New York Jets: Top priorities for this year’s draft – EWB Roundtable
By Ed Stein
This week’s rotating roundtable subject is football and more specifically the New York Jets. We asked our experts: What are the Jets top priorities for this year’s draft?
Last year the New York Jets were 4-12. That was poor enough to earn them the third overall pick in the 2019 draft. Before going over who to pick, we should have a quick review of a less than stellar 2018 season.
There was a point in the season when the Jets glass was half full. On October 14, they won a 42-34 shootout at Indianapolis to improve their record to 3-3 on the young season. Even in victory, the signs were there that bad times were coming.
Of their 42 points, seven came from the defense. Morris Claiborne opened the game with a pick six. Additionally, kicker Jason Myers was seven for seven on field goals. The offense only accounted for a pair of touchdowns.
From that point on Gang Green folded, they lost nine of their final 10 games en route to the worst record in the AFC. It could have gone a different way, after all, they lost six games by a touchdown or less. Unfortunately, four of those close defeats were in the last five games. That’s how competitive the National Football League is and why the margin for error is so slim.
They were bad in just about every offensive and defensive category that counts. Here are some numbers to back it up.
Offense – 258 downs (30th), 333 points (23rd), 1622 rushing yards (26th), 3165 passing yards (25th), 4787 total yards (29th), 32.3% third down conversions (29th).
Defense – 343 downs (24th), 441 points (29th), 2021 rushing yards (26th), 4065 passing yards (24th), 6086 total yards (25th).
In this draft, the Jets own all their picks except one. They traded away their second-round pick last year, as part of the deal to get Sam Darnold.