as one of his positive attributes.

People talk about the business interests outside of football, who cares? He knows he needs to be a success on the field to reach his goals off the field. He’s motivated to be the absolute best, he’s said that numerous times.

The Jets run a system where an explosive edge rusher is like gold dust, Kayvon is the most explosive edge rusher by a country mile. Jets shouldn’t think too hard about this, if he’s there you run the pick to the podium.

Saying all this…if we pick Sauce you won’t hear a single complaint from me.

Pro Day Travels

I never read too much into these things, but knowing who the Jets sent where is good information to have. So I’ll do my best to find some information for the key pro-days:

Here is a list of pro-days we know the Jets attended yesterday and if possible the person who attended, and potential players of interest.

• Memphis: Jets Scout

  • (Dylan Parham (C/G), Calvin Austin (WR)

• Utah: Jets Scout

  • Devin Lloyd (LB), Nephi Sewell (LB).

• Fresno State: Jets Scout

  • Ronnie Rivers (RB)

• SMU: Jets Scout

  • Grant Calcattera (TE), Danny Gray (WR), Reggie Roberson Jr (WR), Trevor Denbro (LB), Blake Mazza (K).

• North Dakota State: Jets Scout

  • Christian Watson (WR), Cordell Volson (OL)

• Penn State: Miles Austin (WR Coach) Mike Rutenberg (LB coach)

  • Jahan Dotson (WR), Brandon Smith (LB, Jesse Luketa (LB), Jaquan Brisker (S), Tariq Castro-Fields (DB), Arnold Ebikete (DL), Rasheed Walker (OL), Jordan Stout (P)

• Cincinnati: Marquand Manuel (DB Coach)

  • Sauce Gardner (CB), Coby Bryant (CB), Bryan Cook (DB), Myjai Sanders (Edge), Alec Pierce (WR), Jerome Ford (RB), Darrian Beavers (LB).

Let me know if you find this summary useful and I’ll make it a regular feature in the run up to the draft.