Report: Jets Inform Teams Of Desire To Move Up In 1st Round Of Draft
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Jets have a league-high 12 picks heading into Thursday night's NFL Draft.
Don't be surprised if they have a few less before they even make a selection.
According to a report in the Daily News, the Jets have informed several teams of their intention to move up from No. 18 in the first round, likely to get their hands on an impact wide receiver, though it's equally possible they could have their eyes on either a cornerback or tight end.
All three are positions of need for the Jets, who took a conservative approach to free agency mostly due to general manager John Idzik's system of assigning a monetary amount to every player and never deviating from what his board tells him. And even with that system, which has been panned by many NFL insiders as well as fans, Idzik still managed to sign arguably the top free agents on the market at their respective positions -- wide receiver Eric Decker, quarterback Michael Vick and running back Chris Johnson.
As far as his draft board goes, it appears Idzik has a list and he plans on crossing names off it in green pen -- even if it means abandoning his trademark deliberate ways.
If indeed the Jets plan to trade up in the first round they will likely do so to target one of the following players: wide receiver Mike Evans of Texas A&M, tight end Eric Ebron of North Carolina or corner Darqueze Dennard of Michigan State, considering they are among the top players available at their respective positions.
The issue in the case of Evans is just how far up is Idzik willing to go. Evans is thought of by many as a top 10 selection and to move into that kind of position the Jets will almost certainly be forced to trade multiple picks this year. To get even more aggressive, as in receiver Sammy Watkins' expected territory inside the top 5, the Jets will have to part with multiple picks this year and their No. 1 pick in 2015.
A more likely scenario involves the Jets trading up a few spots to secure the services of LSU receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who is considered by many the third-best prospect at the position behind Evans and Clemson's Watkins.
What the Jets have to their advantage is nine picks from Rounds 4-7, including two tradeable selections in the fourth. Those picks could be used to move up more than once, considering it's also not out of the realm that Idzik might try to jump back into the first round or move around in subsequent rounds in what is considered to be a very deep draft at most positions.
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