Mock Draft Monday
Edition #312
Good morning!
I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t just a little bit pleased that I’ll be able to enjoy Championship Sunday next weekend without the Dolphins, Bills, Patriots, Giants, or Tom Brady being involved. Not that I care too much about the Giants, but seeing others succeed is always hard to take when your team has been stuck in limbo.
Joe Burrow showed why he’s so special last night with a clinical performance against the Bills in the snow. His ability to move around in the pocket and find the right read consistently is remarkable. The Bengals are extremely lucky to have him and they’ve done an excellent job supporting him as well.
We’re going to touch on a few bits today and as always the Monday edition is free to read for one and all. If you want to support TJW and receive newsletters for the rest of the week, please consider subscribing by hitting the button above.
Klint Kubiak
The Jets interviewed Denver Broncos QBs coach and Passing Game Coordinator Klint Kubiak for their vacant offensive coordinator position.
Let’s not beat around the bush, the Broncos were an absolute mess this year. Russell Wilson regressed to one of the worst QBs in football.
Nathaniel Hackett gave Kubiak the play-calling duties this year and he called plays for 9 games, but the Broncos still ended the season as the worst-scoring offense in the league at 16.9 points.
The passing offense finished 19th in the league (behind the Jets) with 211.3 passing yards per game.
He had more success in Minnesota, but Viking fans have come out in force to ridicule the thought that he deserves another shot as offensive coordinator.
Justin Jefferson called out Klint’s play-calling when he was the coordinator in Minnesota and here is how SI concluded his time with the Vikings:
“At first glance, it's a bit confusing that the Panthers have an interest in Kubiak. Despite having a talented veteran quarterback in Kirk Cousins, a decent offensive line, and elite weapons led by Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook, the Vikings' offense finished below average in most key advanced statistics in 2021. They were 17th in EPA per play, 25th in success rate, and 16th in DVOA. They ranked 27th in plays per drive — three and outs were a massive issue — and 19th in yards per drive. They were 25th in third-down percentage.”
My theory was that the Jets would entertain the idea of Klint as the offensive coordinator if his dad Gary Kubiak came on board as the senior offensive assistant. Rich Cimini quickly quashed this idea:
Any new hire deserves a chance, but if the Jets were to hire Klint Kubiak, I’d be a touch underwhelmed.
Chad O’Shea
The Jets also interviewed Chad O’Shea who is the Wide receivers coach & passing game coordinator for the Cleveland Browns.
His first stint in the NFL came with Kansas in 2003 before moving to Minnesota in 2006 to work on the offensive side of the ball. He spent all three of his years for the Vikings working under Brad Childress before moving to New England.
He stayed in New England for a very long time, acting as their wide receivers coach between 2009-2018. I always find it strange when young NFL coaches stick in one position for so long.
In 2019 he finally got a shot to run an offense in Miami under Brian Flores.
The results don’t look good on paper. He ran the 25th-ranked scoring offense (19.1 points per game), the 32nd-ranked rushing offense with (72.3 yards per game), and the 12th-ranked passing offense (237.8 yards per game).
But, to be fair to Chad, take a look at what he had to work with:
That’s an awful offense and I’m surprised there were 7 teams who scored more points per game than this unit.
After one season he was gone, and for the last three years, he’s been the passing game coordinator in Cleveland. The Browns have never had a top-10 passing offense with Chad, in fact, they’ve never had a top-15 passing offense.
I can’t help but think this interview is based on who he’s coached under (Childress & Bill) more than what he’s actually achieved.
This would be somewhat of a surprising hire if it’s made.
Coordinator Search Update:
Right now we have seven known candidates for the job, but don’t be surprised if the Jets have interviewed 10+, not all the interviews get leaked to the press and I’m sure they’ve had a couple of internal ones as well.
So a recap of the guys we know about:
Marcus Brady - Eagles Offensive Consultant
Nick Caley - Patriots Tight Ends Coach
Nathaniel Hackett - Former Broncos Head Coach
Brian Johnson - Eagles Quarterback Coach
Chad O’Shea - Browns WR Coach & Passing Game Coordinator
Kevin Patullo - Eagles Passing Game Coordinator
Klint Kubiak - Broncos QB Coach & Passing Game Coordinator
Here are the two names who we know have turned down interviews:
Darrell Bevell - Dolphins QB Coach & Passing Game Coordinator
Bill Callahan - Browns OL Coach
Interestingly the Jets haven’t made any overtures to some highly rated college coordinators like Todd Monken (at least publically) and we haven’t heard if they’ve made contact with someone like Kliff Kingsbury who’s looking for work (although he’s currently in Thailand).
Right now my pick would be Brian Johnson among the guys we’ve interviewed. I think we’ll see 2-3 more come through this week.
On Mondays, I’m going to start introducing a quick mock draft to start introducing players I’m keeping my eye on.
As we get closer to the draft we’ll start publishing scouting reports on players the Jets are showing interest in.
Right now I’m talking to college coaches about some guys, and I’m excited to bring those reports over the coming months. I started my NFL life as a draft writer for Bleacher Report and then took that to SB Nation for many years, so it’s a part of the game I love.
This year I have been granted virtual media credentials for the Senior Bowl, which means access to all the film, interviews and other details. I’ll be sure to introduce some of that into the newsletter as well.
Here is where my first mock of the 2023 off-season landed:
In this scenario, both Paris Campbell and Skoronski were already gone so instead of going for the next tackle just because I went with JSN. He’s one of the best route-runners I’ve ever seen and his after-catch potential is out of this world. He won’t wow in shorts at the combine in terms of his speed, but a lineup of Wilson, Moore, and JSN will make any QBs job easier. He has played almost exclusively out of the slot, but that just means your OC needs to get creative.
Wright allowed 8 pressures and 0 sacks on over 500 pass-blocking snaps this year, he’s a big-body tackle with tons of potential.
The Jets don’t have anyone to play next to Quinnen next year and Coburn is as good against the run as he is a pass-rusher. Last year he put up 31 pressures, 4 sacks, and recorded 14 defensive stops. He would be a great addition to this defensive line.
Tippmann allowed just 5 pressures all season and on initial viewing, he has the perfect blend of power and athleticism, and I like his lateral quickness as well. The Jets don’t have a center signed for next season right now and this draft is loaded with talented centers.
Torrence has been moved around a fair bit at Florida but I like him as a deep free safety, he led the team in tackles last year and had 3 interceptions back in 2021. This is the gamble pick.
Lovett is actually going back to school so we can forget about that one, I only realized after doing the draft and Broeker is a little bit of depth to try and work it.
Writers like to use the term “ coaching trees”. Any coach who was involved with that offensive debacle in Denver shouldn’t be allowed near Florham Park. I don’t care who they are related too or what quarterback likes them. Hackett never called played in Green Bay. That coaching tree is a busted twig.
As far as the Belichick coaching tree, the only one that you can say you would hire is Brian Flores who basically won games with the odds stacked against him. Unfortunately, he is a defensive coach. Other than him, almost all of Belichick’s former assistants have been total failures once they left the “ Evil Kingdom”. Belichick’s coaching tree looks like the aftermath of a colossal forest fire.
David, I think they should hire Brian Johnson. I saw something Saturday night that some people might not think is a big deal but struck a nerve with me. When Jalen Hurts went to the sidelines after the Eagles scored their first touchdown, Hurts was met by a black assistant coach who walked and talked with him. I will assume that was Johnson. I challenge anybody to show proof that Gase or any of his assistants talked to Darnold on the sidelines. Same thing with Zach, we always saw them sitting alone.
David, if Quentin Johnston is there at 13, would you take him over Jackson Smith-Njigba
hey David -
yes it was a good weekend. Weekends like this, when my team has no dog in the hunt (like, oh i don't know, since when I had hair on my head!), I fall back on my fan-of-football status and hope for some good ball. Which the Wildcard round always gives, since those are the teams with the most significant flaws and thus, makes for some surprising and exciting play.
Now I don't have anything against Brady; yes i know he's been brainwashed into hating the Jets, the Belicheck-affect (the Dark Lord...) but he's mellowed out a bit. And besides, I lost the angst against him for two reasons; when he lead that fantastic comeback against the Falcons, that was a total mind-blast. But the most important reason, a few years ago I saw him during pre-game, come out and slap hands, fists, say hi to a row of national guardsmen. You see, as you can tell from my nom de guerre, I've served in our Military - so seeing him put aside the Dark-Lord inspired B/S and do something real... well that's when I set aside the crud, too. Before I'm a Jet, I am a Vet.
Being an ex-New Yorker, I also follow the Giants a bit. It was great to see Saquon Barkley return to the form he displayed as a rookie. And Saquon was a Jets fan in his youth, plus judging from the way he talks of the Jets, I think he still is a fan. I understand that; a fan for ever, no shrinking during bad years or even worse, no Rah-Rah coming out the woodworks when the team does good.
That plus the Parcells years (and how Parcells in his few years with the Jets turned around our franchise for the better, with effects lasting into the Rex Ryan years...), and now with Daboll whom I think is fantastic, getting what was essentially the same group of players that Judge almost Gase'd into irrelevance to make it this far - well, as a football fan, what's not to like about that story? Punching above your weight; that is the classic Underdog lede, and Lord (plus a couple million fellow fans...) knows we sure as heck have been that more often than not.
So yeah, I'll ck the Giants team... but the fans? Well that's a mixed bunch. I've met enough fair-weather sailors amongst the Giants fanbase to know that many of them - when the team was doing good and we weren't - only came out because the team was doing good. You couldn't hear or see them when they stunk. Likewise with Patriots fans. Man, I have been around for a while, bud. How Long? Let's just say that I have more road in my rearview mirror than I do in front of me. And do I remember when the Patriots were the laughing stock/pits of the league. Didn't see too many fans then. And here's the thing; these sunshine-only types, they always do two things; act like they've been true fans all their lives, and look down upon other fan-bases suffering as our teams struggle. That, to me, is the epitome of Unsportsmanlike Conduct (15 yards, automatic FIRST DOWN!!) - I have no use for them.
But I've usually got a good, shut'em up response for these types. Take the Dolphins for example, how many times have you been with a bunch of phish phans, ya'll are making fun of each other, and they always come out with the Marino Fake Spike, laughing it up at the SOJ. Seems to be almost a regular thing.
Last time, though, that I experienced that, with a few fans, mixed group, and this Fins fan ran this tired line again. I smiled and calmy replied, "Yeah, Marino was a great quarterback, I loved his lightning release, reminded me so much of Namath" Then I drop the hammer on him, "... a hall-of-fame talent, once in a lifetime kinda player... and the highlight of his career, is a silly-ass trick play. All that talent, and he never won a SuperBowl".
The phish guy drops his jaw a bit, and I continue. "... 'I AM THE GREATEST!', Marino shouts... but no ring. You're a dolphins fan... how do you think Danny-boy feels about that? "
The group got quiet real quick, the other fans, looking back and forth between us as we bantered against each other, looked at the 'fins guy with nothing to comeback with just looking down at his belly button. Well, David, it was plain on everyones face that I won that round. And i don't hear the fins fan talking crap anymore - which is just the way I like it.
CGVet58