Latest comments from Jets' GM may have tipped their hand when it comes to where they will go in the NFL draft

Last year the New York Jets had a choice between an offensive tackle and an elite pass-catching tight end when they were on the clock during the NFL Draft.  Get ready for round two. Speaking in Palm Beach, Florida ahead of the owners meetings, new Jets GM Darren Mougey addressed some of the moves the […]

Mike Antoniou
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Jets GM Darren Mougey
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Last year the New York Jets had a choice between an offensive tackle and an elite pass-catching tight end when they were on the clock during the NFL Draft.  Get ready for round two.

Speaking in Palm Beach, Florida ahead of the owners meetings, new Jets GM Darren Mougey addressed some of the moves the team has made so far in the offseason.  While I have not been a fan of almost any move he has made this year, there is still a long offseason to go.

While the headlines will surround the addition of Justin Fields and that Mougey confirmed he will be the starter going into training camp with veteran Tyrod Taylor “right on his heels”, what may be more telling in my eyes was what he had to say about offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker.

When the Jets entered free agency, they knew there was a possibility that they could lose starting right tackle Morgan Moses. And in the first hours of the legal tampering period, the New England Patriots came calling to Moses to the tune of a three-year $24 million contract that the Jets weren’t willing to match. The departure of Moses leaves a rather large hole along the Jets offensive line.

When the Jets signed Josh Myers from the Green Bay Packers to a one-year deal, my thought was they were going to solve their right tackle problem by bumping Alijah Vera-Tucker out to right tackle, a position he played and excelled at times in his career and move Tippmann or Myers to the vacant guard position. But Darren Mougey doesn’t seem to think that is going to be the case.

“[AVT] is a guard. He’s a guard, but we know his flexibility in the past and what he’s been able to do for us.”

Sounds like the Jets are very much still in the market for a right tackle. And based on the lack of talent in the free agent pool, that right tackle might come from early on in the draft.

Many talking heads seem to believe that the Jets are destined to take offensive tackle Armand Membou out of Missouri with the team’s first-round pick. I have been against the pick, not because of Membou’s talent, I think he is going to be a fantastic tackle in the NFL, but because they had other options and will again pass on an elite offensive weapon.

Last year the Jets took Olu Fashanu in the first round and passed on Brock Bowers. It was the right move at the time, but Bowers certainly grabbed all the headlines this year breaking rookie receiving records. The fact that the Jets may be taking Membou is a symptom of the team’s inability to develop talent. The Jets can’t find one offensive lineman that will not be a top 43 pick or a high-priced free agent? The Jets can’t develop one of their selections outside of the first two rounds to start along the offensive line and be an average player? Every single member of the offensive line needs to be ready-made out of the box or they aren’t worth it?

I’m all for investing in the offensive line, but at what point are you simply incompetent to do anything but take ready-made pieces and plug them in.

I am hoping the Jets are able to draft a player like Penn State’s Tyler Warren in the first round because I think he is a dynamic offensive mismatch the Jets have not had in my lifetime. Mougey, to his credit said he won’t be too concerned with positional value when he is on the clock.

Could the Jets still draft a Tyler Warren type on April 24th? Yes, but I think Mougey’s comments make it seem like the organization is primed to rinse and repeat last year’s plan. How did that work out last time?

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