New York Jets: Trade for 2019 second-round pick should be priority
The New York Jets are going to have to work some magic again in the 2019 NFL Draft to fix some major holes — namely trading up to fill the hole in Round 2.
The New York Jets desperately tried to find their quarterback of the future. When turning to the later rounds, they failed by selecting Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty. They also tried to fix other problems on the defense while trying to fix their quarterback issue. It took four years, but the Jets finally have their man behind center. The problem is the guys in front of him.
The group may not turn out to be as terrible as advertised come the end of 2018. However, they do need upgrades. The guys that may be described as average don’t really fit in the youth movement, and the young guys are still raw.
General manager Mike Maccagnan will have to work some magic, but getting that second-round pick they traded away to land Sam Darnold won’t take a Teddy Bridgewater deal. It will take some ingenuity, and some guts — like trading with Colts to move up to get what turned out to be Darnold.
He may not have any players like Sheldon Richardson that he can trade away this summer in order to land a draft pick. However, he will have to make a package during the offseason that entices someone. The Jets definitely need to work their way back into the second round.
The pass rush off the edge is a problem, but so is the offensive line. If they can find their way back into the second round, they will need to use their first two picks on the offensive line.
You can see what the plan was early on. The Jets thought they were in win-now mode, and quickly scrambled to rebuild mode. They know it’s a passing league. So they began with the secondary and hoped to land a late round quarterback. They also tried (and failed) at rebuilding a pass rush.
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Now that they have their man at quarterback, it’s time to build around him, and it starts up front. They must protect the quarterback, because the weapons they have are enough.