Season grades for all 31 1st round picks

[Jet Life]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-how-every-2016-first-round-pick-has-played-this-season/?utm_content=buffer9d1af&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl

20. Darron Lee, LB, Jets (Ohio State)

Snaps: 593

PFF overall grade: 38.8

Darron Lee has all the athleticism and measurables in the world, but it’s looking less and less likely that there is a football player operating the controls. He is the lowest-graded rookie linebacker in the league and has allowed a passer rating of 132.9 when thrown at in coverage. In fact, the only area PFF measures that Lee has graded well in is discipline, thanks to just two penalties on the season.

 

Darron Lee ranks 2nd to last excluding injured players and Treadwell who hasn't played. While its obvious PFF isn't the ultimate way to judge a player its worth noting how bad hes been. I lose more faith in Macc every day ! Change must come !

[Joe W. Namath]

Lowst graded lb in the league.  Hahahahaha.

Classic MacCagnan.

[rbstern]

I don't put a lot of faith in those reports.  I've watched most of the Falcons games,.  Keanu Neal has missed a lot more than the 5 tackles they reported.  He's been inconsistent in both coverage and tackling.  Definitely flashes big play capability, but I saw him go for highlight reel hits in several critical situations, missed, and in at least one case, it cost the Falcons a game.  Think he will be a good player, but they were awfully kind in how they graded him.

[Gen X Jet]

Lee stinks.  A poor man's Jon Vilma in a 3-4 base.  What was the GM thinking?

[munchmemory]

Geez is that frightening.  Just wow.

[Pointdexter]

2nd worst grade among first round picks. Tell me again what a genius move it was taking Lee.

This draft is looking Idzik level bad. I'm not sure I have any faith left in Macc.  In a draft loaded with OL, on a team needing both an upgrade and youth infusion at the position, Macc (just like Idzik with WR draft of 2014) completely chokes. 

[UnitedWhofans]

1 minute ago, Pointdexter said:

2nd worst grade among first round picks. Tell me again what a genius move it was taking Lee.

This draft is looking Idzik level bad. I'm not sure I have any faith left in Macc.  In a draft loaded with OL, on a team needing both an upgrade and youth infusion at the position, Macc (just like Idzik with WR draft of 2014) completely chokes. 

Not even close. I do agree that Lee needs to work on his coverage skills. But I do like his effort and his ability to tackle despite his small size. I also wonder if he is better off as an OLB instead of an ILB.

It's not IDzik level bad because most of the players are still here and playing.

[Jack Straw]

I think a poor man's Jonathan Vilma is appropriate. Like many have said on here prior to me, drafting 225 linebackers in the first round isn't good business.

[UnitedWhofans]

Just now, Jack Straw said:

I think a poor man's Jonathan Vilma is appropriate. Like many have said on here prior to me, drafting 225 linebackers in the first round isn't good business.

Here's my question. If drafting linebackers in the first round is bad business, why are they usually projected into the first round.

Same question I have with Jamal Adams this year. He is a safety, which people want to avoid in the top ten usually. But he is projected into the top ten. So what's the deal?

[UnitedWhofans]

IMO Lee has been the 3rd or 4th best rookie linebacker this year. The best being Deion Jones in Atlanta.

BTW, another thought came to my mind. What are the grades for the people drafted after him?

Vernon Butler and Kenny Clark are DTs

Joshua Garnett is a RG which we don't need.

Lynch would have been roasted here.

The only one which you can make an argument for is CB Artie Burns.

 

[kevinc855]

I think Lee is OK, and will get better but will never be a STAR. Hopefully continue to develop into a solid starter. ALOT to clean up though.

[C Mart]

41 minutes ago, Jet Life said:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-how-every-2016-first-round-pick-has-played-this-season/?utm_content=buffer9d1af&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl

20. Darron Lee, LB, Jets (Ohio State)

Snaps: 593

PFF overall grade: 38.8

Darron Lee has all the athleticism and measurables in the world, but it’s looking less and less likely that there is a football player operating the controls. He is the lowest-graded rookie linebacker in the league and has allowed a passer rating of 132.9 when thrown at in coverage. In fact, the only area PFF measures that Lee has graded well in is discipline, thanks to just two penalties on the season.

 

Darron Lee ranks 2nd to last excluding injured players and Treadwell who hasn't played. While its obvious PFF isn't the ultimate way to judge a player its worth noting how bad hes been. I lose more faith in Macc every day ! Change must come !

Again. He just turned 22 yrs old, came out early and has not been playing LB as long as some other rookies. He is also displaying leadership ability which this team sorely needs

Can we all just slow down and wait a couple of yrs before judging every rookie / 2nd year player.

 

Lee played in two games as a true freshman in 2013, before suffering an injury which caused him to receive a medical redshirt. Prior to his redshirt freshman season in 2014, Lee switched to linebacker and became a starter.He was named the Defensive MVP of the 2015 Sugar Bowl after he recorded seven tackles and two sacks

On January 2, 2016, Lee announced via Twitter that he was entering the 2016 NFL Draft.

[JustInFudge]

He's a spectator.  

[bostonmajet]

15 minutes ago, UnitedWhofans said:

It's not IDzik level bad because most of the players are still in the league.

Fixed

[Jack Straw]

23 minutes ago, UnitedWhofans said:

Here's my question. If drafting linebackers in the first round is bad business, why are they usually projected into the first round.

Same question I have with Jamal Adams this year. He is a safety, which people want to avoid in the top ten usually. But he is projected into the top ten. So what's the deal?

I don't think drafting linebackers in round 1 is always bad business; however, drafting 225lb linebackers in round 1 is highly questionable, at best. There are a million guys in rounds 3-7 who can run in the 4.5 - 4.6 range at 225lbs. Darron Lee is basically a pumped up safety without the coverage skills. Why take him in the 1st round when we haven't had an edge rusher since John Abraham? 

The issue with drafting middle linebackers, particularly for teams that run a 3-4, is that they're non-premium positions. OLB, CB, and even pass-rushing one-gap DE's (Wilkerson/Richardson/Leo), are more of a priority to the foundation of a 3-4 defense than a MLB. I dislike guys like Calvin Pryor for the same reason; safeties, for all intents and purposes, is a non-premium position. Using premium picks for non-premium positions, in a general sense, isn't good business.

Now, all of this goes out the window if you think someone is a once in ten years type player (Ray Lewis, Earl Thomas, Eric Berry, Troy Polamolu, etc), but for the most part, committing top draft picks towards players who have obvious flaws (Darron Lee: size; Calvin Pryor: coverage) and who play non-premium positions is pretty silly.

 

[Mecca]

We're a 4-3 talent team playing a 3-4. It's that f'in simple. Let me see Pryor and Lee and OLB in a 4-3 with our DLine. 

 

Idiot Bowles 

[ScarletKnight89]

Lee's been terrible. The only time I see him on the field is when a Tight End is beating him.

He's got a lot of potential. But his rookie season has been a disappointment.

[CrazyCarl40]

7 minutes ago, Mecca said:

We're a 4-3 talent team playing a 3-4. It's that f'in simple. Let me see Pryor and Lee and OLB in a 4-3 with our DLine. 

Idiot Bowles 

Bowles is an idiot because Macc is getting him players ill equipped for his system? Really?

[dbatesman]

47 minutes ago, UnitedWhofans said:

Here's my question. If drafting linebackers in the first round is bad business, why are they usually projected into the first round.

Same question I have with Jamal Adams this year. He is a safety, which people want to avoid in the top ten usually. But he is projected into the top ten. So what's the deal?

This post is so stupid, and in so many different ways, that I'm legitimately having trouble coming up with a response to it. Checkmate, UnitedWhofans.

[Jetsfan80]

16 minutes ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

Bowles is an idiot because Macc is getting him players ill equipped for his system? Really?

Yes.  The GM isn't supposed to cater to the HC like that.  It's shades of Tannenbaum-Rex.  It was very possible Bowles could have gotten fired this year, with Macc sticking around.  Yet Macc would still get graded for the Darron Lee pick, regardless of what new system was being run by the next HC.  The GM must supersede the HC if he feels a better player is there.  HC's don't spend all year watching college tape.  The scouts who work for the GM do. 

[Matt39]

Convert him to OLB and see if he can rush from the edge

[CrazyCarl40]

4 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Yes.  The GM isn't supposed to cater to the HC like that.  It's shades of Tannenbaum-Rex.  It was very possible Bowles could have gotten fired this year, with Macc sticking around.  Yet Macc would still get graded for the Darron Lee pick, regardless of what new system was being run by the next HC.  The GM must supersede the HC if he feels a better player is there.  HC's don't spend all year watching college tape.  The scouts who work for the GM do. 

Shouldn't there be some kind of collaboration between the two? Seems like just good football sense. 

[C Mart]

So now we have people saying Mcc & Bowles aren't on the same page regarding a draft pick, let alone a 1st round pick and a D player at that..

Can't make this stuff up..Really can't.

 

“We’re quite excited about what he brings to the organization in terms of his ability as a player, but we also like him from a character standpoint, too, in terms of the work we did on him,” Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan said.

The Jets like Lee’s skill set and the fact he is a young player. He left Ohio State after his redshirt sophomore season and is only 21. Lee had 44 tackles and four sacks last season after having 7.5 as a freshman.

The knock on Lee is that he is weak against the run because he is small at 6-foot-1, 232 pounds. Jets coach Todd Bowles said he is not concerned about Lee’s run-stopping, though, and is comfortable with him at his current weight. Bowles said initially Lee would back up Erin Henderson and come in against the pass, but the Jets believe he will eventually play on every down.

“He can play as a nickel [linebacker] right now,” Bowles said. “He can grow into a three-down backer as he goes forward. He’s going to make us a lot faster and we can do a lot of things with him. He’s a very good pressure guy, he’s a very good cover guy and he runs sideline to sideline.”

http://nypost.com/2016/04/28/jets-pick-ohio-state-lineback-darron-lee/

[Jetsfan80]

6 minutes ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

Shouldn't there be some kind of collaboration between the two? Seems like just good football sense. 

Some, but 1st round picks are gold in this league.  When the team reaches for a clear need-based selection, that means one of 2 things:  1) The GM and HC collaborated to the point where the HC got his way; 2) The GM doesn't know what he's doing, and convinced himself that was really the BAP that also filled a need.

Neither scenario is good.  The GM needs to be able to shop for the groceries and get the best player on the board.  With so many quality offensive linemen in this draft, I find it extremely hard to believe an undersized LB at a luxury position was the BAP.  We could have taken Su'a Cravens a round later if that really was such an important type of player to Macc/Bowles. 

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, C Mart said:

So now we have people saying Mcc & Bowles aren't on the same page regarding a draft pick, let alone a 1st round pick and a D player at that..

Can't make this stuff up..Really can't.

Not what we're saying at all.  What we ARE saying is that at least one of the 2 is an idiot, if not both of them. 

[C Mart]

1 minute ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Not what we're saying at all.  What we ARE saying is that at least one of the 2 is an idiot, if not both of them. 

Because Lee isn't in the HOF after his rookie season?

[Jack Straw]

13 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

Convert him to OLB and see if he can rush from the edge

I could see Lee playing weakside linebacker in a Tampa 2 style defense. Too bad it's not 2001 anymore. 

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, C Mart said:

Because Lee isn't in the HOF after his rookie season?

No, because when you take a player at a luxury position, he had better end up elite for the pick to make sense.  It's possible Lee ends up a great one, but the margin for error with a pick is so small, that it has to be a bad choice both in foresight AND hindsight.  People were critiquing it for that very reason when the pick was made.  Even a great defensive player at the LB/S hybrid spot wouldn't do more for this team than a solid long-term LT/RT would. 

[Jetsfan80]

Imagine if we took a kicker in round 1.  Even if that kicker ended up the best kicker of all-time....would that make it a good pick?  Of course not.  That's what we're talking about here:  Asset allocation. 

[Pointdexter]

3 minutes ago, C Mart said:

Because Lee isn't in the HOF after his rookie season?

No, because according to PFF he was the 2nd worst pick out of anyone they graded in the first round.

That's awful and the opposite of encouraging. 

Making it worse is the fact that we ignored glaring weaknesses at premium positions for a player at a non-impact position. 

Making it worse from there, Macc parlayed his excellent draft by selecting a QB who, by many reports, may be too damaged to ever play in this league.

Seriously, just awful. 

[CrazyCarl40]

18 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Some, but 1st round picks are gold in this league.  When the team reaches for a clear need-based selection, that means one of 2 things:  1) The GM and HC collaborated to the point where the HC got his way; 2) The GM doesn't know what he's doing, and convinced himself that was really the BAP that also filled a need.

Neither scenario is good.  The GM needs to be able to shop for the groceries and get the best player on the board.  With so many quality offensive linemen in this draft, I find it extremely hard to believe an undersized LB at a luxury position was the BAP.  We could have taken Su'a Cravens a round later if that really was such an important type of player to Macc/Bowles. 

I meant overall, not just the Lee pick but I understand your point. Specifically I'm looking at the secondary and the line when it comes to them not being on the same page. 

[C Mart]

4 minutes ago, Pointdexter said:

No, because according to PFF he was the 2nd worst pick out of anyone they graded in the first round.

That's awful and the opposite of encouraging. 

Making it worse is the fact that we ignored glaring weaknesses at premium positions for a player at a non-impact position. 

Making it worse from there, Macc parlayed his excellent draft by selecting a QB who, by many reports, may be too damaged to ever play in this league.

Seriously, just awful. 

Yeah no 21 year old rookie has ever improved. Cut them all now. Their careers are over

[Jetsfan80]

Seriously.  Would anyone be complaining nearly as much if we'd went with either Paxton Lynch or an OT in round 1 and Cravens in rd 2?  Looks a helluva lot better than Lee/Hackenberg.  All of our GM's in the last 20 years simply overthink things too much, and it sucks.  Just make the obvious choice for once. 

[kelly]

check back in about a year.. or so.

 

it's early yet   

[C Mart]

Just now, Jetsfan80 said:

Seriously.  Would anyone be complaining nearly as much if we'd went with either Paxton Lynch or an OT in round 1 and Cravens in rd 2?  Looks a helluva lot better than Lee/Hackenberg.  All of our GM's in the last 20 years simply overthink things too much, and it sucks.  Just make the obvious choice for once. 

You think Lynch would have seen the field this season?  My gawd this place is a loony bin now..