Yes, I know, Mel Kiper loves Leonard Williams more than life itself. In fact, the rumor was that the draft guru considered swapping his trademark pompadour for an afro for Thursday night’s broadcast as an homage to the defensive lineman.
Williams was the top-ranked player on Kiper’s draft board, as anyone who’s been watching draft coverage over the past few weeks has heard at least 12,000 times, and so new Jets GM Mike Maccagnan appears to have gotten solid value out of the sixth overall pick.
But while Kiper will soon be retreating back to his draft cave until he emerges again next spring, Gang Green fans are still here -- with a team that won only four games last year, yet decided the best course of action with their first-round pick was to add depth to a defensive line that’s one of their few strong points.
By all accounts, Williams is expected to be a great pro, and even if he doesn’t jump out on film -- granted, it’s much more mesmerizing to watch a fleet-footed pass-rusher than a 300-pound stalwart whose best asset is occupying two blockers -- I’ll defer to those who’ve watched him play a heck of a lot more than I have.
But you don’t pick sixth in the draft unless you’ve got a lot of holes, and the Jets didn’t fill an important one with the selection of Williams. Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson -- arguably two of the Jets’ three top players last year (along with Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold) -- are both very similar to Williams: versatile, athletic DLs who can basically man any spot on the defense’s three-man front. Wilkerson is 25. Richardson is 24. And 350-pound Damon Harrison, who was solid while manning the middle last season, is 26.
So, basically, Maccagnan was drafting for depth -- in a spot where Gang Green was in dire need of a game-changer.
The Jets’ 3-4 base D cries out for outside ‘backers who can rush the passer, something the team sorely lacked in 2014. Calvin Pace, while dependable, just got his AARP card, and Quinton Coples hasn’t been anything resembling an impact player since being drafted as a mid-first round pick three years ago. Yet Pace and Coples are still at the top of the team’s depth chart.
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On offense, meanwhile, the Jets need … everything. A big-play receiver to stretch the field. A young lineman to buttress that aging and not-that-effective unit. Oh yeah, a franchise quarterback.
Trading up to get Marcus Mariota appeared unlikely, given how sold Tennessee appeared to be on the Oregon QB, apparently rejecting an offer from Chip Kelly that made the Herschel Walker haul appear modest. But how about trading down, and getting a pass-rushing LB like Kentucky’s Bud Dupree or Missouri’s Shane Ray, along with additional picks to address other needs?
Drafting for depth is great -- if you’re a deep team. If the Jets were that, they wouldn’t be drafting so high.
