Actually according to Bowles, he will be a1 down linebacker, who they hope will grow into a 3 down player.
At 235 and 6' he will bounce right off of gronk.
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At 235 and 6' he will bounce right off of gronk.
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I love this pick. Lee is nasty, mean and fast. He is cocky and fast. He will start day 1 and stay on the field most plays. He's fast. How many times did we see Davis or Harris chasing down running backs coming out of the backfield? That's why Lee was taken. This is a great pick.
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This is quite true. And as good a defense as Rex had here, it was premised on a larger, and slower, front seven. When you are playing teams that utilize a lot of slot receivers and TEs, you need LBs who can cover.
I don't think this pick can fairly be judged either way right now. A lot depends on how the Jets use Lee. We always jump to wanting to rate draft picks before a single down is played, but this is a pick where it is absolutely 100% necessary to see where and how Lee plays before we can give any kind of grade.
Not going wild about the pick but not upset either. Jets need speed on defense and he has it. I was hoping for Kelly but he went two players earlier. This kid is young so he will probably end up in the 240's when he fills out. Reality is the Jets really don't play a 3-4 exclusively and many times have 4 defensive lineman on the field which will lend protection to Lee where he can maximize his speed.
Someone compared him to Aaron Maybin and Bruce Irvin. For the last two years of College Lee had 146 tackles and Maybin and Irvin had 61. Big difference. True they had more sacks but were less productive as a player.
Thinking positively he is very similar size to when the Panthers drafted Thomas Davis as a safety. He turned out pretty well for them.
Let's get a offensive lineman please in round two..
Someone compared him to Aaron Maybin and Bruce Irvin. For the last two years of College Lee had 146 tackles and Maybin and Irvin had 61. Big difference. True they had more sacks but were less productive as a player.
Thinking positively he is very similar size to when the Panthers drafted Thomas Davis as a safety. He turned out pretty well for them.
Let's get a offensive lineman please in round two..
Don't shoot the messenger:
Round 1 NFL draft grades: Broncos ace another test, Jets nearly flunk
Washington Post
No one has told the Jets, apparently, that this is a QB-centric league. They haven’t re-signed Ryan Fitzpatrick. They didn’t trade for Colin Kaepernick. They had their chance to draft Paxton Lynch and didn’t do it Thursday night. They still have time to fix their quarterback situation. But until they do, they don’t get the benefit of the doubt, even though there was nothing exactly wrong with the choice of Lee. There’s a reason why the Broncos, who got their QB Thursday night, win Super Bowls and the Jets don’t. Grade D+
Pro football focus
20. New York Jets: Darron Lee | Grade: C-
The Jets go with the athletic Lee who flies around the field, but still has work to do to become the coveted “3-down linebacker.” His athleticism does not translate directly to his coverage as he ranked 73rd among linebackers in 2015 after posting a negative grade in 2014. Lee can make plays against the run, using his speed to get to the ball when unblocked, but he’s not special enough in this area to warrant the first-round pick. His best work comes as a blitzer as he can defeat blocks and his +8.2 rush grade was among the best in the nation last year. Ultimately, for Lee to live up to his draft spot, he must get better in coverage.
Well someone likes it
SI
GRADE: B+
The Jets need more players with real movement skills, and with Myles Jack’s medical problems pulling him down the draft board, Lee may very well be the next-best option. He won’t impress anyone with his size (6' 1", 232 pounds), but remember that Jets coach Todd Bowles was in Arizona when Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington were redefining what linebackers could do. Now, Bowles has his own cover linebacker, who can tackle pretty well, rush a bit and cover everything from curl-flat to seam. From that perspective, it’s a good pick. Those who are unimpressed are just going to have to realize that the 230-pound linebacker is the wave of the future.
Round 1 NFL draft grades: Broncos ace another test, Jets nearly flunk
Washington Post
No one has told the Jets, apparently, that this is a QB-centric league. They haven’t re-signed Ryan Fitzpatrick. They didn’t trade for Colin Kaepernick. They had their chance to draft Paxton Lynch and didn’t do it Thursday night. They still have time to fix their quarterback situation. But until they do, they don’t get the benefit of the doubt, even though there was nothing exactly wrong with the choice of Lee. There’s a reason why the Broncos, who got their QB Thursday night, win Super Bowls and the Jets don’t. Grade D+
Pro football focus
20. New York Jets: Darron Lee | Grade: C-
The Jets go with the athletic Lee who flies around the field, but still has work to do to become the coveted “3-down linebacker.” His athleticism does not translate directly to his coverage as he ranked 73rd among linebackers in 2015 after posting a negative grade in 2014. Lee can make plays against the run, using his speed to get to the ball when unblocked, but he’s not special enough in this area to warrant the first-round pick. His best work comes as a blitzer as he can defeat blocks and his +8.2 rush grade was among the best in the nation last year. Ultimately, for Lee to live up to his draft spot, he must get better in coverage.
Well someone likes it
SI
GRADE: B+
The Jets need more players with real movement skills, and with Myles Jack’s medical problems pulling him down the draft board, Lee may very well be the next-best option. He won’t impress anyone with his size (6' 1", 232 pounds), but remember that Jets coach Todd Bowles was in Arizona when Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington were redefining what linebackers could do. Now, Bowles has his own cover linebacker, who can tackle pretty well, rush a bit and cover everything from curl-flat to seam. From that perspective, it’s a good pick. Those who are unimpressed are just going to have to realize that the 230-pound linebacker is the wave of the future.
I can't get worked up over the Lynch snub -- only time will tell if that was a shrewd move or not.
In regards to Lee, I HATED the pick when it was first announced, and only got more suicidal after reading posts here. But then WalterFootball gave the pick an "A" and Pete Prisco gave it a "B+" -- both are pretty unabashedly Jet-haters. Then on SNY Mike Westhoff said he LOVED the pick and predicted Lee would end up with more sacks than Bosa this year. I wouldn't call Westhoff a hater, but he DEFINITELY doesn't pull punches with his opinion. (Tony Pauline was a little less emphatic, but still supportive of the pick)
It amazes me the guy is polarizing as he is, but I guess we'll have to sit back and hope for the best . . .
I've heard that he has the frame to get up to 250 pounds. Also, I'm not so sure he's that much smaller than Erin Henderson.
BTW - I'm happy the Jets didn't draft Lynch. He's now looked upon positively because the Broncos drafted him and Elway's decisions are on fire. I guarantee if we trade for Kapernick our reviews would look 180 from if Denver traded for him. Just the way it is for the Jets.
I'm more concerned about PFF than the Washington Post. I respect PFF's analysis, whereas the Post has boiled the sport down to one position.
PFF was down on Lee before the draft, so this is consistent.
PFF was down on Lee before the draft, so this is consistent.
About 2" and 15 pounds smaller. He's the size of a safety. If he gains 15-20 more pounds, he's not going to run that 4.47 any more.
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If the Jets do not address QB, they will be bashed. But so will any QB they land.
Darron Lee coming into Ohio State was a coverage safety who moved to rush linebacker with ability to be a triple threat in coverage...
He will be eaten up in traffic (needs to add bulk & strength) but is a good tackling defensive player that has speed and good instincts...
I don't hate the pick but thought there were better prospects to fill certain needs on our roster...
He will be eaten up in traffic (needs to add bulk & strength) but is a good tackling defensive player that has speed and good instincts...
I don't hate the pick but thought there were better prospects to fill certain needs on our roster...
This. I wish the Jets had drafted a player from a real institution of higher learning. I had forgotten about Gholston (actually, therapy was needed to remove his memory from my mind) but remembered Chris Ward on the Jets and running back Bob Ferguson for the Packers. Both had played at OSU and were picked in the first round. Ward never learned to not take penalties in key situations. Ferguson had never been thrown for a loss in three years. But he failed because when he got to the NFL they learned he only had to learn three plays in college. And Gholston never learned to use his physical skills at a new position. What do the cases have in common?
They had speed strength and some football skills.
The reason they failed?
They were smart enough to play in the simplistic system of OSU, but not anywhere else.
We now have a tweener - too small to play inside and admittedly not an edge rusher. The Jets do need both. I fear they got neither.
Later
They had speed strength and some football skills.
The reason they failed?
They were smart enough to play in the simplistic system of OSU, but not anywhere else.
We now have a tweener - too small to play inside and admittedly not an edge rusher. The Jets do need both. I fear they got neither.
Later
i believe that's who one of the espn announcers compared him to in terms of players under bowles with arizona
for be it for me to defend o$u, but you do realize we drafted one heck of a player from there who is our starting center. he seems to know and understand the game.
Slept on it and I still don't like this pick. For one thing I hate drafting ILB's in the first round. Too me its like drafting a RB or an OG in the first round, unless he's a HOF caliber player (like Zeke Elliott who I thought was the best player in the draft and said so some weeks back), IMO its a dumb move.
The game is not about ILB's anymore, they are mere pawns on the Chess Board, now its about the franchise QB, the guys who protect the franchise QB's off the edges, the guys who attack the franchise QB's off the edges, the receivers the franchise QB throws too, and the Corners who cover those receivers.
Once upon a time the MLB's and ILB's controlled the game, now they are merely incidental, they do not impact the game in any significant way. IMO the first round is for drafting impact players.
That said, not only did we draft an ILB (Bowles own words) at #20 last night, we drafted an undersized 4-3 WILL OLB we plan on converting to 3-4 ILB, so on top of drafting an ILB, we drafted a project who is undersized for the base defense we run. In so many ways this pick made no earthly sense, thats why you will not find one reputable mock draft that projected Darron Lee to anything but base 4-3 teams like Atlanta at 17, which was a popular landing spot for Lee. There were others, but they were ALL 4-3 teams.
To be clear, I have no problem with the talent, I myself mocked him in the TOP 20, so I recognize the value, but the value IMO was for a 4-3 team that needed an OLB, not for a 3-4 team where he becomes an undersized ILB project. IMO that nullifies the value he carried as a 4-3 OLB prospect.
When grading front seven prospects, SCHEME MATTERS!!!!
When grading them for base 3-4 teams, SIZE MATTERS!!!!
Lastly, when drafting in the first round, POSITIONAL VALUE matters too.
IMO we whiffed on ALL THREE with this pick.
Granted we added terrific speed, but the player is miscast, too small and moving to a negligible position.
The game is not about ILB's anymore, they are mere pawns on the Chess Board, now its about the franchise QB, the guys who protect the franchise QB's off the edges, the guys who attack the franchise QB's off the edges, the receivers the franchise QB throws too, and the Corners who cover those receivers.
Once upon a time the MLB's and ILB's controlled the game, now they are merely incidental, they do not impact the game in any significant way. IMO the first round is for drafting impact players.
That said, not only did we draft an ILB (Bowles own words) at #20 last night, we drafted an undersized 4-3 WILL OLB we plan on converting to 3-4 ILB, so on top of drafting an ILB, we drafted a project who is undersized for the base defense we run. In so many ways this pick made no earthly sense, thats why you will not find one reputable mock draft that projected Darron Lee to anything but base 4-3 teams like Atlanta at 17, which was a popular landing spot for Lee. There were others, but they were ALL 4-3 teams.
To be clear, I have no problem with the talent, I myself mocked him in the TOP 20, so I recognize the value, but the value IMO was for a 4-3 team that needed an OLB, not for a 3-4 team where he becomes an undersized ILB project. IMO that nullifies the value he carried as a 4-3 OLB prospect.
When grading front seven prospects, SCHEME MATTERS!!!!
When grading them for base 3-4 teams, SIZE MATTERS!!!!
Lastly, when drafting in the first round, POSITIONAL VALUE matters too.
IMO we whiffed on ALL THREE with this pick.
Granted we added terrific speed, but the player is miscast, too small and moving to a negligible position.
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for too ling, we've talked about how slow and plodding our LBs are. and now we draft a guy with great athleticism and can play sideline-to-sideline and the arm chair coaches here think they know who is a better fit for bowles' system than bowles. people get too stuck on 3-4/4-3 terms. bowles runs multiple schemes and talks about how the nickle is almost his base defense. we just added a talented and productive fast LBer, and while i too grant he seems slightly undersized, i'm not gonna get hung up on a few pounds and an inch or 2. i'll judge the pick on how he does on the field, and it will be up to bowles and the coaches to put him in position to succeed.
M
Mainejet
Guest
Mac drafted a Safety that he plans on playing at LB in a 3-4 formation. God, you just can't make this sh*t up. They CLAIM he'll be covering Gronk. HA HA HA HA He'll get eaten alive. Mark my words, he will NEVEER be able to cover Gronk. NEVER.