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Ken Berger- Jets not high on QB Leinert


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Ken Berger

Jets Insider

Leinart? Jets might pass

Leinart? Jets might pass

Dec 22, 2005

December 22, 2005

By virtue of the ease of their schedule, and the ease by which they have lost far more games on the schedule than they've won, the Jets currently find themselves in a tie with the Saints for the third pick in the 2006 draft.

No, the Jets won't get half a player, as has been the case with a couple of their first-round picks under the current regime. (OK, Bryan Thomas has come around, but Santana Moss had to go to Washington to play like a first-round pick.)

Should the Jets and Saints remain in a tie, the NFL would resort to its tried and true solution for resolving conflict. And we're not talking arbitration. We're talking coin flip.

The Jets presumably will do more than flip a coin to decide which player to draft in the first round. With their most likely draft position being No. 2 or 3, some intriguing options are emerging.

Well, intriguing or troubling, depending on your point of view.

Imagine the backlash, the outrage, if the Jets wound up with the second pick and passed on USC quarterback Matt Leinart. Fans would be in their usual draft-day froth. The NFL might want to consider banning beer sales within 20 miles and two months of the event.

The fact is, there are strong indications that the Jets aren't high on Leinart, fearing that he could be a weak-armed, injury-prone clone of Chad Pennington. After losing two quarterbacks to season-ending injuries this season, the team is not eager to invite a scenario that could result in a repeat.

If they wind up with the first pick, they will take Reggie Bush. It's a no-brainer. But the second and third picks aren't as clear cut. And the Jets' reasons for shying away from Leinart, if that's what they do, make plenty of sense.

For one, they need multiple picks and a veteran quarterback to compete with Pennington more than they need another "quarterback of the future." Pennington, who will be 30 next season, has taught them that the future might never get here.

Right now, the Jets seem interested in hearing offers to trade down for another first-round pick, a move that might allow them to pluck immediate starters at two of these three positions before Mel Kiper has to reapply his gel: left tackle, running back and cornerback.

That's right, cornerback. If the Jets have more than one first-round pick, they might be able to give their offense a boost while also replacing one-year wonder Ty Law with prolific cornerback Jimmy Williams of Virginia Tech. J-Will is said to thrill coach Herman Edwards.

The left tackle on the Jets' radar - and everybody else's - is Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson of Freeport. As for running back, the team seems determined to ignore Chalk Talk's advice by bringing Curtis Martin back for one more year at a reduced salary. They apparently have researched the number of Super Bowl rings won by Chalk Talk: zero.

Few running backs in the history of football have been as special as Martin, and for that reason, the Jets are correct to believe they can find a serviceable, though decidedly non-Bush-like running mate for Curtis later in the draft.

They're also beginning to form the opinion that better options exist for their quarterback mess than Leinart. If they still believe that four months from now, they can expect to hear the loudest draft-day boos since the Eagles selected Donovan McNabb instead of Ricky Williams in 1999, then they can only hope this decision works out nearly as well.

Law named to Pro Bowl

Congratulations, Terry Bradway. One of the players you've acquired has finally made the Pro Bowl. Too bad Ty Law won't be around much longer to celebrate.

Law, 31, was named to his fifth Pro Bowl yesterday, the only Jet to be so honored. He became the Jets' first defensive back to make the Pro Bowl since Aaron Glenn in 1998.

Law said this Pro Bowl means as much to him as his first one with New England, because he overcame a serious foot injury and has six interceptions without the benefit of offseason workouts or training camp. But even Law admits that his chances of returning to the Jets next season, with an unpayable $11-million bonus, are virtually nonexistent.

"I have two games left as a New York Jet, and until I am not a New York Jet, I really can't answer those type of questions with any integrity," he said yesterday. "I would be a fool to sit here and tell you what no one knows for sure."

But Law sure sounded like a short-timer yesterday. When asked if he wants to play for the Jets next season, he said, "I had a great time here and yes, I would."

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I don't care if Jay Cutler throws for 450 yds with 5 TDs in the senior bowl, if we take him #3 I'll be pissed.

this time in 2004 people were projecting Phillip Rivers as a 3rd round pick. After the Senior Bowl (and about 1000 articles on the web and in print) he was a top 5 pick and no one disagreed.

all that being said the jets don't have the cap room to take a top 5 QB they hopefully end up with BRICK.

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That's right, cornerback. If the Jets have more than one first-round pick, they might be able to give their offense a boost while also replacing one-year wonder Ty Law with prolific cornerback Jimmy Williams of Virginia Tech. J-Will is said to thrill coach Herman Edwards.

The left tackle on the Jets' radar - and everybody else's - is Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson of Freeport. As for running back, the team seems determined to ignore Chalk Talk's advice by bringing Curtis Martin back for one more year at a reduced salary. They apparently have researched the number of Super Bowl rings won by Chalk Talk: zero.

Few running backs in the history of football have been as special as Martin, and for that reason, the Jets are correct to believe they can find a serviceable, though decidedly non-Bush-like running mate for Curtis later in the draft.

They want to draft ANOTHER ******* day one cornerback? How about letting Justin Miller and Derrick Strait start a few games, rather than waste everyone's time with Barrett and "our Pro Bowler". This team has a ridiculous amount of needs and we do not need to keep spending high draft picks on the same ******* positions every single year.

As for the Martin thing, he is DONE. Everyone knows that, except for Herm and Terry Bradway. He has been outperformed this season by our rookie sixth round pick! What more proof do these two morons need?

I actually had a tiny sliver of hope. Maybe with a draft pick that high, even Herm and Terry can't **** it up? WRONG! If these two wastes of sperm are retained, then this franchise is totally ****ed for the forseeable future. With a real head coach and GM, we might be a contender again in three years. Instead, let's let these idiots try to clean up the ginormous mess they've made and further flush this team down the sh*tter.

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