2012 Draft: Should the New York Jets Trade Up for Robert Griffin III?

A heavy amount of the blame for the New York Jets' postseason-less 2011 was placed on the right arm of Mark Sanchez.

The fifth-overall pick in 2009 failed to improve substantially in his third season as the Jets quarterback and took a great deal of criticism throughout the season. Is it time for the Jets to look elsewhere for their starting QB?

One option for New York is through the draft. Should they trade into the top five of the NFL Draft to snag Heisman-winner Robert Griffin III?

No way! 

The Jets lucked out in 2009 when they traded up in the draft for Sanchez. Negotiating with former head coach Eric Mangini, hired by the Cleveland Browns to be their new leader, the Jets robbed the Browns in a draft-day trade.

The price they paid to move up and draft Sanchez with the Brown's fifth pick included their first-round pick (17th), their second rounder (52nd) and three average players in safety Abe Elam, defensive end Kenyon Coleman and third-string quarterback Brett Ratliff. They will never be lucky enough to trade so little for such a large jump in the draft again.

Teams won't swap picks as easily anymore. This same Cleveland Browns team traded down yet again in the 2011 draft. But only two years removed since the Jets trade, the Browns were the ones receiving the majority of the value in their next deal.

Their trading partners in the 2011 draft, the Atlanta Falcons, paid a huge price to acquire wide receiver Julio Jones. The Falcons sent their first round (27th overall), second round (59th) and fourth-round (124th) picks of that draft to go along with their first-and-fourth-round picks in 2012.

That's more likely what the price will be for the Jets should they attempt to trade up this draft in order to get into the top five to bring in Griffin. And to do that for someone like Griffin who isn't a guarantee? That wouldn't make too much sense.

Griffin is far from a sure thing in the NFL. People comparing him to rookie sensation Cam Newton are doing so more because he runs well with the ball than for his passing mechanics. Cam Newton is 30 pounds heavier, three inches taller and is more elusive as a running quarterback than Griffin III is at this stage. 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Griffin is going to bust. I can see him being a very dangerous quarterback in the NFL, perhaps even immediately if the team that selects him opts to start him. But he's not the guy the Jets should spend value trading up for. Just because Griffin has a shiny Heisman trophy located above his bed stand doesn't mean he is an automatic success in the NFL.

Just look at Matt Leinart, Eric Crouch and Troy Smith if you are looking for recent Heisman winners that couldn't make it in the pros.

Sanchez himself isn't as big of a liability as the media paints him to be either. Did Sanchez really digress in 2011? All of his major passing statistics improved except for his interceptions and his average yards per attempt. But Sanchez's offensive line in 2011 was worse, which led to a weaker running game and less time for his receivers to get separation.

It's also important to note that Sanchez led the NFL in dropped interceptions in 2010 with 15. Although the official numbers have yet to be released, it's unlikely Sanchez came as close as 15 this past year. Sanchez just had some worse luck this year compared to his previous season.

And if trading up for Sanchez has received such poor reviews in retrospect, why trade up for a quarterback yet again?

Sanchez's minimal improvements are nothing to be proud of, but he deserves a fourth season with new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano to make drastic changes to his stat line. If he struggles again to make major improvements, maybe it will be time for the team to look in another direction.

Overall, the Jets have far too many other needs that need to be filled aside from quarterback. With more than 10 draft picks in an extremely talented draft class, it is in the team's best interest to keep as many of those picks as possible. Robert Griffin III will just take too many of those away.