The 2017 NFL Combine is under way, and as my partner Eric Allen reports from Indianapolis, "It's a madhouse." Every year the workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium expand as teams do ever more to uncover all the information they need to add important new pieces to their roster and more and more media and fans converge to watch it all unfold.
EA and the newyorkjets.com multimedia crew did their first show from the Combine today, and the guests were Brian Costello of the New York Post, The MMQB senior reporter Albert Breer and NFL Network/NFL.com reporter Kim Jones. All had their takes on the recent doings and the days ahead for the Jets.
NFL draft guru Mike Mayock is another who's spoken with us over the years about the Green & White. Mike may yet meet up with Eric but he already held his annual conference call with reporters from Indy earlier this week. Among the questions he fielded was one about the Jets and whether he thought quarterback was a position of interest for them with their sixth overall pick.
"I don't do team needs until after free agency because it's, frankly, a waste of time," Mayock said. "But the quarterback thing for the Jets is really frustrating. I mean, they took [Christian] Hackenberg last year, Geno [Smith]'s not working out, [Bryce] Petty's still on the roster. They've expended some pretty high draft picks on a bunch of quarterbacks that have paid no fruit."
(Yes, Mike did say "paid no fruit." That phraseology is one reason we love listening to him.)
"So if you're asking me whether the Jets at No. 6 should take a quarterback, I would emphatically tell you no. As a matter of fact, I don't have a top-10 grade on any quarterback in this draft. So I would not be in that conversation.
"If you're talking about what the Jets should do at six based on what they've done with their offensive line, they just released or didn't re-sign three of their starting offensive linemen. That's a real need for them, obviously. At No. 6, is there a guy worthy of that? Probably not."
Top Photos from the First Day of the 2017 NFL Combine in Indianapolis
If not QB, where on offense or defense might the Jets turn?
"I think you're going to end up, just because of value — unless they trade back — I think you're going to look at a defensive back, corner or safety, or one of the edge guys. I think that's where they're going to end up being. Because if you're picking six, you've got to get a great football player. You've got to get one of the five or six best players in the draft.
"So if you're the Jets, you're hoping a couple of those quarterbacks go early until a better positional player falls to you."
