There were a few elite pass rushers in this draft but most went early. The Jets would have had to trade away a good portion of their picks to get one and were smart to stay where they were at the 30th pick.

They will have to use free agency to get more pass rush from the linebacker position but their first two picks of Wilkerson and Ellis go a long way toward bringing more pocket pressure from their front-3.

I also want to take a bow for a minute by identifying four of the Jets’ six selections this year. Muhammad Wilkerson, Kenrick Ellis, Bilal Powell and Greg McElroy were all players I liked heading into the process and were included in the Jetsfan.com “Favorite-50” prospects.

All four figure to be solid contributors with Wilkerson and Ellis projecting to be starters. I think these two are very talented and if they play to the level of that talent, they have a chance to be Pro Bowl players.

Wilkerson came out as a junior and had he stayed in school, had a good chance of being a top-10 pick in next year’s draft. Ellis has red flags to clear up; he tested positive for drugs and needs to show more maturity to be a successful pro but like Wilkerson, he is very talented and could be that rare nose tackle that has the size and athleticism to dominate.

When you compare the athleticism and upside both guys bring to the Jets’ defensive front to what the team has now, it is easy to get excited. Shaun Ellis and Sione Pouha are good players but Ellis is near the end of the line and Pouha is solid but does not have dominant skills.

Both Wilkerson and Kenrick Ellis play with more power and are better equipped to make big plays. Both will likely need time to develop but once they get used to the speed of the game and improve their technique, they should be impact players.

I was somewhat critical of the Bilal Powell pick in the fourth round, not because I do not like the player. I do. I just thought there was better value to be had at a higher position of need (safety) and believe the team reached a little with the pick.

But Powell’s selection tells me one thing: the Jets do not think Joe McKnight can be the complement to Shonn Greene like they expected. McKnight’s conditioning was terrible and he got more attention throwing up during mini camp than making an impression on the coaching staff with his play on the field.

He was beaten out by Danny Woodhead in training camp but being a fourth round pick, made the roster based on potential rather earning it. The team was worried that they did not have the depth they needed at the position and took Powell with a pick I thought should have been devoted to defense.

One of my favorite players in the draft, safety Robert Sands from West Virginia, was taken 8 picks later by the Bengals and could have helped the Jets’ deep patrol. But I believe Powell will be a good player.

He is a good one-cut runner who always gets positive yards and breaks a lot of tackles. He is shifty and has the excellent vision and balance to weave his way through a defense.

Powell will create some big plays and I think he is very underrated as a receiver. Once Tomlinson moves on, I could see Powell stepping in as the Jets’ primary third down back.

In the meantime, he will be a solid complement to Greene but could spell the end to McKnight’s career, especially if he does not get his act together and start showing the natural talent he possesses.

Jeremy Kerley is a guy I did not project to the Jets but he is a bonafide big play threat. He is not a burner but has the short-area quickness and change of direction skills you look for in a kick returner.

His selection was very telling for Brad Smith. A fan-favorite, Smith might be too expensive for the team to resign, especially considering the team’s priority in locking up Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes.

Taking Kerley was smart on their part and moving up eight picks in the 5th round to secure him made sense. They traded their sixth round pick in the process but to get a player with Kerley’s ability in the fifth round is a coup in and of itself.

I like him a lot and think he will make an immediate impact as a returner. I also think he will get reps as a slot receiver. He just has to expand his repertoire of routes.
He ran only screens and drag routes at TCU and will need to learn the whole route tree with the Jets.

But I am really excited about hid potential as a kick returner. He can return both kicks and punts and the thought of him working in a Mike Westhoff system has me believing he will be yet another premiere returner to develop in this system.

Both Leon Washington and Brad Smith thrived under Westhoff’s and I expect Kerley to do the same. Westhoff gets the most of out his blockers and his units regularly create seams, making it easy for instinctive playmakers like Kerley to create big plays.

I would love for the Jets to keep Smith but the financial constraints make it unlikely and having Kerley as plan B will certainly cushion the blow.

With their first of two seventh round picks, the Jets selected Alabama QB, Greg McElroy, one of my favorite players in this draft. He lacks the big-time arm and mobility to be a starter but has such impressive intangibles that it is hard to imagine him not being successful in the NFL.

He is extremely smart and should digest the playbook quickly. That will give him a huge head start as he competes with the other back ups.

The ideal scenario for the Jets would be to have Brunell as the emergency back up should Sanchez go down. He would also be the elder statesman who continues to mentor Sanchez and now he could provide the same guidance to McElroy.

McElroy would be the third stringer and should be able to take over as the #2 a year from now. The Jets’ other back ups, Clemens, Ainge and O’Connell are all on the way out for various reasons and McElroy will stabilize a corps that looked shaky just a few days ago.

The Jets‘ second 7th rounder, Scotty McKnight, is a hard worker with excellent hands. He is a high-character player who has better speed than most think but he is more quick than fast and while having a shot as a slot-receiver, will need to impress on special teams in order to make the team.

If I had to grade the Jets‘ draft, I would give them a B+. They did not address the linebacker position, which was a top need coming in but I believe they were limited in doing so with where they were selecting.

At the bottom of the first round, there was not a player of that type who brought sufficient value. Instead they filled another position of need (DE) and got solid value with that pick.

Wilkerson was projected to go in the first 15-20 picks and the fact that he was still there at pick 30 shows the unpredictable nature of the draft and highlights the extent to which teams will go to draft a quarterback.

Players like Jake Locker and Christian Ponder were seriously over-drafted and when combined with four to five other reaches in the first round, made it easy for stronger players like Wilkerson to fall to the Jets.

To remain a good team, the Jets will have to make the most of their first round picks when they pick at the bottom and I believe they did so with Wilkerson. Teams like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and New England have made a living out of picking near the bottom and the Jets must continue to do the same if they want to stay on top.

With Kenrick Ellis, everything will come down to his character. Will he straighten out and stay out of trouble? Or will he be an immature, underachiever?

The key will be how the organization supports him. He is not a bad kid, just misguided. With the proper role models and support system, he can thrive.

I like the way the Jets have handled the situation so far. They have a young guy in Marcus Dixon whom they like a lot who can serve as a big brother to Ellis and help him transition to the pro game.

I thought the Jets‘ draft would be heavy on defense but after taking two defenders early, they went after positions on offense that filled more urgent needs. I thought they would come away with a safety and maybe an OLB but it was not to be.

Concerns about Joe McKnight and Brad Smith’s potential departure led the team to draft more on need in rounds four and five. In the seventh, they selected a quarterback to address a need area as well.

Ainge and Clemens are not expected back and McElroy should help stabilize the team’s depth at this important position. McElroy was the only QB I had on my board for the Jets and by taking him, they now have their back up quarterback for the next 3-4 years.

The Jets did an excellent job in this year’s draft. They have two powerful, frontline players for their defensive line, a good complimentary back to spell Shonn Greene, a very good kick returner and hopefully their back up QB for years to come.

Nice job by Mike Tannenbaum, Terry Bradway, Joey Clinkscales and the whole scouting department in identifying players who fit their schemes while also getting solid value from their picks.

Aside from Vernon Gholston who, by the way, was a player I and many other draft analysts liked, the Jets’ have brought in very strong talent the last five years. This scouting department and front office is going a long way toward erasing the draft day embarrassments that plagued the franchise through the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s.

We will have to wait and see how this class does but if they play like I think they can, they will be another strong group brought in during the Tannenbaum regime. When you look up and down this roster, you see talent that stacks up against any in the NFL.

Kudos to Tannenbaum and company. This was a solid draft and if they ever get a free agency period going, I am sure there will be at least a couple of other significant signings to improve the overall talent level even more.

All we need now is an agreement on the CBA and there might actually be a season.


Written by Alan Levin