With the New York Jets latest loss to the Buffalo Bills, it’s now time to look ahead to the 2019 NFL Draft and the future of the team.
The New York Jets want to desperately hit CTRL+ALT+DEL on their 2018 season, despite the report earlier this week that the Jets will resist the urge to press the big red button in the middle of the room.
Head coach Todd Bowles isn’t expected to be fired in the middle of this season, but is expected to be let go after it, which means there is another opening at the helm of the Jets.
But who is on that exclusive list to be considered?
NFL guru Connor Rogers of the Stick to Football podcast and insider for the NFL Draft Network had a lot to say about this topic on his weekly appearance on ‘Drive Time Sports’:
“If you’re going to go with a guy from the pro game, the top choice is John Harbaugh. I’m not a fan of the coordinators being mentioned as potential interview candidates for the Jets like John DeFilippo. Eric Bieniemy will be a good head coach one day, but he needs more time, this is his first year as the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs. Going back to Harbaugh, this is a guy that easily tops the list.
“This is a guy that has taken down the New England Patriots and has won a Super Bowl. When you look at it, it makes a ton of sense. He’s the winningest coach in Baltimore Ravens history. I’m surprised the Ravens want to move on when you look at his resume. The issue with Harbaugh, if he becomes a free agent after the season is he’ll be a hot commodity. Denver and Cleveland will come calling and he’ll be on the top of a lot of lists.”
A dark horse name to watch out for is Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, says Connor Rogers:
“Campbell rebuilt Toledo and made them a winning program. Then he goes to Iowa State and rebuilt them into a winning program. He’s more than just a really good offensive coach and he has a staff that can coach defense.
“Last year, they were tops in fewest turnovers surrendered, fewest penalties, fewest fumbles surrendered, that’s a well disciplined and coached football team and he’s creative on the offensive side of things. He’s not even 40 years old yet and he’s a good young leader. This is the unconventional route that the Jets finally need to go.”
Naturally, after selecting a new head coach, they’ll be tasked with selecting a premier player in the 2019 NFL Draft. With the team sitting at 3-7, they seemingly have a ton of needs on the team which means there’s a lot of different ways the Jets can go in April, here’s where Connor’s head is at:
“This is not a team that’ll be picking first or second overall when this is all said and done. This team is going to be in that 5-10 range on draft day. I think if you’re sitting there at five, you’re going to have a real chance at a premier pass rusher. That’s been a problem for the Jets for over a decade.
“I like Clelin Ferrell from Clemson and Jachai Polite from Florida, I think these two guys are tailor-made for this Jets defense. I think they’d be able to get after the quarterback and I wouldn’t be able to pass on either of them if they were there.
“But also don’t sleep on them potentially adding to the secondary as well. Trumaine Johnson has been a massive disappointment, Mo Claiborne is set to hit free agency after this year, and they may move on from Buster Skrine. There’s a handful of corners available in round one, whether it’s Greedy Williams, Byron Murphy from Washington or Trayvon Mullen or even Deandre Baker from Georgia. If the Jets start winning here late in 2018 and they’re picking in the teens, one of the corners may make sense for the Jets.”
Our NFL Insider Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) of the @DraftNetworkLLC joined @BoyGreen25 on "Drive Time Sports" to talk top candidates for the #Jets job + could #LARams and #ChiefsKingdom be a Super Bowl preview + what's gone wrong for #DUUUVAL and more!https://t.co/sjDerxZfGz
— The Score 1260 (@TheScore1260) November 12, 2018
