Valuing Third Round Draft Picks

By Ron Pickett Posted On October 22, 2013

In a recent episode of JetNation Radio (October 15^th) I heard my colleague Dennis Agapito talking about the success of the third round draft picks across the league. It got me thinking that I should look into the past five years draft classes and point out some of the players who are making an impact on their teams. Keep in mind that the Jets will likely have two third round picks, one is still conditional with the Buccaneers for the Darrelle Revis trade, in the upcoming 2014 NFL draft.

Third round draft picks usually aren’t the best at combine testing, didn’t have a good pro day or possible come from a non-elite football program, but can end up as impact players. They know how to play the game and many of these mid-round picks overachieve their draft position. Due to the fact that they may not have the fastest 40-time or didn’t bench enough reps at the combine, these athletes slipped into the third round, a round that nothing is guaranteed as far as a roster spot. They are not all Pro-Bowl caliber players but many have had a positive impact on their team’s success.

With a lot of talk about trading a draft pick for a guy like Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon (who is one off-field issue away from being suspended for an entire year), Jets general manager John Idzik needs to be mindful of potentially trading any of his two third round picks. The following players are from the past five drafts and are making an impact on either side of the ball for their respective teams:

2009 Draft

Position/Player	Team Drafted/Current Team	Overall
OG – Luis Vasquez	San Diego Chargers(now Denver Broncos)	78
WR – Mike Wallace	Pittsburgh Steelers (now Miami Dolphins)	84
DB – Lardarius Webb	Baltimore Ravens	88
TE – Jared Cook	Tennessee Titans (now St. Louis Rams)	89

2010 Draft

Position/Player	Team Drafted/Current Team	Overall
S – Major Wright	Chicago Bears	75
WR – Brandon Lafell	Carolina Panthers	78
WR – Emmanuel Sanders	Pittsburgh Steelers	82
WR – Eric Decker	Denver Broncos	87
LB – Navorro Bowman	San Francisco 49ers	97
TE – Tony Moeaki	Kansas City Chiefs	93
TE – Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints	95

2011 Draft

Position/Player	Team Drafted/Current Team	Overall
RB – Demarco Murray	Dallas Cowboys	71
RD – Steven Ridley	New England Patriots	73
WR – Vincent Brown	San Diego Chargers	82

2012 Draft

Position/Player	Team Drafted/Current Team	Overall
WR – T.J. Graham	Buffalo Bills	69
QB – Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	75
LB – Demario Davis	New York Jets	77
WR – Mohamed Sanu	Cincinnati Bengals	83
QB – Nick Foles	Philadelphia Eagles	88
WR – T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts	92

2013 Draft

Position/Player	Team Drafted/Current Team	Overall
S – Tyrann Mathieu	Arizona Cardinals	69
S – T.J. McDonald	St. Louis Rams	71
WR – Terrance Williams	Dallas Cowboys	74
WR – Keenan Allen	San Diego Chargers	76
TE – Jordan Reed	Washington Redskins	85

The Jets have to be smart about trades as the deadline approaches (Oct. 29). They should keep as many draft picks as possible, unless the deal is for a low risk, high reward player, which most teams will not give up. Third round picks are particularly important because of the recent string of success teams have had with players in this round and the low cost contracts they receive. The Jets probably have two of them and will most definitely use the picks on players that could have an immediate impact with some phase of the team.

Ron Pickett

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This Article Was Written By Ron Pickett

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