Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Official Jets podcast, The
Speaker 1: Draft Podcast, presented by Pepsi. Two days away from the
Speaker 1: NFL Draft, we caught up with Suth Palantonio from ESPN.
Speaker 1: He won't be at the facility unfortunately, like he is
Speaker 1: most years in the past. A good buddy of e
Speaker 1: A's over here. He a great professional, good friend, uh,
Speaker 1: and a hull of a reporter. You can watch South Pal.
Speaker 1: He's been doing this great work on ESPN, as he
Speaker 1: always is. But this is NFL Matchup Draft Special Part
Speaker 1: two actually comes out April, which is tonight, ten pm
Speaker 1: ESPN two. He said, a certain young quarterback by the
Speaker 1: name of Zack Wilson, who I think a lot of
Speaker 1: Jets fans I think is the future of their franchise,
Speaker 1: will be featured heavily on this episode. And with the
Speaker 1: draft being two days away, I think it's fair, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe talk not not necessarily mock draft, but it sure
Speaker 1: seems like Zach Wilson will be the pick for the
Speaker 1: New York Jets. If you're reading the tea leaves from
Speaker 1: the NFL draft analysts, Yeah, I think everybody thinks the
Speaker 1: Jets are headed in that direction, and Zack Wilson is.
Speaker 1: He's a supremely talented prospect who is coming off a
Speaker 1: fantastic season at b YU. Whereas I think last year,
Speaker 1: if we were having this conversation, maybe people would be
Speaker 1: talking about Zack Wilson is a flyer on Day three,
Speaker 1: maybe he's a fourth round pick, maybe he's a fifth
Speaker 1: round pick. Because the athletic skills were always there, right,
Speaker 1: and then he put it together last year with just
Speaker 1: with just an amazing season, and he has very unique
Speaker 1: skills that other people don't. Yeah, I feel like this
Speaker 1: is becoming a trend in the draft where there's a
Speaker 1: player that's maybe looked at as a Day three guy
Speaker 1: and he soars up the draft board. Let's go to
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen Baker Mayfield. Now, I think at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season he was viewed maybe a third
Speaker 1: round pick or so, and sure enough number one overall
Speaker 1: pick two thousand nineteen Joe Burrow. Yeah, I think I'm
Speaker 1: just think I'm saying that, right. I think my ears
Speaker 1: are not crossed up? Right? Two thousand play last season
Speaker 1: he was in Cincinnati, right, Okay, Well, here's drafts and
Speaker 1: then Zack Wilson two thousand twenty one puts it together
Speaker 1: soars up the draft boards. It's funny. We actually did
Speaker 1: a chat on Reddit this morning, right, and one of
Speaker 1: the questions, I think a couple of people were asking,
Speaker 1: what's happened to Fields here? Why is he falling? And
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think he's falling just as much as
Speaker 1: other people think very highly of other quarterbacks in this class,
Speaker 1: and Fields probably going to be in all likelihood, he
Speaker 1: will be a top ten pick himself. You're you're just
Speaker 1: the two thousand twenty one draft is going to be
Speaker 1: probably remember by what these quarterbacks do in ten years,
Speaker 1: because you're ultimately gonna have five quarterbacks probably going to
Speaker 1: top ten picks, right. And I don't think it would
Speaker 1: surprise a lot of people if let's just say to
Speaker 1: use justin Fields as an example, if he's a number
Speaker 1: three overall pick, I don't think it's surprised certain group
Speaker 1: of people if it was Matt Jones or Trey Lance either.
Speaker 1: So I think that that this is what makes the
Speaker 1: draft so great. Every year, you don't know what's gonna happen,
Speaker 1: and it's truly a mystery even for the people who
Speaker 1: are studying the draft from the beginning. Of the college
Speaker 1: football season. So I think you never say never is
Speaker 1: truly the like it's a saying that is used in
Speaker 1: common everyday life, but it could not be more epitomized
Speaker 1: than with the NFL Draft. So if me and you
Speaker 1: go to mccool's down the street, a popular ice cream
Speaker 1: joint here in Madison, okay, But if we go in
Speaker 1: there and we're looking at ice cream, you might like
Speaker 1: a flavor like a peanut butter chocolate chip, and I
Speaker 1: might go for Sherbet or were here or something I
Speaker 1: like orange Sherbert. Well you got a problem with it, No,
Speaker 1: I just it's not Oh yeah I do. I also
Speaker 1: have a young daughter and she likes fruit and she
Speaker 1: likes Herbert. Fair enough, when you said peanut butter chocola,
Speaker 1: that sounds pretty good. Yeah, So that's what I gave
Speaker 1: you though, when we just want here. But the point
Speaker 1: is that we got two different flavors, even though we
Speaker 1: went to the same place. And the point is what
Speaker 1: what's gonna work for you? What you know, we're talking
Speaker 1: about ice cream flavors, but four teams, what's us for
Speaker 1: your system? What also are the physical traits you're looking
Speaker 1: for in a player at that specific position, especially the
Speaker 1: quarterback spot. Right. I think really for the Jets, the
Speaker 1: intrigue comes after the number two pick because of your
Speaker 1: ice cream analogy. We don't know what types of flavors
Speaker 1: for each position the Jets wat and I think that's
Speaker 1: in like a typical year. You know, if this, if
Speaker 1: we're having this conversation next year, even we'd be like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, we think the Jets like this that receiver.
Speaker 1: If you look at what they did last year. Week,
Speaker 1: we have nothing to basis on. So before we talk
Speaker 1: about picks three and so on, let's hear from ESPN
Speaker 1: South Palestonio. Now it's a little different not having you
Speaker 1: in the building around the time of the draft. The
Speaker 1: first night of the draft, we were just talking off air,
Speaker 1: you said that, assuming the Jets are selecting a quarterback
Speaker 1: at two, this is your fourth quarterback selection for the
Speaker 1: New York Jets. Yes, I've covered all of them, going
Speaker 1: back to Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Sam Donald. This will
Speaker 1: be the fourth one, so hopefully they get it right
Speaker 1: this time. Uh So, we've missed you throughout the off
Speaker 1: season because we always catch up with you, whether it's
Speaker 1: the NFL combine, the owners meetings. Uh. Last year you
Speaker 1: worked the draft remotely for I think the first time
Speaker 1: in a quarter century, right, How different? How different was
Speaker 1: that for you? And what are the plans this year? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I miss being at the facility. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I've been at the Jets facility a lot with Todd
Speaker 1: Bowle's head coach, Rex Ryan head coach. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: I I go all the way back to being there
Speaker 1: at we View Bank Hall at Hofsh University with Bill Parcels.
Speaker 1: I've covered a lot of Jets and Eric Mangini, I've
Speaker 1: covered a lot of Jets first round picks over the
Speaker 1: years for ESPN. Always did it in person. Then the
Speaker 1: Jets have always treated me like one of their own.
Speaker 1: You know, I get the royal treatment whenever I go
Speaker 1: to Florham Park, whether it's from Bob of security or
Speaker 1: the front desk people, or the cafeteria people, or Mike
Speaker 1: Tannenbaum or the coaches. The pr staff over the years
Speaker 1: have always treated me great and really welcome ESPN. You know.
Speaker 1: And when you Eric, when you cover a draft and
Speaker 1: embedded with a team like that, you know, you're you
Speaker 1: really feel like you're part of the process. You get
Speaker 1: to talk to the coaches and the front office people,
Speaker 1: and you really get an opportunity to see the inner
Speaker 1: workings of what goes on with the football team, and
Speaker 1: you get excited about it, first of all. Second of all,
Speaker 1: you get to convey what you know inside information two
Speaker 1: fans around the world, but especially to New York Jet fans.
Speaker 1: And I don't have to remind you that I grew
Speaker 1: up a Jet fan on Long Island. I went to
Speaker 1: Sawanaka High School and used to take my bike with
Speaker 1: my brother Jimmy down to Jets practice at Hofstra all
Speaker 1: the time watch practice. So you know, obviously it was
Speaker 1: a huge thrill for me. Later in life, will to
Speaker 1: get paid to do it instead of, you know, being
Speaker 1: one of the kids along that days. It used to
Speaker 1: have a white picket fence around the I remember it
Speaker 1: like it was yesterday. They had a white picket fence
Speaker 1: around the field and you just rode your bike up
Speaker 1: and watch practice. It was the coolest thing in the world.
Speaker 1: That is awesome. Yeah, I always loved talking to you that.
Speaker 1: That is really something because, um, considering where you came
Speaker 1: from and where you are now, how proud are you
Speaker 1: of your career and what you've done in the National
Speaker 1: Football League, because you just talked about it. Um. People
Speaker 1: often say, hey, what do you most enjoy about being
Speaker 1: in the NFL? Are working specifically for the Jets, And
Speaker 1: for me, it's always been relationships. And you're one of
Speaker 1: the guys who I consider like extended Jets family because
Speaker 1: you've been here so much, and I do feel like
Speaker 1: the Jets have been family to me. You know, whether
Speaker 1: it was hanging out in Courtland with you for the
Speaker 1: summer at Cibo. You know, we would go to Dougs
Speaker 1: Fish Fry, played basketball together. It was fun to hang
Speaker 1: around with Rex and Mike t and you know, all
Speaker 1: the coaches and the players, and you know, I've I
Speaker 1: really you know, that was one of the most memorable
Speaker 1: summers I ever had as a reporter or a person
Speaker 1: in relationships. But you know, going going to Hempstead, going
Speaker 1: to Hofstow. We stopped it on Burdos to get a
Speaker 1: slice on Hempstead Avenue, I'm sorry, a new high Park road,
Speaker 1: and then then get on old Bison go down to
Speaker 1: Hempstead Avenue and go watch practice. And you know, that
Speaker 1: was the first football game I ever saw e a
Speaker 1: in person. Me and my brother and my friends. We
Speaker 1: took the train the Metro north to Yale Bowl and
Speaker 1: watched the Jets and the Giants that Joe name had
Speaker 1: played in that game. We had we had seats right
Speaker 1: on the edge of the field. If you know, if
Speaker 1: anybody knows around the Yale Bowl, it's it's literally a bowl.
Speaker 1: And we sat right in the front row in the
Speaker 1: end zone and we watched Joe Namath carved up the
Speaker 1: New York Giants in that game. You know, I've I've
Speaker 1: actually heard about the Yeale Bowl story from my grandmother
Speaker 1: and Sally. We've never met or played basketball, but hey,
Speaker 1: the reason why I'm bringing it up is because my
Speaker 1: dad grew up going to Jets Vans and he remembers
Speaker 1: the Yale Bowl clearly, and he told me about the
Speaker 1: Yel Bowl, and um, he said that somebody he remembers
Speaker 1: he has vivid memory leaving the Yelbowl and someone there
Speaker 1: was a fence that had people wanted to get through
Speaker 1: to get to their cars as a shortcuts, or someone
Speaker 1: brought out wire cutters like out of nowhere, sniff the
Speaker 1: fence and everyone just started funneling through there. So that's
Speaker 1: how I know the Yell Bowl, but rad Jet fans tradition. Man,
Speaker 1: you know, do whatever it takes. Yeah, whatever it takes
Speaker 1: you get in. You know what's interesting when you go
Speaker 1: back to that ye bow, you think, Okay, Joe name
Speaker 1: if they're still trying to find you know, the air
Speaker 1: apparent to Joe Willie and um, it's it comes full circle.
Speaker 1: It really does. Well. You know, we're gonna ask you
Speaker 1: about a couple of quarterback prospects, but first you mentioned
Speaker 1: playing hoops with e A. I'm just curious. What's the
Speaker 1: scouting report here? Let me tell you something. He is
Speaker 1: a strong young man. His solid as a rock. He listen,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna turned in June. Okay uh. And I remember
Speaker 1: getting beat up by him and eric I never complained.
Speaker 1: You would hit me and hit me hard. And he's
Speaker 1: got he packs a good inside foul on him when
Speaker 1: you're trying to And I'll tell you what on the
Speaker 1: other side of the coin, this guy can bring it.
Speaker 1: He's got a nice game. And when you need a
Speaker 1: dagg or three at the end, Salpell is gonna give
Speaker 1: it to you. Eight ball corner pocket the key, top
Speaker 1: of the key. I remember that game, Eric I was
Speaker 1: on your team and you. You You tossed it out
Speaker 1: to me and I hit. I hit a three at
Speaker 1: the top of the key right over Mr. T. Remember that.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what sale you know who you really?
Speaker 1: Who really got going when we're playing those games. Aeron Glenn,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, the competitive juices of a G. He
Speaker 1: was now the defensive coordinator with Detroit Lions, but obviously
Speaker 1: a long time cornerback with the New York Jets. At first,
Speaker 1: A G was kind of feeling his way out and
Speaker 1: you could see his athleticism. Then after a little bit,
Speaker 1: it was like he was playing the top receiver in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. He started hitting me and I
Speaker 1: he didn't think an old man was gonna hit him back.
Speaker 1: It got real competitive, real quick, and I remember you
Speaker 1: bringing me aside. He said, you know, that's a former
Speaker 1: NFL player there. You might want you might want to
Speaker 1: tone it down a little bit. And Seal was well equipped.
Speaker 1: Not only was he knocking him down, but after the game,
Speaker 1: like a good sport, he had his cooler and we
Speaker 1: had a couple of pops on the court like that.
Speaker 1: I like that. So, you know, South, how you mentioned
Speaker 1: you're gonna be home for this year's draft. But also
Speaker 1: this year you have the NFL Matchup Draft Special Part
Speaker 1: two is Tuesday, April PM on ESPN two. You have
Speaker 1: a quarterback that's gonna be in focus on that episode
Speaker 1: who I think a lot of Jets fans believe will
Speaker 1: be the future of their franchise and Jack will Pison.
Speaker 1: What are year thoughts on Zack Wilson and Zack Wilson
Speaker 1: specifically to the New York Jets. Well, I think Zack
Speaker 1: Wilson has the potential to be the next Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: I think there's no question about that. He's got all
Speaker 1: of those kinds of tools. He has incredible vision of
Speaker 1: the field, he has a very quick release, he can
Speaker 1: he's very accurate on the run. Uh. He is a
Speaker 1: creative player and he can really rip it. You know.
Speaker 1: I talked to Ron Jaworski about Zack Wilson, you know,
Speaker 1: because I'm not a scout of a quarterback necessarily, I
Speaker 1: did watch a little bit of film on him, but
Speaker 1: I watched a little bit of it with Ron Jaworski. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know who of course I'm very close friends with
Speaker 1: from on days at ESPN, and he is super high
Speaker 1: on Zack Wilson. You know um. The bottom line, though,
Speaker 1: is this for me, the biggest lesson from the twenty
Speaker 1: NFL season, which was remarkable and I was on the
Speaker 1: road for the entire time. The biggest lesson comes out
Speaker 1: of two places, one the Cincinnati Bengals and two the
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Bucks. Let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. They
Speaker 1: drafted a rookie quarterback and they didn't protect him. They
Speaker 1: put him into empty sets, they didn't run the ball
Speaker 1: well or often enough, and they left Joe Burrow out
Speaker 1: on an island. And they didn't teach Joe Burrow that
Speaker 1: at the pro game, you must get rid of the
Speaker 1: ball in two point five seconds or less. That doesn't
Speaker 1: matter how good your offensive line is or your protection packages.
Speaker 1: You can't hold up the rush in the NFL for
Speaker 1: more than really two and a half to three seconds.
Speaker 1: And a lot of college quarterbacks, especially young ones, especially
Speaker 1: first round picks, think they have to do it all
Speaker 1: and they hold onto the ball and want to make
Speaker 1: the best possible player the biggest play that's on the field.
Speaker 1: You can do that in college. You can't do that
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. And Burrow got decimated. It's
Speaker 1: sacked repeatedly wound up leaving this the season with a
Speaker 1: gruesome leg injury and Hill. Of course we hope be back,
Speaker 1: but they have to obviously fix their protection in the
Speaker 1: quickest way to fix your protection is not to really
Speaker 1: fix your offensive line per se, although that helps certainly,
Speaker 1: but it's to teach that young man and the offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator La Fleur that you have there is a smart
Speaker 1: guy and hopefully he's figured this out. You must protect
Speaker 1: the quarterback right now in the National Football League less
Speaker 1: than number two from the Bucks. The Tampa Bay Bucks
Speaker 1: protected Tom Brady in Super Bowl and he won the game.
Speaker 1: The Kansas City Chiefs could not protect Patrick Mahomes and
Speaker 1: they lost a forty three year old quarterback beat the
Speaker 1: reigning NFL m v P because one was protected and
Speaker 1: one was not. And Eric, look at the numbers that
Speaker 1: we got from ESPN Stats and information in and this
Speaker 1: is the key final point here in NFL defensive coordinators
Speaker 1: brought the blitz of the time. That's a five year high.
Speaker 1: The blitz is coming. It's coming at a high rate
Speaker 1: than an historically high rate. You must protect the quarterback,
Speaker 1: especially young ones, and the way to teach them to
Speaker 1: protect themselves is hut Hut ball is snapped one Mississippi
Speaker 1: to Mississippi, ball is out. That's the key. And I
Speaker 1: hope that Zach Wilson and La Fleur and the rest
Speaker 1: of that offensive coaching staff teach that to Wilson and
Speaker 1: get this ball, the ball out of that young man's
Speaker 1: hands as quickly as possible. You always bring the juice
Speaker 1: with the stats. Those are good numbers and uh, good
Speaker 1: points about both this is Andy Bengals and the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers and the other under the spectrum when you're
Speaker 1: in the film room with Jaws cell, how rare is
Speaker 1: that arm strength that you're seeing from Wilson Because people
Speaker 1: talk about how the ball just explodes off his hands.
Speaker 1: It's just he's got obviously a quick release. But uh,
Speaker 1: and I'm not talking about him throwing the ball seventy
Speaker 1: yards down the field, but him just getting it to
Speaker 1: spaces quicker than other people. There's no question that he
Speaker 1: has credible velocity on the ball. His spin rate is
Speaker 1: extraordinarily high. Uh. And he seems to be pretty accurate.
Speaker 1: You know, he's college accurate. Now I'll have to see
Speaker 1: if he's NFL accurate. Um, you know. And the reason
Speaker 1: why I used those numbers, Eric, is not because I'm
Speaker 1: an analytics guy. It's because it matches up with what
Speaker 1: happened in the NFL last season. Remember, the overall overriding
Speaker 1: number one lesson of was quarterback protection. Those quarterbacks that
Speaker 1: were not protected either got hurt or failed, and those
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that were protected. And you look, let's go back
Speaker 1: to the Bucks for a second. Byron left which and
Speaker 1: Bruce Arians changed the offense to a short passing game
Speaker 1: in the second half of the year. They used six
Speaker 1: offensive linemen at the highest percentage of any team in
Speaker 1: the NFL, and two tight end sets. They were determined
Speaker 1: to protect Brady, knowing that everybody and his brother was
Speaker 1: blitzing Brady off the bus. And so I think that's
Speaker 1: the way Brady survived and flourished in the second half
Speaker 1: of the season. It's certainly the way he went on
Speaker 1: the road and won three straight playoff games and then
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl because he was protected. Breezes wasn't,
Speaker 1: and Rogers wasn't, and Mahomes was not in Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Sal you've been here from Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Sam
Speaker 1: Donald and whoever that quarterback will be at number two
Speaker 1: and a lot of us think that it will be
Speaker 1: Zack Wilson. And when I say us, I mean Jets Nation.
Speaker 1: But I'm curious from your perspective, let's use Wilson as
Speaker 1: the example. From a kid coming from Provo, Utah to
Speaker 1: the bright lights of New York City. How do you
Speaker 1: think he will fare and what changes for a college
Speaker 1: kid going to the pros from wherever that may be,
Speaker 1: whether it's West Virginia or USC or any school in
Speaker 1: the country to New York City. It's a very good question.
Speaker 1: It's a hard one to answer, and I really don't
Speaker 1: want to compare Zack Wilson to Donald sanchezar Gino Smith
Speaker 1: because he's his own person and he's going to have
Speaker 1: to stand on his own. Just hearing him talk and
Speaker 1: knowing his family background, it sounds like to me that
Speaker 1: Zack Wilson will flourish in the moment, But you never know,
Speaker 1: because the bottom line is, you've got a two and
Speaker 1: eleven team that was lasting the league in points score,
Speaker 1: You've got a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: and you're basically starting over. And so what the team
Speaker 1: and the organization must do is relieve the pressure and
Speaker 1: make sure that it is spread evenly. And this is
Speaker 1: what I know about Robert Sala. I think Sala understands that,
Speaker 1: and that's one of the reasons why the Jets were
Speaker 1: so hot on hiring him. Sala has a big personality,
Speaker 1: who's going to set the tone and take the pressure
Speaker 1: off of this quarterback. I think that's super important. The
Speaker 1: more that Sala can absorb the pressure and the spotlight,
Speaker 1: the less it will be on Wilson at the beginning
Speaker 1: and allow Wilson to sort of incorporate himself into the
Speaker 1: National Football League. But there's two really important factors here.
Speaker 1: One is when you're starting a rookie quarterback in remember
Speaker 1: we're going to seventeen games. All rookies hit a wall
Speaker 1: because you know, for the most part, their season is
Speaker 1: over pretty much after Thanksgiving. Now you're playing an extra
Speaker 1: five six weeks of football. So they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: make sure that all across the roster on all NFL teams,
Speaker 1: but particularly those teams that are using rookies heavily like
Speaker 1: the Jets, will that you know, I hate to use
Speaker 1: this word this term, but load management will be crucial.
Speaker 1: You don't want to put too much on rookies in
Speaker 1: a seventeen game schedule. That's a very good point about
Speaker 1: the seventeen game schedule. That change is the equation everywhere.
Speaker 1: It absolutely does. You know, you gotta find sixth eric,
Speaker 1: you gotta find sixty seventy eight five snaps during the year,
Speaker 1: or you just take a guy off the field now
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, now on the fourth quarter of Europe.
Speaker 1: By twenty you're pulling your starters out. You're not letting
Speaker 1: them finish. You want to get them rests. You don't
Speaker 1: want them to get hurt in a meaningless situation. There's
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of that in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: and tangentially parenthetically, that's gonna affect gambling you watch and
Speaker 1: fantasy football on the surface, getting back to what you
Speaker 1: said about protecting and helping a young quarterback grow, about
Speaker 1: the offense you're gonna run and and and how you
Speaker 1: are ultimately going to help this guy succeed if it
Speaker 1: is indeed Wilson, this is the first time offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: in Mike la Fleur, but he comes up in the
Speaker 1: Shanahan system. Was with Kyle Shanahan not only San Francisco,
Speaker 1: but in Atlanta, do you like this system? Who obviously
Speaker 1: have his own imprint on it, because he's gonna be
Speaker 1: calling the shots, calling the place. But in terms of
Speaker 1: going back and looking what they did in San Francisco
Speaker 1: and in Atlanta, using a powerful run game, getting after
Speaker 1: people in the trenches, and then getting the quarterback out
Speaker 1: on the move, sometimes with the boots, and then doing
Speaker 1: some play action down the field. I do. I like
Speaker 1: it a lot. It's successful, it's proven to be successful
Speaker 1: at the highest levels. But you have to have the
Speaker 1: personnel to run it, and the quarterback's got to buy in,
Speaker 1: and um, you know that's gonna be a process that's
Speaker 1: going to take place as soon as they draft the quarterback.
Speaker 1: And I do agree that it will be Zack Wilson.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's a mystery. So you know, they
Speaker 1: have five picks in the top one hundred. Okay, they
Speaker 1: got to sixties six and eighties six. So with the
Speaker 1: second pick, they pick a quarterback. At twenty three, in
Speaker 1: my view, they should pick an offensive lineman. They need
Speaker 1: another young studs starting offensive lineman, and then with thirty
Speaker 1: four take a running back and if they like a
Speaker 1: running back that's sitting there earlier, than thirty four. Don't
Speaker 1: be afraid to use some of this draft capital that
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas has accumulated. They got twenty one picks over
Speaker 1: the next two drafts. If they're sitting there at thirty
Speaker 1: four e A and they've already got the offensive alignment,
Speaker 1: and they like another running back, a pass catching running
Speaker 1: back who can give the floor and Wilson options because
Speaker 1: you've got to have options to get the ball out quickly.
Speaker 1: That's what I would do, is I would move up
Speaker 1: and take a running back, or move up and take
Speaker 1: a tight end or a wide receiver. But if they
Speaker 1: can get you know, it reminds me of that draft
Speaker 1: where Pennington was in it, where you know you you
Speaker 1: could take three top flight players that could have you
Speaker 1: was Pennington, Abraham and Anthony wasn't there Anthon Anthony Back.
Speaker 1: There's a two thousand class the four aces, the four
Speaker 1: aces you had Pennington, John Abraham, Sean Alice, Anthony Back
Speaker 1: and so you know, you look at that draft, I
Speaker 1: mean that's the four aces, right, so you could get
Speaker 1: at least three aces. Uh. Here with this there's a
Speaker 1: lot of draft capital, and I do think again going
Speaker 1: back to the overall big picture theme of where this
Speaker 1: team is at two and eleven with a rookie head
Speaker 1: coach and a rookie quarterback probably starting week one. The
Speaker 1: idea is to line up and give that young quarterback
Speaker 1: quick options off the ball so that he if they're
Speaker 1: in a passing situation, he gets the ball out quickly.
Speaker 1: It's third and medium, third and six, third and seven,
Speaker 1: he can get the ball out quickly. Or if you're
Speaker 1: going play action, you know, um on second down or
Speaker 1: first down, play action. But if you're on second down
Speaker 1: and your second and short, now you have a running
Speaker 1: back who can run behind uh Beckton or another offensive
Speaker 1: lineman that you twin with him. But I think the
Speaker 1: key is ball distribution and options for a young quarterback
Speaker 1: so that he remains protected. And also, in the two
Speaker 1: thousand draft, what some people referred to as the fifth
Speaker 1: ace in the third round, not too bad of a
Speaker 1: receiver from the New York Jets. Talk talk about strong
Speaker 1: and that dude was strong. Yeah, yes he was, and
Speaker 1: he was pretty darn good player for the Jets. Up
Speaker 1: you know, you mentioned trading up and Joe Douglas last
Speaker 1: year obviously didn't have the same capital that he does
Speaker 1: entering not only this year's draft, but next year. So
Speaker 1: we saw some trading back. But I like what you
Speaker 1: said about trading up, and you know, do you think
Speaker 1: that that is a possibility for the Jets to use
Speaker 1: some of that capital and leap frog a couple of
Speaker 1: teams to get you know, let's just use the term
Speaker 1: we've been using another ace for the Jets. Well, I
Speaker 1: think this is Joe Douglas's draft win or lose. This
Speaker 1: is his legacy in the line, right. He made the
Speaker 1: big bet to stay at two and pick a quarterback.
Speaker 1: He probably could have auctioned off that pick for a
Speaker 1: motherload of picks, but they realized they didn't want to
Speaker 1: get into a money deal with Sam Donald, and so
Speaker 1: they're starting over a quarterback. I think it's smart in
Speaker 1: my view. I think Zack Wilson. This is me talking
Speaker 1: based on my reporting. I think Zach Wilson has a
Speaker 1: greater upside than Sam Donald at this point in his career.
Speaker 1: I did not see enough out of Sam Donald to
Speaker 1: tell me that in the end, who will be better
Speaker 1: than Zach Wilson. So I think it was the right
Speaker 1: move to make, for sure. But it's a big bet.
Speaker 1: Let's face it, it's a big bet for Joe Douglas
Speaker 1: and the organization. And you know, the fan base has
Speaker 1: been long suffering. Uh, you've got the Patriots on their heels,
Speaker 1: You've got the Bills rising, the Dolphins rising. This is
Speaker 1: the time to make you move right now. Great stuff
Speaker 1: from Sal. I've never met Sal, but he seems like
Speaker 1: a great guy. I've now met him virtually. I'm surprised
Speaker 1: you've never met him because you've been with us for
Speaker 1: five six years now. Yeah, but typically when he's here,
Speaker 1: you know, for the draft, and he's busy, and you know,
Speaker 1: you you catch up with him and I don't want
Speaker 1: to bother him, and so that next time, next time
Speaker 1: he's here. Yeah, he's he's a legend in this industry,
Speaker 1: I think. I mean, you look at his career. He's
Speaker 1: been in a ESPN for more than years. Well said,
Speaker 1: And I think that we do have to talk about
Speaker 1: pick twenty three and thirty four. You want to give
Speaker 1: names that you like, you want to give, you want
Speaker 1: to do, Uh, who you think is going to be
Speaker 1: the pick? Can you tell me whatever you want to do?
Speaker 1: I'm open for Well, I'm not avoiding the question. What
Speaker 1: I would say is it's hard for me to deliver
Speaker 1: a pick at twenty three when I don't know the
Speaker 1: group of players that are there. And that's the exercise
Speaker 1: that we are going to be doing on the Jets
Speaker 1: Draft Countdown final episode delivered by Duncan, so everybody can
Speaker 1: watch it on Jets platforms because myself, you, Anthony Back,
Speaker 1: Derrick Coleman are going to go through the exercise where
Speaker 1: you have five six players and it's up to us
Speaker 1: to pick a selection there. I've de zeroed in on
Speaker 1: a couple of things. Joe Douglas said he wants to
Speaker 1: surround his young quarterback with as much talent as possible.
Speaker 1: Douglas has also reiterated time and time again that he
Speaker 1: wants to have a fortress up front along the offensive line.
Speaker 1: He wants to be I have a lot of depth
Speaker 1: in talent and defensive line that it's big inside the trenches.
Speaker 1: But the three areas that pop out to me with
Speaker 1: this draft in the New York Jets, I'll just go
Speaker 1: there and say offensive line makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: Then on the other side of the ball, defensive line,
Speaker 1: specifically edge cornerback. I ink, I definitely agree with everything
Speaker 1: you said. One position that gets overlooked and We've said
Speaker 1: it multiple times on the podcast, and I'm gonna keep
Speaker 1: hitting this home is linebacker, not because of the draft,
Speaker 1: but because the Jets have only a handful of linebackers
Speaker 1: on the roster right now and switching from the four
Speaker 1: three to the three four. I think maybe that is
Speaker 1: the like if I were to ask you to power
Speaker 1: rank what you think, like the biggest needs are not
Speaker 1: necessarily who should be pick thirty four, But if you
Speaker 1: were to say one of the Jets or power rank
Speaker 1: the Jets biggest needs, I would think there's an argument
Speaker 1: to me made that one A or one B could
Speaker 1: be linebacker. And I think it's fair You're gonna add linebackers, right,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm just I'm not saying but that's my point
Speaker 1: on this is, I don't know we're gonna find out,
Speaker 1: to your point philosophically, where not only Joe Douglas stands,
Speaker 1: but the meshing of him with the Robert Slick coaching
Speaker 1: staff in their systems as far as picking players for
Speaker 1: those specific systems, and where is the value Now, could
Speaker 1: they take a quarterback linebacker? They are taking a quarterback early,
Speaker 1: could they take a linebacker? Early. Yes, I'd be surprised
Speaker 1: by it the first two or three packs. No, because
Speaker 1: that falls into the category of we're gonna do everything
Speaker 1: we can to help our young quarterback to succeed. And
Speaker 1: I think sometimes we get wrapped up into running backs
Speaker 1: and think of them. And we talked about this multiple
Speaker 1: times where I think people are like, oh, you're just
Speaker 1: gonna handle this guy at the ball. Well. The thing
Speaker 1: about et N specifically early in the draft is I
Speaker 1: think you would be a system fit. And talked to
Speaker 1: Dane Brugler about this, and it's also like adding an
Speaker 1: extra receiver for a young quarterback. Yeah, and you know,
Speaker 1: I know we both liked this player, but you look
Speaker 1: at some of the running backs later to one guy
Speaker 1: stands out. Kenneth Gainwell also offers that receiving threat. I
Speaker 1: think that there are so many different options, and I
Speaker 1: just feel silly because I feel like we've been saying
Speaker 1: this for weeks now, but there are so many options
Speaker 1: at twenty three and it's really all gonna shake out
Speaker 1: and you can move up. And we talked about it,
Speaker 1: if you like somebody who's starting to fall, and it
Speaker 1: could potentially happen because you're talking about the top time,
Speaker 1: but five quarterbacks going a couple of receivers at least
Speaker 1: and Kyle Pitts, so throw the gator out there. So
Speaker 1: so who who potentially, let me ask you this, who
Speaker 1: potentially could you see slide at little bit further down
Speaker 1: where you think, well that might ring a bell around
Speaker 1: here where maybe you'd consider going up, because I don't
Speaker 1: think you just go up to go up. Let's just
Speaker 1: put it that way to me. I think the guy
Speaker 1: that stands out is Elijah Frreck Tucker. Mike t talked
Speaker 1: about offensive line protecting the quarterback on our previous podcast,
Speaker 1: South Palontonio talked about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl because they protected Tom Brady and the Chiefs
Speaker 1: to not protect Patrick Mahomes. Elijah Vera Tucker is considered
Speaker 1: the best interior offensive lineman in this class. So if
Speaker 1: you're the Jets and you like Vera Tucker and he
Speaker 1: gets past the Giants out of eleven, I was just
Speaker 1: gonna ask you, what's the point here, because I don't
Speaker 1: think he's getting past fifteen. So I I heard today
Speaker 1: on a different podcast, actually, Dame Brugler's podcast with Lanzerline
Speaker 1: The over under seventeen and a half because and he
Speaker 1: was saying, well, who's that seventeen? He Las Vegas Raiders
Speaker 1: who lost Trent Brown, Gabe Jackson, and Rodney Hudson. So
Speaker 1: could they be in play for someone like Elijah Vera Tucker. Well,
Speaker 1: I think that if the Jets wanted to make that move,
Speaker 1: I think they definitely could. I think that's a guy
Speaker 1: that stands out. I also wanted to say that the prospect.
Speaker 1: I will say that any guy that is very good,
Speaker 1: the dominant a garden then as I has to play
Speaker 1: left tackle and does it better than anybody out there
Speaker 1: in the like for example, if J. C. Horne started
Speaker 1: falling into teams, I don't know if the Jets would
Speaker 1: make that call. Yeah, well one, I literally do not know.
Speaker 1: But to I don't know if it makes sense to
Speaker 1: me where you could sit there at twenty three still
Speaker 1: got a good corner or get a different defensive player.
Speaker 1: And I will say, in terms of trading up with
Speaker 1: the ammunition, the Jets have a thirty four pick, gap
Speaker 1: pick thirty four pick sixty six thirty two, excuse me,
Speaker 1: And maybe with that extra third round pick, the Jets
Speaker 1: might be inclined to get back up in the second round.
Speaker 1: If a player starts falling somewhere in the second round.
Speaker 1: I just think that that is also a possibility because
Speaker 1: the Jets have not only two thirds, but two fifths
Speaker 1: as well, and they got to six. Caleb Farley is
Speaker 1: a intriguing name to me because we've seen him all
Speaker 1: over the place. How did he check got medically? Not
Speaker 1: only here but for all the teams because he shoot,
Speaker 1: he's a guy who could go as highs eleven. He
Speaker 1: could drop out of the first round. We'll be sitting
Speaker 1: here on Friday and talking about Farley being in the
Speaker 1: second round with Phillips, right, Jalen Phillips, How am I end?
Speaker 1: What surprise? What it surprise you? Jalen Phillips went fifteen
Speaker 1: or fifty? I mean, obviously that would be medical. There
Speaker 1: would be medical concerns out of came to be true
Speaker 1: most likely in that scenario. Yeah, for some teams, that
Speaker 1: might be. I would be surprised if he went to
Speaker 1: the other side of that. I think it's closer to fifteen.
Speaker 1: I agree with that. I agree with that for sure.
Speaker 1: I think that there's so many different scenarios. I will
Speaker 1: say that the one thing I do want to do
Speaker 1: you know, a little fun game here as we wrap up,
Speaker 1: because this is the final episode before the draft. And actually, look,
Speaker 1: let's give a quick preview of what's to come after
Speaker 1: each night of the draft. Myself, E. A. Anthony Becks,
Speaker 1: and Eric Coleman will all break down the Jets selections
Speaker 1: after each day of the draft. So we'll be back
Speaker 1: Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday, and we're gonna do
Speaker 1: three podcasts and then we're gonna recap the whole thing,
Speaker 1: So you gotta stay tuned for that. But with that
Speaker 1: being said, I need to know because we can revisit
Speaker 1: this who do you think Friday Thursday night will be
Speaker 1: the Jets second and twenty three overall selections? Not necessarily
Speaker 1: who you like, but I figured you even want to
Speaker 1: play this game. No, I'll take two. You can take good. Good. Thanks,
Speaker 1: Zack Wilson, b Why you the Carters turned in? God?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying? Who do I think? That's?
Speaker 1: That's It's well same with twenty three. It's tough, right
Speaker 1: because we don't know the board, and and as much
Speaker 1: as we just discussed about trading up, a trade down
Speaker 1: might be the play too. If you head, if there's
Speaker 1: a drop off after a certain points, there's there's a
Speaker 1: few guys that go off, and then you have a
Speaker 1: big group of players together. And I always give the
Speaker 1: example of MEM's last year. But on the surface, initially
Speaker 1: that looks like it worked out really good for the Jets.
Speaker 1: So do you think I can give a name? Go ahead,
Speaker 1: Eileen Edge if it's defense, and I'm gonna say a
Speaker 1: zz Augillarry out of Georgia. Don't it make sense? Listen,
Speaker 1: defense alignement. You can never have enough bodies and he
Speaker 1: can never have enough past which he guys off the edge.
Speaker 1: Carl Lawson for a nice defensive line to Carl Lawson
Speaker 1: fourth round pick out an Auburn a few years back. Um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, Agilar might be the first edge off the
Speaker 1: board one And if the Jets took him in twenty three,
Speaker 1: he could be you know, he could be that guy
Speaker 1: or is it they forementioned Jalen Phillips or is it
Speaker 1: Gregory Russol were so might be a fine in the
Speaker 1: second round for somebody, say with Jason oh A if
Speaker 1: you really love his traits over his Yeah, that's the
Speaker 1: other thing that we got talking about again. We're gonna
Speaker 1: hammer that home is that these guys are gonna get
Speaker 1: here Rookie Minicamp and then they start a new stage
Speaker 1: and we can't think about any of these prospects as
Speaker 1: finished materials two years old. They're coming two the respective
Speaker 1: organizations are starting their career, and that's when the best
Speaker 1: coaching staffs take the players and they make them into
Speaker 1: something they envisioned when watching on tape, these guys that
Speaker 1: you're seeing on college film. It's good. It's just one
Speaker 1: piece of the puzzle. That's how we wrap up the
Speaker 1: last episode before the Draft again April Thursday night. We'll
Speaker 1: be here Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday. We're breaking down
Speaker 1: each round with Eric Coleman and Anthony Beck. That's all
Speaker 1: we have on this episode of the Official Jets Podcast,
Speaker 1: The Draft Podcast, presented by Pepsi