Wide Receiver

Santonio Holmes is expected back in 2012 (the Jets already paid a 7.5 million dollar roster bonus) even though he and Mark Sanchez have a strained, at best, relationship. However, it is Plaxico Burress who is not expected back next season. They really need a new receiver opposite Holmes and perhaps another one for depth purposes, depending on what they think of Jeremy Kerley, their 5^th rounder last year who was solid, at times, in the slot as a rookie.

Offensive Tackle

Wayne Hunter was one of the worst starting offensive linemen in the league. He surrendered 11 sacks and 32 pressures last year, while committing 11 penalties and this was on the right side, not even against the opponent best pass rusher on a weekly basis. They’ll need to address this position through the draft.

Rush Linebacker

It’s a bad thing when a former first round pick bust leads your team in sacks despite being listed at 228 pounds and only recording 11 total tackles on the season, but that’s exactly what happened with the Jets when Aaron Maybin led the way with 6. Maybin seems to have found a nice role as a situational rusher, but they need help at the starting rush linebacker spots. Calvin Pace is a 31 year old declining player who managed just 4.5 sacks last year. Bryan Thomas will be 33 and coming off a major injury, while Thomas’ replacement, Jamaal Westerman, hardly dropped any jaws in Thomas’ absence, totaling 3.5 sacks. The Jets, as a team, managed just 35 sacks last season, despite blitzing so much. They need to get better at rushing the passer without blitzing. I can’t see Courtney Upshaw falling past them at 16.

Safety

Jim Leonhard is a solid player, but he can’t stay healthy. In his absence, Eric Smith is perennially awful. As a Patriots fan, I love watching him try to cover Rob Gronkowski twice per year. Meanwhile, at the other safety spot, Brodney Pool is decent, but not great. They need another safety in the mix. 

3-4 Defensive End

They addressed this position in the first round last year with Muhammad Wilkerson, but they still need help there. Wilkerson had a good rookie year, but they need a pass rushing compliment for Mike DeVito opposite him. DeVito is great against the run, but offers absolutely no pass rush. His passing rushing compliment, Marcus Thomas, did not do well in that role last year.

Quarterback

Depending on who you ask, Mark Sanchez is either the worst quarterback in the league or definitely the week 1 starter. I think it’s more towards the later, although I could definitely see them bringing in a quarterback to push him as his backup. At the very least, this quarterback can be a better backup than the ancient Mark Brunell.

Nose Tackle

Sione Pouha had another great season, but he is a 33 year old free agent. They drafted Kenrick Ellis in the 3^rd round last year just in case, but there’s a chance that he gets deported this offseason. They could bring in another nose tackle.

Cornerback

Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie are more than fine as the starters, but 2010 1^st round pick Kyle Wilson continues to struggle as the nickelback. Some competition to push him in his 3^rd season wouldn’t hurt.

Center

Their offense was a mess when Nick Mangold was out this season. Obviously, it’s always going to hurt to lose a player of Mangold’s caliber to injury, but if they had a better backup, they could avoid complete catastrophe in case of any future Mangold injuries.

Goodwin used to be a good center, but he’s 33 in December and his best days are behind him. This deal is a 3 year deal that takes him until he’s 35. Given how the market has deflated on free agents in recent days, Goodwin getting 3 years 10.9 million with 4 million dollars guaranteed looks pretty outrageous.

Grade: D 

Deal for Seattle: Back in 2008, I mocked Balmer to the Seahawks with the 25^th pick, as did several others. Balmer eventually slipped to 29^th where the Niners drafted him. However, the Balmer era in San Fran was a colossal failure. With a mere 19 tackles in two years and 0 sacks, Balmer could never consistently break into the rotation at defensive end for the Niners, so the Seahawks are hoping a return to the 4-3 and his natural position of defensive tackle will bring his former first round talent out of him. For a mere 6^th round pick, I’d say that’s a risk worth taking.

Grade: A

Deal for San Francisco: The Niners had absolutely no need for him. He wasn’t going to play significantly on their 3 man line this year at all and really never fit their 3-4 scheme well at all. Getting a 6^th rounder for him is pretty solid considering we’ve seen starting cornerbacks like Chris Houston go for 6^th rounders and star receivers with legal trouble go for a 5^th rounder. The Balmer reclamation project is less likely to work than a possible Adam Carriker bounce back year in Washington, yet the Rams got significantly less for their former 1^st round pick bust.

Grade: A

I have broken my sleepers into 4 categories this year. Mid Round Upside Picks, Mid Round Value Picks, Late Round Upside Picks, Late Round Value Picks. A Late Round Value Pick, as I will list here, is anyone available in the late rounds (13^th-15^th) of a 12 team draft, that doesn’t have the upside of a high upside sleeper, but is just flat out being overlooked. They are a relatively safe pick that you can count on to be worth slightly more than the round you draft them in.

All average draft position (ADP) stats are as of 9/1/10 and were found at ESPN.com

People who read this website often know I know a ton about football, so it’s not often I say this. But who the hell is this? Why did the Cowboys give him 11 million over 4 years. Did someone else offer him 10 million over 4 years? Who were they bidding against?

He hasn’t made a start since 2010 and ProFootballFocus said he played a mere 125 snaps for Carolina last season. With Livings and Bernadeau in the fold, the Cowboys have given starting caliber money to 2 non-starting caliber guards. They will reportedly make a decision on Kyle Kosier after the draft, either moving him to center or releasing him. That suggests they could still be holding out for David DeCastro at 14 with Bernadeau and Livings as backup plans, but still.

Grade: F

Roth isn’t a glamorous signing or anything, but they really needed a pass rusher. With Aaron Kampman always a huge injury risk, they have no proven, reliable pass rushers at defensive end. Roth could be decent for them, though he hasn’t played in a 4-3 as a pro. 3 million dollars is a decent value for him, but not great considering how dry the market has become.

Grade: B

Guard/Center

Florida

6-5 303

Draft board overall prospect rank: #45

Draft board overall guard rank: #4

Overall rating: 78 (2^nd round)

40 time: 5.12

3/23/11: Mike Pouncey is going to draw the obvious comparisons to Maurkice Pouncey, the Steelers Pro Bowl rookie center, simply because they have the same DNA. They are twin brothers. However, they do have some differences. Mike struggled with snaps at center when he attempted to play the position in college and for this reason he probably won’t be looked at as a center prospect.

Maurkice’s greatest strength might be his intangibles, his ability to bond with a quarterback. However, Mike is the more athletic prospect and, as a guard, I actually rate him higher than I did Maurkice last year, who I was not fond of (my bad…). Maurkice impressed me with his maturity as a rookie center, but this was just something that didn’t really show on tape at Florida. For this reason, and Mike’s better athleticism, I am giving Mike a better grade than I did Maurkice.

For another thing, Mike is, of course, another year older, another year more athletic, and another year more experienced than Maurkice was coming out. Mike’s arm length is a bit troubling, even for an interior lineman. He’s good got strength and good technique and is quick off the snap. He’s scheme versatile and can pass block as well as he can run block. He’s an elite blocker at the 2^nd level as well.

He has several weaknesses and inconsistency on tape is a real problem, as, actually, was the case with Maurkice in 2009 at Florida. He can be beaten by quicker interior pass rushers, which could end up being a problem with all of the athletic interior linemen in the NFL. He can play center, but he’s going to need more coaching at the position and he’d be a project as a center, so I wouldn’t necessarily call versatility a strength of his.

NFL Comparison: Ben Grubbs

2011 NBA Mock Draft

NBA Mock Draft Database 

2010

2009 

1-16 17-32 2nd Round 3rd Round 4th Round 5th Round 6th Round 7th Round

166. Carolina Panthers- CB Chykie Brown (Texas)

Cornerback depth is needed and the athletic Brown could definitely develop into a great starter for this team in time.