ESPN draft poohbah Mel Kiper Jr. is out with his first mock draft of the 2016 Mock Draft Season. And he has the Jets targeting one of their biggest areas of need right out of the chute. It's a big day, you guys.
Kiper deserves some credit here for being self-aware by acknowledging he's completely winging it at this point. He writes:
Kiper deserves some credit here for being self-aware by acknowledging he's completely winging it at this point. He writes:
"A few reminders at this (very) early stage in the game. For one, NFL personnel folks are still really early in their evaluations. Nobody has a draft board yet, and we still have postseason all-star games, combine testing, medicals and individual workouts to get through. Drafting for need isn't a great idea in most cases—GMs really do mean it most of the time when they say, 'We took the best player available'—and I'm especially leery of making need the big issue here. Every team has at least a dozen roster moves to make (and for some, twice that), and there's also free agency. 'Need' isn't a clear term yet. Lastly, there could still be an underclassmen or two who decides to jump into the draft."
Now that we're all clear on the fact that this is all a lot of informed hooey at this point—Mock Draft Preseason?—let's get to what Kiper's got cooking for the Jets with the No. 20 pick: Notre Dame outside linebacker Jaylon Smith, who tore his ACL on New Year's Day.
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Kiper's analysis is locked behind a paywall, but I've smuggled it out for you. He says of Smith and the Jets (emphasis mine):
By now, everyone knows that Smith suffered a knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl, and there's at least the possibility he won't play football in 2016. That said, I'm not exaggerating on the kid's behalf when I say he was arguably the best player in this entire draft. This front office will assess the risk, but it also has showed it likes to take the best player available, and Smith is an absolute monster if he's back -- a Pro Bowl-caliber talent even if he loses half a step. It's a fluid situation, but it's Mock 1.0, and I want to reflect his talent level.
Source: NJ
