To Cook or not to Cook
Should the Jets be interested in trading for Brandin Cooks?
☀️ Good morning,
Happy Friday to one and all. Another week down and another week closer to the draft, and that’s exactly where we’re going to start today with an update on our visit tracker.
Here’s a full list of all the prospects I’ve seen confirmed to have visited the Jets.
Treylon Burks - Wide Receiver - Arkansas
Ikem Ekonwu - Offensive Tackle - NC State
Sauce Gardner - Cornerback - Cincinnati
Aidan Hutchinson - EDGE - Michigan
Chris Olave - Wide Receiver - Ohio State
Kayvon Thibodeaux - EDGE - Oregon
Travon Walker - EDGE - Georgia
Jameson Williams - Wide Receiver - Alabama
Garrett Wilson - Wide Receiver - Ohio State
Perrion Winfrey - Defensive Tackle - Oklahoma
Devonte Wyatt - Defensive Tackle - Georgia
Taysir Mack - Wide Receiver - Pittsburgh
Isaiah Likely - Tight End - Coastal Carolina
Lewis Cine - Safety - Georgia
Jermaine Johnson - EDGE - Florida State *still trying to 100% confirm this one, but i believe the Jets are bringing him in.
Three new additions over the last 24 hours and both prospects have been talked about a fair bit in the pre-draft process. Isaiah Likely the receiving TE from Coastal Carolina can be seen as a hybrid TE/WR, and Lewis Cine the hard-hitting safety from Georgia is one of the more popular names among Jets fans.
Jermaine Johnson is the interesting one. His base stats are excellent, he led all the top edges in the draft in terms or tackles, sacks and tackles for a loss…but his advanced metrics like win % and pass rushing efficiency have him rated as one of the lower edges among the first round grades.
There is a distinct lack of linebacker visits at the moment, and that does align with what we’ve heard around the Jets being happy with the pairing of CJ Mosley and Quincy Williams, and the potential of Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasrildeen.
Although there have been no private visits scheduled for linebackers (that we know of), we do know that the Jets met with Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean at the combine and obviously worked closely with the likes of Chad Muma, Brian Asamoah, Troy Anderson, and Jesse Luketa at the Senior Bowl, and word out of the senior bowl is the Jets loved more than one linebacker they worked with.
*Unfortunately Cooks got extended last night as I was sleeping so here are my thoughts on Cook before that news broke*
👨🍳 To Cook or not to Cook
It seems as though the Jets have been in on every receiver this off-season, whether they’re available (Hill, Cooper) or not (DK and AJ). Add Houston receiver Brandin Cooks to the list, according to a report by Jordan Schultz
Cooks is such an underrated name amongst wide receivers. As Schultz said, he’s had 6 seasons where he’s surpassed 1000 yards and he’s done that with 4 different QBs. That shows the talent in the receiver and not the talent of the player throwing him the ball or the ease of the system he’s playing in.
Production is a huge positive for Cooks and his perceived cost is one too. According to Over The Cap, Cooks is on the books for just one more year for a cap number of $16.2 million, with his 2023 and 2024 years voided.
That $16.2 million salary would make him the 16th highest-paid receiver, not bad for a guy who consistently puts up over 1000 yards. He would provide Zach with another reliable target in the passing game and you have to imagine that at most it would cost the Jets a 3rd round pick to get him.
There are some negatives attached to Cooks, the fact he’s only contracted for one more year means the Jets would need to be confident of securing his services beyond 2022 if they’re going to part with draft capital, the Jets aren’t in a win-now mode so they can’t afford to give up a 3rd for a rental.
Cooks also has a troubling history of concussions, he’s experienced 5 that are known, and according to this article by the Undroppables which references multiple medical journals, the chances of him experiencing another are pretty high.
Multiple medical journals have published studies that prove that once a player sustains a concussion, their risk of getting another concussion increases. A study by Guskiewicez et al. showed that among 4,251 college football players, those who suffered 3 or more concussions were 3 times more likely to sustain another concussion than those without any history of that injury [2]. This certainly applies to Cooks, who to this date has five documented concussions in the NFL. Additionally, another study focusing on concussions in high school athletes found that “athletes sustaining recurrent concussions had longer symptom resolution times, were kept out of play longer, and reported loss of consciousness more frequently than athletes sustaining new concussions” [3].
Everything considered I’d be willing to send a 3rd round pick to get Brandin Cooks in the building. He helps us win and he helps us develop Zach Wilson, two huge goals for a franchise that hasn’t been to the postseason in over a decade and hasn’t developed a competent QB since Chad Pennington.
Sam 🏈
Sam Darnold caught up with the guys at Bussin with the Boys Podcast and he had some interesting things to say. According to Darnold when the Jets told him he was being traded he told the Jets they were making a big mistake…which is exactly what you would expect a starting QB in the league to say.
Unfortunately for Darnold that didn’t really play out. Fast-forward 12 months and the Jets are about to make the most of the 2nd and 4th round picks they got for Darnold and the Panthers are looking for a new QB.
Darnold struggled his way to a 4-7 record with the Panthers, completing 59.9% of his passes for 2,527 yards and 9 touchdowns against 13 interceptions, although he did rush for another 5 touchdowns.
I’ve always said I hope for the best for Sam, he seems like a great guy…but he absolutely got that one wrong.
He also had some great comments on the fanbase as a whole, calling it a devoted fanbase of loyal people who will let you know when you “f*ck up” but always turned up. He did say he struggled when his performance was directly criticized by people who thought they could do it, but he always stayed respectful.
🎶 I've heard this record before…
Another day and another receiver who may or may not be available.
Deebo is the latest name to stir the souls of Jets Twitter. The 49ers star offensive weapon has deleted every reference to San Francisco and purged his Instagram of over 80 posts, most referencing his time with the franchise.
Samuel is entering the final year of his rookie deal and he wants to get paid, so plan A is drawing more attention to that fact by getting everyone talking about something, this will do it.
I'm sure the Jets would be interested if there was even a tiny chance he would be available, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
🧐 🤯 Interesting fact of the day: There have been 11 cornerbacks taken in the top 10 of drafts over the last decade. Of those 11 only 3 would be considered worthy of their selection (Denzel Ward, Jalen Ramsey and Stephon Gilmour), those three players made up 100% of all the pro-bowl and all-pro selections.
In total those 11 players have a combined 11 pro bowls out of a possible 59 (20% conversion) and 5 all-pros out of a possible 59 (8.4% conversion). Read into that what you will, but I thought it was interesting.
💚 TJW? My plan is to always keep it free and available, but you can still support my work and TJW with a small donation, the price of a coffee in a swanky craft cafe.
A huge thank you to Richard, John, and Michele who have already supported TJW this week!
The Texans reportedly extended Cooks. Concussion history, scares me, on a lot of levels. There are two names on the visited list , that are not guaranteed first rounders ( Go through that list and guess if you see anyone that Falls to 35). Likely and Mack. Excited at the possibility of drafting Likely at 69, very curious on how he would be used creatively in this Offense. Know absolutely nothing about Mack, but it brings up the issue, that the Jets do not have a sixth or seventh round pick. Considering what I consider a brilliant sixth round draft last year, it seems that Douglas uses late round picks better than most. Looking for draft day deals, where Douglas always asks for pocket change in the form of sixth and seventh round picks. We will see. Sam has always been a classy guy, like Sam , wish him the best, no tears he is making 18 million this year.