Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.One of the most common criticisms of draft grades is that you can't possibly judge a draft until the players selected have spent some time playing in the NFL. It's a common criticism, because it's absolutely true and it may never be more true of any team than it is of the 2009 New York Jets.
Whatever winds up at the bottom of this post, the Jets draft grade will either be an A+ or F. There's no middle ground when you do something as gutsy, as fraught with risk as trading up to the fifth pick to take a quarterback.
If Mark Sanchez turns out to be a top-flight quarterback, the Jets will come out of this draft looking like the smartest kids in the class. They spent the last two years building up their offensive line and their defense into formidable units, but still faced serious questions about the competence of their quarterbacks. Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff were set to compete, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought either one was going to turn into an elite signal caller.
As the Sanchez trade attests, the Jets were clearly in that camp. Under those circumstances, the trade made too much sense not to make. They essentially gave up a second-round pick to move up 12 places -- Kenyon Coleman, Abram Elam and Ratliff are the definition of expendable players -- which is a small price to pay for a franchise quarterback.
Sanchez may have had only 16 college starts and there may be questions about his arm strength, but the Jets saw what they wanted in a quarterback and went out and grabbed him. That's risky, to be sure, but it's a lot better than sitting back, crossing your fingers and hoping everything works out.
The trade that brought them running back Shonn Greene with the first pick of the third round was a risky one as well. The Jets gave up three picks to get Greene, picks that could have been used to address depth issues and the shaky wide receiver corps. Again, though, they saw a player they wanted and did what it took to get him. Did they give up too much? Only if Greene is a flop.
They could certainly use him. That shaky receiver corps and a rookie quarterback are going to need to lean on the ground game quite a bit. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are a formidable duo (assuming Jones doesn't sabotage his career with a holdout), but another weapon never hurt anybody in the past. Jones is probably done with the team after the '09 season as well, and Greene means that's a hole they have to spend less time and money filling down the road.
Assuming, of course, he works out. If he doesn't, and if Sanchez doesn't, the Jets have dealt themselves a serious blow. That's the risk of being bold.
Draft Picks
1 (5) Sanchez, QB, USC
3 (65) Greene, RB, Iowa
6 (193) Matthew Slauson, G, Nebraska
Grade: B+, for a pair of bold, brash bets.
