Frank Victores-USA Today Sports
While the draft might have helped the New York Jets in some areas, general manager John Idzik and Rex Ryan failed to upgrade a position of desperate need – tight end.
With the loss of Dustin Keller to the Miami Dolphins, the Jets are left with unproven Jeff Cumberland, a third-string type player in Konrad Rueland, and a guy who learned how to play the position, let alone the game last year, in Hayden Smith. Is this a cast of receivers that you want to be heading the position of tight end?
That is especially the question when it is uncertain who the quarterback is, and particularly if rookie Geno Smith is proclaimed the starter. Whoever the quarterback may be, that guy needs to be surrounded with offensive weapons in order to be successful, and the Jets failed to fill this need in the draft. Now, whoever the quarterback may be, the Jets are left with a bunch of mediocre running backs, a star receiver with character issues in Santonio Holmes, a rookie who was unable to live up to his expectations last season in Stephen Hill, and a respectable playmaking slot receiver in Jeremy Kerley.
The Jets missed out on a great tight end draft, and passed up on tight end Tyler Eifert out of Notre Dame with their first two picks in the draft. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out to be a mistake, but it most likely will.
The Jets have been looking for that big play making target tight end that it seems like every NFL team has, and they had the ability to establish that receiver in this draft. There is no question that they missed out on a lot of good-sized tight ends, so they can only hope that their draft picks can live up to expectations.
