Gas2No99 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Sam Darnold-to-Chris Herndon connection highlights Jets' draft class Sam Darnold showed improvement in the final month of the season. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun No matter what happens in the coming years, the New York Jets' 2018 draft will be remembered for Sam Darnold, who showed enough progress to make them believe the decades-old quarterback issue is solved. Between Darnold, tight end Chris Herndon and defensive end Nathan Shepherd, the Jets found three immediate starters and two special-teams players: cornerback Parry Nickerson and running back Trenton Cannon. This could turn out to be one of their better drafts in recent years. Grade: Above average. Best rookie: QB Sam Darnold. Their first-round pick is the single biggest reason why the Jets have hope. After typical rookie growing pains, Darnold returned from a four-week foot injury and looked like a different quarterback in the final four games. In that span, he posted the best Total QBR (80.7) in the league. The three quarterbacks directly behind him -- Andrew Luck, Nick Foles and Tom Brady -- all were playing on the second weekend of the playoffs. Darnold was 4-9 as a starter, with 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, but ignore the numbers. The talent is there; he just needs proper coaching and a better supporting cast. Most improved rookie: TE Chris Herndon. Hey, look, the Jets finally uncovered a midround gem! Drafted in the fourth round, Herndon impressed from day one with his hands and route running, but it wasn't until the second half of the season that he became an integral part of the offense. He finished with 39 receptions, eighth among tight ends and wide receivers who were drafted in 2018. Herndon wound up playing 62 percent of the offensive snaps, third on the Jets among skill players. He's smooth and crafty at the top of his routes, enabling him to gain separation. Jury is still out on ...: DE Nathan Shepherd. He found out quickly that he wasn't in Kansas anymore. After dominating at Division II Fort Hays State, Shepherd -- a third-round pick -- struggled through a rookie season that did not include any impact plays. No sacks, no forced fumbles, no fumble recoveries. The coaching staff rushed him into the starting lineup for Week 1 even though he didn't earn it, and the results were predictable. He was confused by blocking schemes and got caught out of position. Late in the year, his playing time was down to only 15 snaps per game. It's too soon to say he's a bust, but Shepherd needs to accelerate the learning curve in Year 2. Undrafted rookie evaluation: There's only one -- LB Frankie Luvu, who was in the right place at the right time. Because of personnel and injury issues at outside linebacker, Luvu got unexpected playing time (42 percent of the defensive snaps), finishing with three sacks and contributing on special teams. Luvu doesn't have top-level traits, which means he probably won't be a future starter, but he earned his keep by playing at 100 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32EBoozer Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Agree on all but Luuvu. Way too early to say he won't be a starter. Kid had an impact and flashed. Not prototypical size but has a high motor and gives full effort. If we had similar effort from many of our starters on "D" we might have seen better results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets723 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Herndon and maye are the only two good picks Macc has made in rounds 2-7. Shell, McGuire, and Edwards have been good pickups too. This year he needs to hit on at least both thirds on the fourth rounder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gas2No99 Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 So a starting RT in Shell (5th round) & a starting Punter in Edwards (7th) are NOT good picks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop24 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Lmaoo idk why I came here looking for a video with all the darnold to Herndon throws . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimjasi Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 6 minutes ago, Gas2No99 said: So a starting RT in Shell (5th round) & a starting Punter in Edwards (7th) are NOT good picks? Shhhhhh. Your question doesn't jive with the preferred narrative. People can get hurt that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREENBEAN Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 So a starting RT in Shell (5th round) & a starting Punter in Edwards (7th) are NOT good picks? I would add cannon to that list as well. Macc has surely had the misses but he does have a few solid hits as well. I’m still looking for improvement and hopefully the new coaches and schemes can help with that. Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jets723 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 40 minutes ago, Gas2No99 said: So a starting RT in Shell (5th round) & a starting Punter in Edwards (7th) are NOT good picks? No I like those picks as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsfan80 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 43 minutes ago, Gas2No99 said: So a starting RT in Shell (5th round) & a starting Punter in Edwards (7th) are NOT good picks? Those are hits. If a GM's "money picks" are Rounds 2-5, he's got 4 hits and 11 misses. Problem is that his "hits" (Herndon, Maye, Jordan Jenkins, Shell) are only mildly impressive. Jenkins, despite a 7 sack season, got a 52.4 from PFF (the same site people use to credit Macc for Jamal Adams) this season. Marcus Maye got a really solid 81.7. Herndon got a 74.2, and Shell got a 62.8. So only Maye and Herndon are playing well above replacement-level. Meanwhile, his misses in that 2-5 range have been deadly to the franchises's future. The Hackenberg miss cannot be understated. It was just an awful, awful pick. The Hansen and Stewart selections were also incredibly bad. Especially when you consider some of the not worthless WR's that were taken in that draft in the middle rounds (Juju Smith-Schuster at 2.62, Cooper Kupp at 3.69, Chris Godwin at 3.84, Kenny Golladay at 3.96, Dede Westbrook at 4.110). And how in the f*ck can anyone justify taking Nathan Shepherd with our next pick after Darnold this past draft? Even if he works out...who cares? Another interior DL?? We could have taken guys like the following there: OT Joseph Noteboom OT Orlando Brown Jr. WR Tre'Quan Smith WR Michael Gallup RB Nyheim Hines C Brian Allen WR Keke Coutee WR Antonio Callaway WR DaeSean Hamilton CB Anthony Averett CB/FS Rashaan Gaulden Not a hugely impressive list of guys we missed out on, but come on. The first priority after taking your franchise QB is utilizing your draft resources appropriately. Shepherd, an old but yet somehow still a project at DT, was an awful, awful pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustInFudge Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Got to hand it to Mac on Herndon. I wasnt 100% sure who he'd be at the next level and it sure looks like he can be a player and someone Sam can rely on and trust. Led all rookie TE's in receptions and yards (Goerdert led for TD's w/ 4). And he was 7th overall in receptions among all rookies including TE's and RB's...all with a rookie QB and Josh McCown....not bad. Nathan Sheppard was a disaster pick. It just made zero sense. Small school, older, huge transition for a guy that wasnt even the best defensive prospect left on the board. Whereas, they could have really helped Sam with that pick in either the OL or the weapon dept. there were a bunch of guys available who had great rookie seasons. Oh well, is what it is. The Dolphins didnt draft very well under Gase either, so hopefully someone in the building knows what they are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustInFudge Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 20 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said: Those are hits. If a GM's "money picks" are Rounds 2-5, he's got 4 hits and 11 misses. Problem is that his "hits" (Herndon, Maye, Jordan Jenkins, Shell) are only mildly impressive. Jenkins, despite a 7 sack season, got a 52.4 from PFF (the same site people use to credit Macc for Jamal Adams) this season. Marcus Maye got a really solid 81.7. Herndon got a 74.2, and Shell got a 62.8. So only Maye and Herndon are playing well above replacement-level. Meanwhile, his misses in that 2-5 range have been deadly to the franchises's future. The Hackenberg miss cannot be understated. It was just an awful, awful pick. The Hansen and Stewart selections were also incredibly bad. Especially when you consider some of the not worthless WR's that were taken in that draft in the middle rounds (Juju Smith-Schuster at 2.62, Cooper Kupp at 3.69, Chris Godwin at 3.84, Kenny Golladay at 3.96, Dede Westbrook at 4.110). And how in the f*ck can anyone justify taking Nathan Shepherd with our next pick after Darnold this past draft? Even if he works out...who cares? Another interior DL?? We could have taken guys like the following there: OT Joseph Noteboom OT Orlando Brown Jr. WR Tre'Quan Smith WR Michael Gallup RB Nyheim Hines C Brian Allen WR Keke Coutee WR Antonio Callaway WR DaeSean Hamilton CB Anthony Averett CB/FS Rashaan Gaulden Not a hugely impressive list of guys we missed out on, but come on. The first priority after taking your franchise QB is utilizing your draft resources appropriately. Shepherd, an old but yet somehow still a project at DT, was an awful, awful pick. It was a pretty impressive list if you ask'd me at the time. I get guys like Calloway and Brown had some red flags but both are 1st round talents who fell but you knew damn well werent making it to our next pick. Not to mention all the Ohio St. pass rushers were still on the board. Harrison Phillips if you wanted a DT was a monster at Stanford. Really a nonsensical pick at the time but maybe with some new coaching he get going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetstream23 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Highlights? How about those are the only lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Gas2No99 said: So a starting RT in Shell (5th round) & a starting Punter in Edwards (7th) are NOT good picks? Edwards was a good pick. Shell is pretty seriously overrated, as he should ideally be a backup, not a starter. Granted, I still wouldn't consider it a "bad" pick for the 5th, but certainly not deserving as a point of praise for a guy with such a terrible draft record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bealeb319 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Edwards was a good pick. Shell is pretty seriously overrated, as he should ideally be a backup, not a starter. Granted, I still wouldn't consider it a "bad" pick for the 5th, but certainly not deserving as a point of praise for a guy with such a terrible draft record.Is a backup caliber rt taken in the fifth round really over rated? The kid isn't terrible you can't really ask for much more in the fifth most fifth to seventh rounders don't stick at allSent from my LGUS991 using JetNation.com mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 14 minutes ago, bealeb319 said: Is a backup caliber rt taken in the fifth round really over rated? The kid isn't terrible you can't really ask for much more in the fifth most fifth to seventh rounders don't stick at all Sent from my LGUS991 using JetNation.com mobile app Like I said, it's not necessarily a bad pick considering the spot, but to qualify him as a good starter, as many here have in the past, is my point of him being overrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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