It occurred to me while doing last weeks article that a lot of the storylines I was paying attention to involved the 2020 draft class. It’s been a pretty divisive draft to be sure and they are all entering their 3rd year in the league, this is their make or break year. So lets take a look back and see with the benefit of hindsight how we got to where we are and what could have been.
Round 1 pick 11 Mekhi Becton. I think everything thats been said about Mekhi has been said, he’s got all the athleticism in the world and could be a perennial all pro. It’s not hard to understand the logic of taking him. He was a perfect fit in Gase’s offence but was versatile enough to work in other systems. The upside was all there. The concern was his weight and durability along with being still raw in pass protection. He’s still raw in his pass protection largely because he hasn’t been able to stay on the field. It’s all on him this season to prove he’s committed to his conditioning and improving his technique. When we look back at the draft and who went where after Mekhi was picked you have to think that if Joe Douglas could turn back time Tristan Wirfs would be the pick.
Round 2 Pick 59 Denzel Mims. This pick made so much sense and seemed like a steal. He was a bit raw in his route running but the production in college was great and his size/speed combination signalled a lot of potential. What happened though? A lot of bad luck, he missed a good portion of his rookie year with hamstring issues so that year was a wash. Coming into his second season he had to learn a new more difficult offence, one that is predicated on tight route running. His training camp curse continues and he missed a fair amount of time due to some bad seafood. He couldn’t get on the field, he didn’t know the system and he basically gave up. You could see him in practice and when he did get the chance to play, the man checked out and was defeated. The potential is still there for him and if he can dedicate himself and learn the system but his time with the Jets is at 2 minutes to midnight he has no room for error. Looking back at the draft you can’t help but wonder if Joe Douglas got too cute with the trade down, I think we all know he traded down thinking Van Jefferson would still be there but it probably in hindsight have been better to stay at 48 and take Van or even Chace Claypool.
Round 3 pick 68 Ashtyn Davis. This is the Leonard Williams pick we got back from the Giants. An athletic freak, a walk on player who is a track star. He has amazing speed and solid coverage skills. The knock on him is the lack of experience and he’s still pretty raw. What happened with him, as is a trend with this draft, injuries and missing development time. He’s had to do a lot of learning the last two seasons on the field which hasn’t gone well for him. I like him a lot and his potential is still high but there is a player coming up who is nipping at his heels. Looking back at the draft there are a lot of players picked after him that look like the better option, Julian Blackmon at safety being the best option at the same position. Also you have to wonder if JD read the board a little wrong here and if picking centre Matt Hennessy here would have been the better move given what happened next.
Round 3 pick 79 Jabari Zuniga. This pick still makes no sense, I doubt Gregg Williams stumped for the player, there must have been a scout really pushing for him. He’s showed the slightest of glimmer of potential but given the fact that JD has brought in a lot of other edge rushers has Jabari at the bottom of the depth chart. It’s not looking good for him baring an amazing pre season. Looking back at the draft its not hard to come up with better options to draft, Terrell Lewis and Johnathan Greenard have both appear to have been better options that went later.
Round 4 pick 120 La’Mical Perine. I don’t really want to belabour this one. He’s just a guy. There was a time where it was ok to grab this kind of player in the 4th round at RB because all the good ones went high but not anymore. You can kind of see the logic of picking him as he can fit a lot of systems but he doesn’t do any one thing better than average. He was never going to be a starter or even the second guy. Looking back at the draft it probably would have been better to take an RB with the Zuniga pick Like Lynn Bowden or Zack Moss and go somewhere else with this pick.
Round 4 pick 125 James Morgan. Nope. Literally anyone else would have provided more to this team than this draft pick.
Round 4 pick 129 Cameron Clark. I’m not going to say much here he was a fine pick and had real potential but had to retire due to a spinal cord injury.
Round 5 Pick 158 Bryce Hall. This is the pick thats probably gone the best out of the draft. He was kind of a flyer, a talent that dropped because of injury. He overcame that injury and has developed into a solid starter/super utility backup. There isn’t much more to say really this is exactly how you hope a 5th rounder turns out.
Round 6 pick 191 Braden Mann. The punter pick, what can you say about a punter. He’s supposedly a very talented punter, at least thats what we heard when he was drafted. Hard to find fault with taking a specialist in the 6th round as long as he can do the job. Can he do the job though? After 2 seasons the answer is, maybe. His best work is superb but his worst is pretty bad. I don’t think you need an elite punter, just a consistently average to good one. If he can’t be consistent he’ll be off the team before the end of the season, you can always find a consistent punter when you need one. Were there good players picked after him, sure Jordan Fuller and Quez Watkins come to mind looking back but it’s the sixth round its full of washouts and backups so i won’t criticize Joe too much for this one.
So What did we learn here, this was an imperfect draft for sure, and its curious that the top 3 picks have all had similar trajectories. Athletic high potential players that have been derailed by impeded development. This isn’t unexpected, the football gods are as cruel as they are kind, just odd that it happens to this many players in one class. We’ll see what happens this year.