Diner Morning News: The Jets & Austin

FROM MICHAEL LOMBARDI:

8 April 2009

QUOTE:  “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”  ~ William Jennings Bryan

FROM DAVE HUTCHINSON OF THE NEWARK STAR-LEDGER... Dallas Cowboys restricted free agent wideout Miles Austin, a New Jersey native and Monmouth University product, is scheduled to visit the Jets late this week, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News.  Austin, 6-foot-3, 216 pounds, caught 13 passes for 278 yards (21.4-yard average) and three touchdowns last season. A special teams standout, he averaged 21.5 yards on 29 kickoff returns. He missed four games with a knee injury.  Austin, 24, signed a one-year, $1.545-million tender offer with Dallas that would require a team to give up a second-round pick as compensation to the Cowboys if they didn't match an offer sheet. The restricted free agent period ends on April 17. The Jets' second-round pick is the 52nd overall.  Austin, who attended Garfield High School, has the size, speed and big-play potential the Jets are looking for at wide receiver. Last season, he had two catches for 115 yards and a touchdown vs. the Packers. He signed with the Cowboys as a rookie free agent in 2006 after finishing his career at Monmouth as the school's all-time leader in touchdown receptions (33), receptions (150) and yards (2,867).

I have always been a fan of Miles Austin and think he’s an up-and-coming player.  He will be much better than anyone the Jets can draft in the second round this year and he would affect the team right way compared to a rookie who might need time to develop.  My question is, why Austin and not Lance Moore of the Saints?  Moore offers more skills as a receiver, especially on third down separating from man-to-man coverage.  He would remind many Jets fans of Wayne Chrebet.  Now, I’m sure the Saints would match any deal for Moore, as he is a huge part of their offense.  The Cowboys might not match the deal for Austin since they have already made huge investments in Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton.  They may also value the second-round pick as a better proposition than matching the offer. 

People always talk about taking the best player on the board, and most teams are insistent upon saying they stay with their draft board as the draft proceeds.  However, human nature does take over and there is always a little fudging at a position of need, moving players higher up the vertical board.  The key to setting up the draft board lies not in the vertical ranking of the positions but rather having someone who can value the horizontal value of the whole board.  That person must have a full command of the board and know, for example, that the need might be at wide receiver but the value is to take the corner. I know most of you feel that line of thinking is a given, but in the draft rooms I’ve been in, this is not always handled very well.  Most mistakes come from the horizontal value of the board, not from the vertical ranking. 

Coaches only do the vertical rankings at their position.  The scouts are limited in their knowledge of all the players, so they may have a brief horizontal prospective, but they don’t have the full grasp of all the players.  The man in charge of the draft must be able to value the vertical rankings to the horizontal rankings and apply those to the NFL and to the team needs.  Therein lies the challenge in the draft. 

Knowing the NFL allows you to understand the horizontal aspect of the board.  However, knowing your team inside and out allows you to best value the horizontal board.  You never want to draft a player who is similar to a player already on the roster.  Duplication of talent does not allow you to improve the team.  To avoid these mistakes, a GM must know the value of the players on his team as it relates to the college board. So all this talk about drafting by the best player available is only done correctly if the horizontal board has been properly prepared. 

Now, back to the Jets.  They must place Austin, and any other player they would consider signing, on their board in a vertical sense but also in a horizontal sense. If the value of Austin far outweighs their board from both perspectives, then they need to make the move and be very aggressive. But if they sense there might be a stronger value in the second round as it relates to the horizontal board, they should back off.  Austin might be better than any wideout they might get in the second round, but is he better than any other player in the second round?  Only the person who has a command of the horizontal board can make that determination. 

FROM THE AP... Tank Johnson, a player with legal troubles in his background, is joining the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that frequently has dealt with such issues. The defensive tackle agreed to a contract with the Bengals on Tuesday. His agent, Jerrold Colton, says the Bengals' defensive scheme is a better fit for Johnson than his previous team, the Dallas Cowboys.  The 27-year-old free agent had 33 tackles and three sacks in two seasons with the Cowboys, who signed him even while Johnson was still serving an eight-game NFL suspension in 2007 for violating the league's conduct policy.

This might be a good signing for the Bengals.  Johnson was not a good player in the 3-4 defense and getting back to the 4-3 might more suited to his talents.  Mike Zimmer, the Bengals defensive coordinator, knows all about Johnson and might be able to get more production from him than the Cowboys did.  I know Johnson has had off-the-field problems and his play on the field has never been spectacular, but this move might be beneficial for both parties. 

Watch my appearance on the NFL Network’s “Path to the Draft” Tuesday night discussing the Raiders:

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