New York Jets Draft Review – Round 4

ROUND 4 {#103 Overall}
WR Brad Smith
University of MissouriROUND 4 {#117 Overall}
RB Leon Washington
Florida State UniversityExcellent idea with Brad Smith and a nice value pick at a position of need with Leon Washington.Brad Smith is a tremendous athlete and a relentless football player. I’ve seen him play and that’s no exaggeration. He’s quick, elusive, tough, breaks tackles, and awesome with the ball in his hands in the open field. He can use all of those skills to become a playmaker at the next level “IF” he can make the transition to wideout.He’s also a pretty big kid at 6′ 2″/210 and by all accounts another young man who possesses the strong character Tangini came looking for in this draft.There are some questions about Smith’s desire to play Quarterback in the pros. It appears he has not entirely put that dream to rest. If that doesn’t change it could hold him back. Its tough enough to switch positions from college to the pros, that type of move requires a full commitment, but Smith is an amazing athlete {with nice size} who has the ability to make a successful transition from QB to WR {ala Drew Pearson, Randle EL, Matt Jones, etc.} if he puts his heart and soul into this move.If not, he could be out of the league following a brief cup of coffee, cause he’s not playing Quarterback in the NFL.The upside alone as a playmaker {combined with strong character} makes this a gamble worth taking in RD 4. If you hit on this one, you might just hit big. That’s why I called it an excellent idea.PS. Don’t discount the possibility that he might play some RB as well. WR seems far more likely, but Smith has some RB instincts, outstanding acceleration, and he doesn’t go down easily. I still think his best position is WR, might be too tall and might not have the necessary body type for RB, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he lines up in the backfield on occasion.As for Leon Washington, lacks ideal size but he’s really fast and very elusive in the open field. Bona-fide playmaker, both as a runner and a receiver out of the backfield. Good set of hands. Can also make plays in the return game, both kickoffs and punt returns.This is a kid who averaged nearly 7 Yards Per Carry at FSU in 2004 {that’s a big number at any level}, but saw that number tail off in 2005 behind a poor offensive line.He’s probably too small to ever be a starting tailback in the NFL, but you can definitely design some packages that take advantage of his speed, elusiveness and playmaking abilities as a runner, and receiver {out of the backfield} and return man.All things considered I thought this was a nice job by Tangini in RD 4. Even if it doesn’t work as planned, it was still the right idea in my view.

 

Round 1 – D’Brickashaw Ferguson

Rounds 1 & 2 – Mangold, Clemens

Round 3 – Anthony Schlegel

Round 3 – Eric Smith

Rounds 5, 6, 7 – Pociask, Coleman and Adams

UDFA Signings

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