National Football Post Tavern Talk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY TAVERN DRAFT TALKS….

 

If you live in the area, be sure to watch “The Philadelphia Daily News Live” at 5:00pm tonight, as I will be a guest on the show.

Flowing from our tap today is the New York Jets.  And do they have a complicated history of drafting.  Let’s go back to 1980, when I first experienced the draft in person.  I was attending college at Hofstra University on Long Island and decided to go down to the Sheraton Hotel early in the morning to try and get one of the 500 seats available for fans.  (Yes, the draft has come a very long way).  Not only did I watch a full twelve round draft, I got to experience the Jets’ fans in the stands reacting to every pick.  Jet fans are NEVER confident with their picks and have a long history of booing and being unhappy on draft day.  In that draft, the Jets selected Freeman McNeil, a very good runner from UCLA, and followed up with Marion Barber –the father.  Man, does that make me feel old!!!

On a side note, this was the first time I met a man named Joel Buchsbaum.  He was the draft guru and resident expert on draft history.  He possessed the incredible ability to remember players times, as well as every single detail about their skill set.  He was in the stands with his paperwork and everyone was coming over for his opinion of each pick. He knew EVERY ONE.   Here is the excerpt of his obituary as it appeared in the New York Times. 

‘Draft day is now the second biggest day of the year behind the Super Bowl,” the Giants general manager, Ernie Accorsi, said yesterday. ”Joel had a lot to do with what became the glorification of draft day. ESPN started putting it on the air live, but Joel helped them get interested in it.”

Mr. Buchsbaum was born in Brooklyn in 1954 to Stanley and Frances Buchsbaum. His father, who died in 1999, had been a first assistant corporation counsel for New York City.

Deemed too small and uncoordinated by a coach in the Police Athletic League, Joel Buchsbaum spent hours in the stands studying the players.

In 1979, he began writing for Pro Football Weekly, and that year he wrote the first draft book, ”Pro Football Weekly and Scout’s Notebook ‘79.” An annual analysis of the top 600 college players followed, based on Mr. Buchsbaum’s interviews with hundreds of people. Despite the title’s reference to scout, Mr. Buchsbaum rejected the notion that he was one.

”He always said, ‘I don’t evaluate players, I listen to the right people,’ ” Mr. Accorsi said.

Joel went on to be a voice of authority for the draft and the draft history.  He had contacts in every personnel department, as everyone listened to him and respected his work ethic along his ability to evaluate.  He was one of a kind and I doubt there will ever be another one like him.  I had a very good relationship with Joel going back to 1984 when I started with the 49ers, and would talk with him several times a week.  I can still remember his voice on his answering machine when I called 718-252-4481. 

When I got a chance to run my own scouting department in Cleveland, I decided to no longer use National Scouting, as I would have rather paid $16.95 for Joel’s book instead of the 100 grand to belong to National.   Best investment I ever made.  He was right more than he was wrong and his work ethic was amazing. 

I introduce Joel as a backdrop for my history lesson of the Jets.  The Jets were Joel’s team.  He loved them and wanted them to do well.  He had a great relationship with the Giants, but Joel was a closet Jet fan.  The night he died, I can remember calling his house on my way home, as we were getting ready to potentially play the Jets in a playoff game.  My message to him that he never heard was that his team was playing very well and might be the best team we would face in the 2002 playoffs. 

So, Joel loved the Jets and he loved the George Young system of scouting that we talked about last week.  The Jets, under Mike Hickey and Dick Steinberg, used that exact system and then when Bill Parcells came in, they stayed within the framework of the system.  When Terry Bradway took over in the late 90s, they modified the system and were not as attached to the size speed concepts of their past.   Today, even though “The Person with Knowledge of Jet Thinking” is the GM, and Bradway is currently still on the personnel staff (how weird is that?  Can you imagine telling Tom Peters, the leadership guru, of that switch with a straight face?), the Jets are not married to size and speed, nor do they have a basic philosophy regarding selection of players. 

Bradway was the GM until three years ago and The Person with Knowledge of Jet Thinking is now the man in charge of the draft.  I first hired The Person with Knowledge of Jet Thinking when he came out of Tulane Law School, and gave him an internship as a cap guy before cap guys were a part of the league.     

Here are some facts about the Jets’ drafts:

The Jets have had 50 draft picks since 2002.  Here is the breakdown by round. 

8 FIRST ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002

                                            6 SECOND ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002        

6 THIRD ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002

7 FOURTH ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002

7 FIFTH ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002

7 SIXTH ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002

9 SEVENTH ROUND PICKS SINCE 2002

1. 17 of those picks from 2002 are still on the active roster.  34% of are still with team
2. 12 of their starters are from the Draft.  Shawn Ellis comes from the 2000 draft. 
3. The Jets have to rely on free agents and trades to supplement their lack of quality drafting. 
4. Who will be the QB of the FUTURE?  There might have to be a trade to find this player. 
5. All of their starters in the secondary come from the draft.  12 picks since 2002 have been spent on the defensive backfield.  The most of any position on the team. Both lines finished second, with 8 picks each. 
6. Best pick: Running back Derrick Ward and they cut him.  Leon Washington and Brad Smith are very good players. 
7. Vernon Gholston is going to be…?  I don’t see a talented football player.  I see a work out player who is not physical. 
8. The Jets have to get better in the draft.  They have one of the worst caps for 2009 and were one of the highest spending cash teams in the NFL last year.  But they needed to win this year to save jobs and gain extensions. 
9. Darrelle Revis is a great player and one of their best picks. 
10. One thing is for sure:  Joel would not be happy with many of these names.  Joel, we toast you today in the Tavern and miss hearing from you.  I know you and Sparky (his trusted dog) are in a better place.  Cheers!!!!

 

1	14	Darrelle Revis	DB	Pittsburgh
1	6	Vernon Gholston	DL	Ohio State
1	4	Dewayne Robertson	DL	Kentucky
1	22	Bryan Thomas	DL	Alabama-Birmingham
1	12	Jonathan Vilma	LB	Miami (Fla.)
1	4	D’Brickashaw Ferguson	OL	Virginia
1	29	Nick Mangold	OL	Ohio State
1	30	Dustin Keller	TE	Purdue
2	57	Justin Miller	DB	Clemson
2	57	Jon McGraw	DB	Kansas State
2	47	David Harris	LB	Michigan
2	53	Victor Hobson	LB	Michigan
2	49	Kellen Clemens	QB	Oregon
2	47	Mike Nugent	K	Ohio State
3	97	Eric Smith	DB	Michigan State
3	76	Derrick Strait	DB	Oklahoma
3	88	Sione Pouha	DL	Utah
3	76	Anthony Schlegel	LB	Ohio State
3	85	B.J. Askew	RB	Michigan
3	88	Chris Baker	TE	Michigan State
4	113	Dwight Lowery	DB	San Jose State
4	123	Kerry Rhodes	DB	Louisville
4	121	Alan Harper	DL	Fresno State
4	132	Adrian Jones	OL	Kansas
4	117	Leon Washington	RB	Florida State
4	103	Brad Smith	WR	Missouri
4	108	Jerricho Cotchery	WR	North Carolina State
5	161	Andre Maddox	DB	North Carolina State
5	143	Erik Coleman