New York Jets

Jets can't afford to draft yet another quarterback

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:06 a.m. ET

Fansided, Bobby Kirschenbaum/FanSided via The Jet Press

The New York Jets would be wise to not believe all the hype around the top quarterbacks available in the 2017 NFL Draft and address a major need on defense.

Leading a team to win the National Championship against the top-seeded, Nick Saban-led, undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide is quite an impressive achievement. Being nominated for the prestigious Heisman trophy award in back-to-back years is remarkable. And being 6’3, 215 pounds is the ideal size for an NFL quarterback. However, the New York Jets, who hold the sixth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, simply can not afford to draft quarterback Deshaun Watson, especially not with that high of a draft pick.

Deshaun Watson looked phenomenal all season, but particularly on live national television, with the whole country watching as he led Clemson to a blowout win 31-0 in the semi-finals over Ohio State. Then marched on to defeat Alabama 35-31 in the championship off of a last-second touchdown throw. However, history has shown that sometimes these statistics can be very misleading.

In 2011, A.J. McCarron led Alabama the very same way, and he dominated all throughout college. Now, he is Andy Dalton‘s backup in Cincinnati for the Bengals. In 2008, Tim Tebow decimated opponents while playing for Florida and won the championship. He went on to play for a couple of seasons, became a backup, then commentated for NCAA, and is now pursuing a baseball career. There is no proof that Watson will turn out the same way, but for this Jets team, drafting Watson at No. 6 overall is just way too big of a risk.

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When looking at Watson’s statistics at Clemson, it seems like Deja Vu. It sure feels like these stats have popped up once before heading into a draft. And then it hit me: the Jets did draft somebody with statistics almost identical to Watson’s: Mr. Geno Smith, and we all know how that panned out.

Watson had 4,593 passing yards, with 41 touchdowns and a disappointing 17 interceptions. Once again, Watson has major potential and could be a great quarterback. But if the Jets’ management thinks wisely, Watson is absolutely not the route to take.

The draft is one of the most unpredictable events in all of sports. Teams can land a JaMarcus Russell No. 1 overall, who became debatably the biggest bust in the history of sports. Or a team can land a Tom Brady, drafted in the sixth round and become a top-three quarterback in the history of the league. Watson is projected to go top ten for sure, but who takes the young star is to be seen.

The Jets could absolutely benefit from finally finding a franchise quarterback, but unfortunately, the defense was too atrocious last season to avoid starting there. The Jets would be very wise to draft a cornerback and avoid Watson completely.