Grading the Jets 2015 Draft

[JetNation]

Conventional wisdom says that before you can fairly judge a draft class, you must first give those players chosen a minimum of three pro seasons.  Well, for Mike Maccagnan’s first ever draft, the three year mark is now behind us.  How did he do?  Let’s take a look.

DL Leonard Williams- Round 1 (6th overall): 

Easily Maccagnan’s best pick of this draft, and possibly of his tenure, Williams is regarded as one of the top young defensive linemen in the NFL.  He went to the pro bowl in his second season but was slowed in 2017 by a wrist injury.  Even still, Williams was  a disruptive player who has many good years ahead of him.  Casual fans or “same old Jets fans” will say this was an easy pick for Maccagnan which is simply untrue.  When the Jets were on the clock, there was only one area on the entire roster that did not need an upgrade, and that was on the defensive line.  There were plenty of other players on available who many had projected to the Jets to fill one of their many needs, but Maccagnan went with the best player on the board.

Grade: A

WR Devin Smith- Round 2 (37th overall)

Smith has spent the majority of his career on the bench recovering from a plethora of injuries.  It would appear Smith isn’t going to hold up to the rigors of the NFL.  In three seasons, Smith has appeared in just 14 games, hauling in 10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Grade: Incomplete

OLB Lornenzo Mauldin- Round 3 (82nd overall)

Following a promising rookie year in which he notched 4.5 sacks, Mauldin added weight before year two so that he could hold up better against the run, but his poor play landed him in Todd Bowles’ dog house.  Mauldin dropped the additional weight coming in to this season but like Smith, spent the entire year on IR.

Grade: D

QB Bryce Petty- Round 4 (103rd overall)

Petty was dubbed a two to three year project when he was drafted and that’s probably being generous.  In limited action (7 starts), Petty has thrown 4 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.  Most disturbing about Petty is that he seems to have regressed from last season when he completed 56% of his passes.  This year, that dropped 49%.

Grade: F

OG Jarvis Harrison- Round 5 (152nd overall)

Harrison was a good gamble in the fifth round as an effective guard in college who had some quality reps at left tackle with Texas A&M.  As it turned out, the gamble didn’t pay off and Harrison was let go after one year.  He is currently a free agent.

Grade: F

DL Deon Simon- Round 7 (223rd overall)

Perhaps the most surprising player in the group for a couple of reasons.  As a small school product and 7th round pick, Simon stuck with the team despite a loaded D-line and played surprisingly well last season. Simon seemed ready to become a regular rotational player and spot starter in 2017.  After a solid pre-season, he was relegated to the practice squad and did not appear in a single game.

Grade: C-

Overall Grade: D+

The only thing stopping Maccagnan’s inaugural draft class from an F is the gutsy call to take Williams with the sixth pick overall.

A rough first draft that will clearly be surpassed by each of his past two efforts, but let’s face it….that’s not saying a whole lot.

Click here to read the full story...

[section314]

Well, that was uplifting.

[joewilly12]

Mike Maccagnan  F

[Joejet]

Thank god Joe is here to add depth and insight!

[prime21]

Although the strength of our defense at that time was the defensive line, I wouldn't say it was gutsy to take the consensus #1 player in the draft.

[Beerfish]

Petty should not get an F for a 4th rounder that is when you pick a 'I hope this guy does soemthing; QB not in the 2nd round.

Devin smith is for sure an F

[nycdan]

5 minutes ago, section314 said:

Well, that was uplifting.

And yet, sadly, it wasn't our worst draft by far.

I'd have to go with 2010 for the win, Alex.  I don't think we can ever top that one.

[LIJetsFan]

So, executive of the year was a bit of an overstatement.  Darts at the draft chart would have done better.  This coming from a fan who in general is supportive of Mac.  

Oh yeah and for a supposed talent evaluator, too many of his FA signings that year were subpar as well.  

[rangerous]

it's a fair grade although mauldin should either be a half grade higher or incomplete since he was injured for the season.

[section314]

11 minutes ago, nycdan said:

And yet, sadly, it wasn't our worst draft by far.

I'd have to go with 2010 for the win, Alex.  I don't think we can ever top that one.

Yeah, that was special. 4 guys, all who were out of the league in like 5 years or so, right?  You could try to do that poorly and not even come close.

[FidelioJet]

I would be interested to see something like this from other teams.

How many 4th rounders are playing on other rosters? 3rd rounders are stars?

Maybe other team's 3rd rounders turn out to all-pro's often - honestly, I don't do enough research on it...but my guess is you'll see something like this with many teams every year.

[dbatesman]

Personnel Guy

[kmnj]

his draft was a F-my nephew would have picked williams at 6 -my opinion of him though is he is good but will never be great player

[kelly]

21 minutes ago, rangerous said:

it's a fair grade although mauldin should either be a half grade higher or incomplete since he was injured for the season.

yup..

 

[T0mShane]

Wait until they let Darron Lee walk as a free agent. Macc’s 2016 Draft is gonna make Macc’s 2015 draft look like the Steelers 1974 draft.

[ASH1962]

What has Leonard Williams done so great to deserve an A? I would have given him a C TBH, he is very over rated IMO.

Is this coming from the immortality cool aid fountain that gave Bowltite an extension thinking he has improved as a HC? We as Jet fans and the club in particular are living in a total and complete delusion. A delusion of ineptness and mediocrity that will forever continue I am afraid. Leonard Williams an A, yeah whatever.

I feel 10% stupider after having read the original post.

[legler82]

51 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Petty should not get an F for a 4th rounder that is when you pick a 'I hope this guy does soemthing; QB not in the 2nd round.

Devin smith is for sure an F

This!

[Kleckineau]

Leonard Williams was the quintessential "I have no balls so I will go with the safest pick" selection.

Exsuckutive of the yar 

[jpoppy717]

Pretty awful draft.  Giving Devin Smith an incomplete is generous; even when healthy showed little ability.  

Williams pick should grade lower than A; good player, but bad fit with Richardson and Wilkerson, should have drafted Beasley to get the edge rusher we've lacked since Abraham.  Or drafted Williams and moved on from Richardson or Wilkerson a lot sooner than we did.

[nycdan]

Looking at the draft in full, Williams really was a fine pick at that spot.  We could argue Beasley would have been better but it wasn't a sure thing at the time and a lot of folks here were pulling for Kevin White which would have been a disaster.  In the later rounds there weren't exactly a bunch of stars-in-the-making waiting for us to discover either.  Sure, David Johnson and Jay Ayaji in retrospect but that wasn't considered a need at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_NFL_Draft

Really after the first half of the first round, it wasn't a stellar draft class.

[varjet]

54 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Petty should not get an F for a 4th rounder that is when you pick a 'I hope this guy does soemthing; QB not in the 2nd round.

Devin smith is for sure an F

I agree with this.  Smith was not a smart second round pick.  Did not have a durable frame. 

6 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

Wait until they let Darron Lee walk as a free agent. Macc’s 2016 Draft is gonna make Macc’s 2015 draft look like the Steelers 1974 draft.

Can you see the Jets giving Darron Lee a second contract.  That is one definition of a good first round pick.  I am not seeing the second contract.  

Williams was only an A if he replaced Wilkerson.  

[Beerfish]

David Johnson was picked 4 picks after Lorenzo Mauldin.

 

[Jetscode1]

Draft was awfuls sans Leo Williams.  Wish the team would publish the draft grades they hand out each year then we could grade their research.

  

[UnitedWhofans]

2 hours ago, JetNation said:

Conventional wisdom says that before you can fairly judge a draft class, you must first give those players chosen a minimum of three pro seasons.  Well, for Mike Maccagnan’s first ever draft, the three year mark is now behind us.  How did he do?  Let’s take a look.

DL Leonard Williams- Round 1 (6th overall): 

Easily Maccagnan’s best pick of this draft, and possibly of his tenure, Williams is regarded as one of the top young defensive linemen in the NFL.  He went to the pro bowl in his second season but was slowed in 2017 by a wrist injury.  Even still, Williams was  a disruptive player who has many good years ahead of him.  Casual fans or “same old Jets fans” will say this was an easy pick for Maccagnan which is simply untrue.  When the Jets were on the clock, there was only one area on the entire roster that did not need an upgrade, and that was on the defensive line.  There were plenty of other players on available who many had projected to the Jets to fill one of their many needs, but Maccagnan went with the best player on the board.

Grade: A

WR Devin Smith- Round 2 (37th overall)

Smith has spent the majority of his career on the bench recovering from a plethora of injuries.  It would appear Smith isn’t going to hold up to the rigors of the NFL.  In three seasons, Smith has appeared in just 14 games, hauling in 10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Grade: Incomplete

OLB Lornenzo Mauldin- Round 3 (82nd overall)

Following a promising rookie year in which he notched 4.5 sacks, Mauldin added weight before year two so that he could hold up better against the run, but his poor play landed him in Todd Bowles’ dog house.  Mauldin dropped the additional weight coming in to this season but like Smith, spent the entire year on IR.

Grade: D

QB Bryce Petty- Round 4 (103rd overall)

Petty was dubbed a two to three year project when he was drafted and that’s probably being generous.  In limited action (7 starts), Petty has thrown 4 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.  Most disturbing about Petty is that he seems to have regressed from last season when he completed 56% of his passes.  This year, that dropped 49%.

Grade: F

OG Jarvis Harrison- Round 5 (152nd overall)

Harrison was a good gamble in the fifth round as an effective guard in college who had some quality reps at left tackle with Texas A&M.  As it turned out, the gamble didn’t pay off and Harrison was let go after one year.  He is currently a free agent.

Grade: F

DL Deon Simon- Round 7 (223rd overall)

Perhaps the most surprising player in the group for a couple of reasons.  As a small school product and 7th round pick, Simon stuck with the team despite a loaded D-line and played surprisingly well last season. Simon seemed ready to become a regular rotational player and spot starter in 2017.  After a solid pre-season, he was relegated to the practice squad and did not appear in a single game.

Grade: C-

Overall Grade: D+

The only thing stopping Maccagnan’s inaugural draft class from an F is the gutsy call to take Williams with the sixth pick overall.

A rough first draft that will clearly be surpassed by each of his past two efforts, but let’s face it….that’s not saying a whole lot.

Click here to read the full story...

The one grade I disagree with is Petty to an extent. Given where he was drafted, and his rolem I would raise his grade slightly to a D.

Because 4th round QBs arent really expected to do much. The fact that Bryce Petty actually started several games should raise him above an F.

The F should be reserved for the next draft...

Other than that, all the grades seem fine

[jeremy2020]

There's no such thing as an incomplete. If the player don't play, he's not contributing. Regardless of the reasons.

[UnitedWhofans]

3 minutes ago, jeremy2020 said:

There's no such thing as an incomplete. If the player don't play, he's not contributing. Regardless of the reasons.

But the GM should only be accountable for reasons that were in his control.

DeShaun Watson gets an incomplete for this year

[joewilly12]

2 hours ago, Joejet said:

Thank god Joe is here to add depth and insight!

They left Mike Maccagnan's grade out. 

[UntouchableCrew]

2 hours ago, Beerfish said:

Petty should not get an F for a 4th rounder that is when you pick a 'I hope this guy does soemthing; QB not in the 2nd round.

Devin smith is for sure an F

Completely agree. If you're going to call Petty and F how in the world can Smith be an incomplete? He's a total failure and if not for Hack he'd easily be the worst pick of the Mac era.

[UnitedWhofans]

Early grades for next year so far:

Lee: C-

Hackenberg: F (If I could go lower I would)

Jenkins: A-

Burris: D

Shell: C+

Edwards: B

Peake: D

Full Grade: C-

 

[Grandy]

The 2015 Draft mostly sucked, but I'm a huge fan of Leonard Williams. He's been our best player the last 3 years, and made a Pro Bowl. I liked the pick then, and like it now.

[UnitedWhofans]

3 minutes ago, UntouchableCrew said:

Completely agree. If you're going to call Petty and F how in the world can Smith be an incomplete? He's a total failure and if not for Hack he'd easily be the worst pick of the Mac era.

Because his career was derailed by something out of the control of the GM. We can split the difference and call it a D

[joewilly12]

Just now, UnitedWhofans said:

Early grades for next year so far:

Lee: C-

Hackenberg: F (If I could go lower I would)

Jenkins: A-

Burris: D

Shell: C+

Edwards: B

Peake: D

Peake  INCOMPLETE 

[CanadienJetsFan]

Macc should have known that his 2nd and 3rd round picks would be injury prone.

[UnitedWhofans]

3 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Peake  INCOMPLETE 

You know what? You're right

That still doesnt change the overall grade. It's around a 73

[Warfish]

3 hours ago, JetNation said:

Conventional wisdom says that before you can fairly judge a draft class, you must first give those players chosen a minimum of three pro seasons.  Well, for Mike Maccagnan’s first ever draft, the three year mark is now behind us.  How did he do?  Let’s take a look.

DL Leonard Williams- Round 1 (6th overall): 

Easily Maccagnan’s best pick of this draft, and possibly of his tenure, Williams is regarded as one of the top young defensive linemen in the NFL.  He went to the pro bowl in his second season but was slowed in 2017 by a wrist injury.  Even still, Williams was  a disruptive player who has many good years ahead of him.  Casual fans or “same old Jets fans” will say this was an easy pick for Maccagnan which is simply untrue.  When the Jets were on the clock, there was only one area on the entire roster that did not need an upgrade, and that was on the defensive line.  There were plenty of other players on available who many had projected to the Jets to fill one of their many needs, but Maccagnan went with the best player on the board.

Grade: A

WR Devin Smith- Round 2 (37th overall)

Smith has spent the majority of his career on the bench recovering from a plethora of injuries.  It would appear Smith isn’t going to hold up to the rigors of the NFL.  In three seasons, Smith has appeared in just 14 games, hauling in 10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Grade: Incomplete

OLB Lornenzo Mauldin- Round 3 (82nd overall)

Following a promising rookie year in which he notched 4.5 sacks, Mauldin added weight before year two so that he could hold up better against the run, but his poor play landed him in Todd Bowles’ dog house.  Mauldin dropped the additional weight coming in to this season but like Smith, spent the entire year on IR.

Grade: D

QB Bryce Petty- Round 4 (103rd overall)

Petty was dubbed a two to three year project when he was drafted and that’s probably being generous.  In limited action (7 starts), Petty has thrown 4 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.  Most disturbing about Petty is that he seems to have regressed from last season when he completed 56% of his passes.  This year, that dropped 49%.

Grade: F

OG Jarvis Harrison- Round 5 (152nd overall)

Harrison was a good gamble in the fifth round as an effective guard in college who had some quality reps at left tackle with Texas A&M.  As it turned out, the gamble didn’t pay off and Harrison was let go after one year.  He is currently a free agent.

Grade: F

DL Deon Simon- Round 7 (223rd overall)

Perhaps the most surprising player in the group for a couple of reasons.  As a small school product and 7th round pick, Simon stuck with the team despite a loaded D-line and played surprisingly well last season. Simon seemed ready to become a regular rotational player and spot starter in 2017.  After a solid pre-season, he was relegated to the practice squad and did not appear in a single game.

Grade: C-

Overall Grade: D+

The only thing stopping Maccagnan’s inaugural draft class from an F is the gutsy call to take Williams with the sixth pick overall.

A rough first draft that will clearly be surpassed by each of his past two efforts, but let’s face it….that’s not saying a whole lot.

Click here to read the full story...

Williams (DE) -- C+  Solid player, little int he way of being an impact player.  Defenses do not fear him as yet.  Reminds me of Sean Ellis.

Smith (WR)  -- F, total bust due to injury.

Mauldin (OLB) -- D, a few flashes, then nothing and injury.

Petty (QB) -- F.  Nice kid but worthless player, soon to be cut.  

Harrison (OL) -- F, one year and gone.

Simon (DT) -- B, small school kid fills a small role.

Overall Grade -- D.  Possible D- if Williams follows the #1 pick Dlinemen before him who flashed them flamed then failed.