Staring at a 2-8 record with a coach and general manager who could be fired and a season going nowhere, Jets fans have begun dreaming about next April’s NFL Draft.
The Jets look certain to end up with a top-10 pick, probably a top-5 pick and maybe even a top-2 pick. If there is any positive to take from this lousy season, it is that the Jets could wind up with one of the top quarterbacks in the draft.
“Here’s the good news for the Jets, you’ve got to stink a little to get a good rookie quarterback,” an executive with another team said. “With Oakland and Jacksonville not really needing one, it’s a silver lining for Jets fans taking a long-term view. You never concede things in this league, but it’s something Jets fans can focus on.”
The top two quarterbacks expected to be in this draft are Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s Jameis Winston. Both are underclassmen, but both are expected to leave school.
“I hesitate to say franchise quarterback, but there are two quarterbacks that project to be quarterbacks that you can build your organization around — Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said.
The Jets are unlikely to land the No. 1 pick with the Raiders at 0-9. The Jets are in contention for the second pick along with the Jaguars, Buccaneers and Titans. The belief around the league is the Raiders and Jaguars won’t be in the market for a quarterback after taking one last year. That would leave the Jets fighting off the Bucs and Titans for the two quarterbacks.
The Post spoke with NFL executives, scouts and analysts about Mariota and Winston. The consensus is no other quarterback will sneak into the conversation at the top of the draft this year.
People are split on who is the better quarterback, but everyone agrees who the bigger risk is.
“Off the field, it’s night and day,” one league executive said. “Mariota is a choirboy, quiet, a great teammate, etc. On the field, Mariota is more athletic with a better arm. Both are poised in pocket and can make plays moving around. Jamies makes a lot of careless throws, and his vision is not as good. I like Mariota better as a player, and with the intangibles, it’s not even a discussion.”
McShay said he currently has Mariota rated ahead of Winston, but mainly because of the off-field issues. Winston has been accused of sexual assault, caught shoplifting twice, had an incident where he was caught carrying a BB gun (to fire at squirrels, he said) and was suspended earlier this season for shouting an obscenity on Florida State’s campus.
“They are different quarterbacks,” McShay said. “It depends on what teams find out. The very obvious difference between the two is Marcus Mariota has exceptional character and off the field, there are no issues there. People who know him and are around him just rave about him in that regard.
“Jameis, obviously there is a lot of digging that has to be done into his background and some of the stuff — his maturity and the off-the-field issues are well documented. Is it psychological? Obviously, teams that are near the top are going to spend a lot of money trying to figure out why this pattern of behavior has continued.”
Mariota has the Ducks at 9-1 and ranked No. 2 in the CFP rankings. He has thrown for 29 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He is also elusive when he runs with the ball, rushing for eight touchdowns this year. The main question with Mariota is how he will fit into an NFL system. Teams may have to adopt something similar to the Oregon offense, an executive said.
“He has a chance to be a good player,” a talent evaluator for an NFL team said. “He is Kaepernick-esque. He’s a very clean player off the field with size, athletic ability and enough arm strength to succeed. Teams may need to blend their system with his skill set to have the ideal fit early on, but in time he has the size and physical tools and traits to operate from a traditional pocket setting. Like any spread quarterback, he will need time to evolve into that element. He’s a good athlete, a good kid and has mobility. His feet and movement are real pluses, so he can be a dual threat.”
Winston has the Seminoles at 9-0 and No. 3 in the CFP rankings a year after leading them to the national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy. No one questions his talent, but every team is concerned about his character.
“From a Jets perspective, if Jameis Winston was going through what he’s gone through in the last year in New York City or in the New York media market, can you imagine?” McShay said. “You’ve got to be damn sure that it’s a maturity thing and he’s learned his lesson and all this stuff is behind him.”
McShay said he has spoken with 12 teams and all 12 believe Winston’s draft stock will be negatively affected and he will drop in the draft, especially after all of the negative attention the off-field issues of NFL stars (think: Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson) have drawn in recent months.
“It’s a huge concern, but a team will overlook it and convince themselves he is OK,” a league executive said. “Especially since [Florida State coach] Jimbo [Fisher] loves him. I don’t think he will drop.”
Mariota or Winston is a decision Jets fans hope their team has to make, and one it cannot afford to be wrong on.