New York Jets 2015 Draft: Aggregating Report Card Grades from Around the Web
The 2015 NFL draft is officially in the books, and it's time to look back at the weekend and evaluate each team's performance in the most important event of the offseason.
The draft has the power to change the outlook of a franchise not only for the season but also for decades. A single selection could end up leading a team to a Super Bowl or setting it up for years of failure.
This was one of the more significant drafts in recent years for the New York Jets, as it marked the beginning of a new era with a new regime.
The Jets only had six picks the entire weekend, but they managed to address many of the team's biggest needs.
There is a wide array of opinions about how New York fared in the draft, ranging from extremely positive to subpar.
Let's take a look at what experts from around the web had to say about Mike Maccagnan's first draft as general manager.
ESPN
1 of 6ESPN's Mel Kiper is very high on New York's draft class as a whole, as he sees potential in most of the team's selections.
Kiper is particularly high on Leonard Williams, who he labelled "the best overall player in the draft." He likes how Gang Green went for value over need in the first round, and he thinks Williams will form a terrific trio with Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson up front.
He also believes second-round selection Devin Smith adds a big-play threat to the offense, and he doesn't believe Smith's lack of routes at Ohio State is much of a concern going forward. Kiper is correct in his assertion that Smith is a dynamic deep threat, but his raw route-running ability does limit his upside early on in his career.
Kiper also believes Bryce Petty and Lorenzo Mauldin should be effective players, but both need time to develop in order to make an impact. He does see fifth-round pick Jarvis Harrison becoming a solid starter if he can improve his work ethic, which is valid considering Harrison's talent level.
The ESPN analyst also likes the trades New York made for both Zac Stacy and Brandon Marshall, which he factors into the high grade. The Jets did get tremendous value in those deals, and they gave up just two late-round picks for a pair of players who could add another dimension to the offense.
All in all, Kiper thinks "the new leadership in the Jets front office had a great draft."
CBS Sports
2 of 6
CBS Sports' Pete Prisco is much less high on New York's draft class than Mel Kiper, although the two experts do agree that Gang Green hit a home run in the first round with the selection of Leonard Williams.
Prisco calls Williams "the best player in this draft," and he believes the USC product "will be a dominant addition to a good defense." Considering Williams' combination of great size and elite athleticism, it's more than reasonable to call him the finest talent in this year's class.
However, the CBS Sports expert has his concerns about Gang Green's mid-to-late-round picks. He thinks trading up for Bryce Petty was a questionable decision, and outside of Williams and Devin Smith, the Jets haul was "so-so."
It's easy to question the selection of Petty, especially because New York traded a pick to move up just one spot to get him. The Baylor product is coming from a very simple college system, so his adjustment to the NFL game may be too difficult for him to handle.
Prisco does agree that Jarvis Harrison could be a potential steal, as he labelled him a "third-day gem." Harrison does have the frame (6'4", 330 lbs) and athleticism to succeed as an interior lineman at the NFL level, so Gang Green got tremendous value with him in the fifth round.
Prisco still believes the Jets had an above-average draft, but he has his doubts about some of the selections.
Yahoo! Sports
3 of 6
Yahoo! Sports' Evan Silva is much more down of Gang Green's draft haul than any other expert, as he gives the team a subpar grade.
Silva did agree that Williams was a terrific selection in the first round, and he raises a valid point that the 20-year-old "gives the Jets options should they opt against paying [defensive end] Muhammad Wilkerson a mammoth contract." The contract situation between Wilkerson and the Jets is growing increasingly precarious by the day, but the Williams pick should give the team some leverage in negotiations.
The Yahoo! Sports expert thinks Devin Smith is a bad fit in Chan Gailey's offense, which is a valid concern considering the offensive coordinator champions short passes over deep balls. However, Silva doesn't acknowledge that Smith should help keep defenses honest and unable to stack the box, as they have done in recent years against Gang Green.
Silva is correct in his belief that the Jets should have addressed needs at running back and outside linebacker more than they did, as both Zac Stacy and Lorenzo Mauldin have limited upside.
He does think the fourth-round pick of Bryce Petty makes sense for a team looking to develop a quarterback, but he questions what value New York got from bringing in 24-year-old Deon Simon in the final round.
Silva raises some interesting points, but his grade seems pretty harsh considering he liked a couple of Gang Green's biggest selections.
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NFL.com
4 of 6
NFL.com's Bryan Fischer is as high on the Jets' draft class as any expert out there, as he gave it an outstanding mark.
As with the other analysts, he believes Williams is the best player in this year's class and was a steal at No. 6 overall. He also thinks the USC product is important insurance in case Muhammad Wilkerson ends up departing in free agency after this season.
Fischer also heaps praise on Devin Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin, as he believes both players provided good value and filled significant needs on opposite sides of the ball. Smith does have the potential to be great, but Fischer's overwhelming praise of Mauldin is surprising considering the Louisville product's limited athleticism.
The NFL.com expert is especially high on Bryce Petty, as he believes "Petty might turn out to be the best passer in this draft class." That statement is an exaggeration to say the least, as Petty comes with plenty of question marks and isn't even in the same league as Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.
Fischer's praise of the draft class is warranted, but he is perhaps too optimistic regarding the potential impacts of several of the team's picks.
Sports Illustrated
5 of 6
Sports Illustrated's Chris Burke and Doug Farrar gave Gang Green's draft a pretty high mark, and they highlighted some of the positives in their analysis.
Like the other experts, Burke and Farrar love the Williams pick in the first round, as they believe he is the best defensive player in this year's class. They think the Jets were smart to pull the trigger on the former Trojans star despite him not really filling a need. Williams' talent level was simply too great to resist, and Maccagnan should be given credit for going with value over need early on.
The two writers are also supportive of Devin Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin, although they believe the former might struggle to make an impact his rookie season and the latter isn't as talented as some of the other pass-rushers in the draft. Smith should stretch the field from the get-go, but he will probably take a back seat to Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and even Jeremy Kerley early on in his career.
The Sports Illustrated experts are more conservative with their future projections of Bryce Petty, but they still believe he could "swipe the QB-of-the-future status from Geno Smith."
Burke and Farrar are mostly positive in their analysis of New York's draft, but it would have been nice to see them highlight some of their concerns about the haul.
Final Grades
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| Outlet | Grade |
| ESPN | A- |
| CBS Sports | B- |
| Yahoo! Sports | C- |
| NFL.com | A |
| Sports Illustrated | B+ |
| Bleacher Report | A- |
There were mixed opinions about Mike Maccagnan's first draft in charge, but they were mainly positive.
Every expert agrees that Leonard Williams has the potential to be the pick of the draft, but the responses to the selections of Lorenzo Mauldin and Bryce Petty were much more polarizing.
In my opinion, the Jets walked away from the draft as real winners. The team managed to snag several impact players while also addressing some significant needs throughout the roster. It would have been nice to see the team focus more on the offensive line, as that could be a position of concern in the near future, but it was a successful draft nonetheless.
The Jets deserve an A- for their efforts over the weekend, as they added more talent to a roster that is suddenly looking pretty dangerous this season and beyond.
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