The game is over, and then you're on the World captain. You play to win the game. Case gotta that's a Jet touchdown. Can't wait your Listen to the Official Jets podcast, a Jets three sixty production. All Right, we're back in studio. It's been a minute. Huh, it's been more than a Minute's been a few weeks. Do you know that's a it's a millennial saying it's been a minute. I mean it's been a long time. So so that's the old people saying it's been a few weeks. Yes, yep, that's fun.
It's been a little too long since E. A and I, Eric Allen and Ethan Greenberg have been in studio. We won't be here. We won't be here for long because this is a combined preview, and by the time most people listening to this, we will be in America's heartland. I am taking you to Indianapolis for your first scouting column. I've never been to Indianapolis. I'm I'm excited. Well, that's a great city. You probably won't be outdoors too much.
The great thing about Indianapolis this is a convention destination city. So if it is freezing, you can stay inside, walk to Lucas Oil, stay underground the whole time, not stay under ground, but stay indoors the whole time. And all the hotels are connected, and even when you walk to the restaurants, you don't have to go outside too much. All right, e said it, But this is the combine preview. Earlier this week and last week, Mel Kuiper of ESPN
and Mike Mayock both had their conference calls. We're gonna touch on a couple of different topics of what they said. We have a somewhat loaded show, and make sure to follow e A on Twitter at el and Jets and me Ethan Greenberg got Ethan Breenberg. I had to put the B because Ethan Greenberg was a little too generic, so I had to separate. But nonetheless, all right, what about Instagram? Man, you're talking about millennials, but we can't
mention Instagram. Yeah, follow e A on Instagram at ellen Jet. That's an easy one. What about you are private? I am private? I am? I am? I have my Instagram. Is is separate from my Twitter. Twitter is Twitter's you know, National fund and games. I don't put a lot of information on on Instagram. It's more me and my friends. There's nothing. There's nothing crazy. When you have a professional Instagram in your future, potentially I'm I'm maybe I'll open
up my Instagram one days. Uh start a little apprehensive about it when you're saying your Instagram is private, So I'm wondering in the lock, I'll show you what's behind the lock. It's not too exciting, but all right, I tell you, Mark and the trading period begin. But this week in Indianapolis will be talking about everything because the draft is not too far away. And then free agency, the Jets have a lot of money to spend, financial flexibility, Uh,
big names out there in free agency. And then Mike mcagna has reiterated Greens that he wants to build this thing through the draft and this is just a piece
of the process. I don't know at the end of the day, and we're gonna talk to some of our scouts about it during the week how much they actually weigh the combine into the draft equation because it is important because you're getting medicals, you're doing interviews, and then ultimately, I think what you you're looking at from an on the field perspective is just that what you see on tape is confirmed, right. I think that what you said is I think often overlooked in that the combine is
much more than just a series of drills. A lot happens after they do the drills and off the field that exclude the media, when that includes formal interviews a lot of them, and the medicals, know, are very important throughout the league in the eye of the scout and the eye of general managers and the medical guys as well. So there are a couple of guys of course every
year that the medicals are very important for. I mean thinking about last year, and this is a guy that's been in the news lately unfortunately for a pair of arrest, but Ruben Foster, there was a lot of questions about his shoulder and the medical there, which is eventually why a lot of people think that he ended up falling all the way to the end of the first round. But this is the situation for the Jets right now. Is you touched on is that the Jets have a
lot of financial flexibility. March fourteenth is around the corner the most camp room greens, not only for now two eighteen, but in terms of two thousand nineteen as well. There you go, I did not know that, but now and then and then not only that, but the Jets have the number six overall pick, and I know that all eyes right now are on the draft because of the
combine coming up. But first things first is that free agency is first up on the docket, and a lot of what happens in free agency will determine what happens atop the draft, which will that in turn effects who's on the board when the Jets are like that number six. Well, yeah, you are writing about the mock drafts left and right in Greenberg mock draft dot com. No, I'm just kidding, But on New York Just dot com you're seeing a lot of um, you're taking aggregates out there of what
people are projecting for the Jets at six. My thing is, that's a tough job because the Jets landscape, what this organization looks like, is probably gonna look at least a little bit differently. It will look a little bit different, It could look dramatically different once I think, uh, right now, when you kind of look at the actor get of mock drafts that have been coming out, there are a lot of quarterbacks, especially because that's not just for the Jets.
That's for the teams in front of them that are also in the market or thought to be in the market for a signal caller. Because of course, free agency hasn't happened yet, so those guys can't predict what happens on the market, but a lot of guys have. The Jets taking some combination of Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen. Sam Donald is the only one that really hasn't fallen to six in the mock draft. But not
only that. If you go outside of quarterback, is how about a guy like Quentin Nelson, And he is debatedly the best prospect in this draft, the cleannest prospect, and he is by far and away in the eye of the draft pundits, and that includes Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock, Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks, the list goes on and on. He is by far and away the best aligneman in this draft class and he's an interior alignment. But this guy is an absolute freaky I mean, he's six five,
three thirty. He sheds people left and right, he throws people down. And there's this one video that if you have not seen it, you gotta go to Todd mcshay's Twitter and he posted this cliff and he was breaking down Twitter private. No, okay, I'll check it out. Yeah all right, all right, yeah, be sure to do that and moved and moved the sticks. That's Daniel Jeremiah, is it? Yeah? When did you say McShay? What? Quentin Nelson is lining up at left guard like he did all season, and
the ball gets snapped. He doesn't really see anyone coming at him rushing him, so he looks around and sure enough there's a Georgia bulldog coming free and he pummels him. He's a tremendous player. Mike Mack actually was asked about Quentin Nelson on the recent conference. Came weren't they They were? I think it's uh. I think we should take a listen right now. Our next question comes from Corneen Kane
with Chicago. Vin your line is now open, But Mike, what's sever Quinn Nelson from the other offensive lineman in this draft? Good question? Um. The first is DNA. You know, he's two hundred three thirty pounds. He's got a nasty demeanor, he finishes with an edge. He's probably the best run blocking interior offensive lineman i've seen in years plus. In today's NFL, you've got to protect your quarterback, and every quarterback I've talked to in the NFL saying what bothers
from the most is immediate pressure up the middle. So you've got a guy to can set a physical edge in the middle of your line up front and allow your quarterback to step up. That's a big deal. So he's great in the run game. He's very good in the past game. He was coached by Harry Eastands, who I think one of the best offensive line coach because I've ever been around, who's now with the Chicago Bears. So he's got talent, he's got coaching, and at the
end of the day, he loves football. I know this kid. He's got a passion for the game. He's got a passion to be the best he can be. So when you add all those things up, unless he's injured, unless he gets a bad injury, I love the fact that he can come in day one and be a high
level NFL player. Right. So, I know that Quintin Nelson isn't necessarily the sexiest picked, but if you're a Jets fan and you get a guy that a lot of people project as a first or second year pro bowler and All Pro and he's a part of your team for the next decade or so. You've got to be excited about that. And the last time correct me if I'm wrong with the last time alignment went that high for the Jets with what Nick Mangol back in the day, Well, yeah,
because they both were taking in the first round. So that was the year where you got the brickshaw Ferguson left tack Louder Virginia four. I think Mangold from Ohio State twenty nine speaking Ohio State centers. Other guys gonna get a lot of pub this week is Billy Price, the highest rated center by uh most draft pundits out there. So he could be a late first round or maybe in the early second round, or that's what people are
saying right now. But you know, the thing that's fascinating to me about Quinton Nelson is that's not a glamour position offensive line, the guard spot. Typically when you're talking about taking somebody dead early, maybe a top six, top seven pick, you're thinking tackle. The only problem is that the tackles are not rated that highly. This year and one of the first two guys. There's kind of a mix up top with Mike McGlinchey who played next to
Quinton Nelson. Then you get Connor Williams out of Texas and Orlando Brown who protected Baker Mayfield's blindside for the majority of his career. There, so there's a group there, and maybe e a one of those guys. His performances in Indianapolis will kind of separate them from the cluster air, but we'll see what happens. But another guy at number six. Also, for the record, if the Jets pick Quenton Nelson or any offensive player at number six overall, that's the first
time in nine years that they do so right. It will be the first time in ten picks. The last pick is the last offensive player. The Jets selected Mark Sanchez quarterback, usc they have it, and let's let's flip. Let's flip the ball here to defense because from a defensive perspective here, there's only a couple of guys that I think most pundits would have the Jets selecting, one of them being mink Of Fitzpatrick, who's an interesting hybrid
player because he's lined up at corner. He's lined up as safety, he's lined up as a nickel, and a lot of people, well, the Jets don't need a safety, you know, is that they're set at safety for years to come with a tremendously talented duo and Jamal Adams the six overall pick last year, and then obviously Marcus May the second round pick of my mcagnet in two thousand and seventeen. With that being said, the thing that I find the most interesting about Fitzpatrick is you called
him a chess piece, and you're right. If he is a slot defender, is he at top ten? Pick two other guys that you're hearing a lot of people get some love to our Denzel Award Ohio State. And then guy who Kleiper absolutely loves his Josh Jackson cornerback Iowa. You know, if you look at the guy that you've moved down, the guy who I think would fit that
movie be Josh Jackson from Iowa. But he's projected into the twenties, so I think he's maybe the eleventh best player, and he don't take the eleventh best player with a sixth pick. You want to get a guy inside your top five where you want to trade down so I think that would be a kind of a quandary for the chest at that point. Josh Jackson is an interesting case because he came to Iowa as a receiver, so he has tremendous hands, used more of a ball hawk
than someone like Denzel Award. But Josh Jackson, to me, he had a great senior year or last year, but he he was never really on the college radar beforehand with someone like Delziel. Ward did knock on him is his height. And this is also wart season, I know, his mock draft season. It's wart season because all these guys are under a microscope, so you kind of forget how good these guys are. And that goes for all the quarterbacks and all the top players is oh, well
can he do this? Can he do that? Well? No player is perfect, but these are the top players in this year's draft, and someone like Mickey Fitzpatrick is I think best suited as However, he'd be used in that if you move him around a little bit and he does a little bit of this, it does a little bit of that. If he were to come here, I would assume Todd Bowles would know exactly how he would want to deploy him. Listen, you know, I get back to what we touched on the onset here Green's is set.
All options are on the table for the Jets at the quarterback position. So the number one thing that you want answered from the organization in an offseason is what direction were you going at in regards to the quarterback? Uh? It's expected that Kirk Cousins has that explaining contract, that he will be a coveted free agent by multiple suitors out there. What are the Vikings going to do with
their threesome of quarterbacks? It's been reported earlier this week that case Keenum is not going to get the franchise tag, so he's an expiring contract. Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Bradford, A J McCarron. He won his battle with the National Football League with Cincinnati Bengals, I should say, and he's gonna be a guy out there. It's expected, So, well, how
are the Dominos going to fall in free agency? And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Josh McConnell in a career year last year with Oh by the way, the Jets new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates being his quarterbacks coach. Josh mcconnen wants to play, and he wants to play for the Jets, So the Jets good re signment, cown and or take a look at a number of these guys who are floating out there, and there could be some other moves made over the next week or two
before we get to free agency. And then we moved to the draft, and he said, people are wondering the para McCown up with potentially whoever you have in house right now, Brayce Petty, Christian Hackenburg under contract, and add a quarterback with that sixth overall selection. The guys that people are talking about predominantly at the top of the draft at the quarterback spot, Sam Donald, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen,
Baker Mayfield. It seems like to me Green's and You're following this just as much as me right now that those four have separated themselves from the pack. With that being said, a guy that I'm fascinated by is Lamar Jackson because he was an electrifying college player. He won the Heisman Trophy and then people kind of got all of him this year and I don't know what to make of him as uh, potentially on the pro level.
But Lamar Jackson is a dynamic athlete, and he was a superstar at the collegiate level, so I'm intrigued by where he winds up. I know some people said, well, maybe we make him as a wide receiver. I view him as a quarterback. I think Lamar Jackson often in the college football season was overlooked, but now everyone's coming out and complimenting him. I mean, Michael Vick said, Lamar Jackson is better than I was at that point in his career. Mike Mayock thinks he's the most electrifying player
not in the NFL. WHOA, whoa as a draft prospect. Yeah, let's get to that sound right now. The one way outside the box conversation with Lamar Jackson, who I think is the most electrifying player in this draft. And I think somebody's gonna take him and commit their offense the philosophy to him. And I would tell you that the most nervous thirty one people in the league would be
the defensive coordinators that would have to play against them. Well, I think with Lamar you see accuracy throwing the football and finished his career round fifty seven percent, so you know you can throw path with Bolt, you know, with wide open receivers and uh and in the call him in the area throws in college, you can't get away with that in the NFL. But he's got talent and he's like I remember Rich Gannon when he came out
of Delaware. It was a similar entity. They said, great athlete, we can make him a dB or a receiver, and he developed into a hack of a quarterback. So if you give a Lamar Jackson time as a second round pick, I think there's a champ he could be in an effective starter down the road. You always had that fallback plan though with Lamar Jackson because of his athleticism that maybe be a wide receiver. Well, we don't know if he can do that. We know if he wants to
do that. So if you drest him like you don't have to drest him as a quarterback and he's like a wide receiver, would be a fallback plan. And then adding on to Mike Mayock is Bucky Brooks actually has Lamar Jackson ahead of Josh Allen. So I think it'll be fascinating these see these guys on the field that Lucas Oil Stadium. Because one we haven't seen him throw in a while. Yes they're in shorts, Yes they don't have I would imagine all these guys are gonna have
decent days. You think so, yes, and a theoretical setting, but it's a it's a very controlled atmosphere and you're thrown against their Josh Rosen is probably the most accurate pastor of the lot when you're talking about the purest pastor. But you know, we can go up and down and say, well,
this guy's pros and this many cons against him. When you think about Donald is that he's more mobile, he's bigger, he seems to make some place when things break down around him, and he's got some horky jerky nous to him. But he's also got a lot of intangibles. A lot of people think he's gonna be then over one overall, pick Rosen, purest pastor in the draft, most accurate pastor in the draft. Has been banged up at times at
u c L a very strong personality. Josh sam One Mayock said he's got the strongest army scene since JaMarcus Russell. And he wasn't trying to say that Josh Allen is gonna have any kind of with JaMarcus Russell. But he's saying that that's what kind of arm strength the kid has. Obviously Allen had completion. Did you see the issues at Wyoming? Did you see the video of Josh Allen on both knees at midfield throwing the ball and hitting the crossbar? No,
but that gives you strength. But how many times in the NFL have you seen a guy well, you mean you've never seen that? No, I haven't seen that. Okay, okay, So then he got he got Baker Mayfield, who's tremendously competitive and athletic, and he he can move and I think he's an accurate pastor, and he's very competitive and a lot of people, as some pundits would say, is that is he your cup of tea? Because he's a
different kind of guy. Well, you had said earlier today, you had told me each of the different quarterbacks is like, he's kind of ice cream flavors. What, Yeah, you have been chocolate chip guy, either that or some form of cookies and cream. Okay, what about you? So those are traditional flavors. I guess I like something with peanut butter in it or cookie doll. Okay, all right, yeah, yeah, I like cookie dough and I do like peanut butter. You like cookie dough out of raw cookie dough like
out of the hey you're asking ice cream? Yeah no, but I I got I got off track there, that's all right. E a over there. Follow him on Twitter at ye all and jets me Ethan Greenberg, Ethan B. Greenberg not be just the letter B. This is the official JEZZ Podcast. Okay, so you mentioned guys who weren't quarterbacks. Well, let's Quentin alson making Fitzpatrick thens our Ward we talked about,
and then let's go to the pass rushers. How about Bradley Chubb, Marcus Davenford, a guy that you are very familiar with because you were on hand and mobile watching him practice at the Senior Bowl. And then l s U has a pass rusher to who's considered maybe that top three group. But to me, the flash point of the draft. I was about to bring this up, the flash point, the flash point, the early flash point of this draft is going to be number three in Indianapolis,
and what are they going to do? Right? But what for you? What makes them the flash point compared to let's say I think, well, I think Cleveland takes a quarterback at one. You know, I think, as we sit here today, I think that's gonna be Sam Donald. The Giants could go in a lot of different directions, but they don't have a lot of salary cap space. They want Eli Manning to return. All signs indicate that he's
going to be returning. One is the the next time you're gonna be up here this high in the draft. Giants dealt with a lot of injuries last year. I'm saying, if you're the Giants, your play right now is probably a quarterback. Indianapolis, why is it a flashpoint? Because they have a quarterback and Andrew luck is saying his shoulders feeling better. So what do they do there? They go Bradley Chubb, they go to this generational talent maybe at running back and say Kwon Barkley, or do they trade out.
I think the Giants are very interesting. Nothing is because I go back to Indianapolis and say they have a quarterback. The Giants could take a quarterback. I think Indianapolis is more likely to move out since they do have a quarterback. That's why I say it's a flash The Giants are sitting there at too would they move back. Sure, all those teams up in the top five, top six, Mike mccagnan is gonna say that he's gonna listen to teams that want to come up. He's gonna call all the
teams in front of him. He's gonna do his due diligence. I'm saying Indianapolis is different because if they have no concerns about or limited concerns I should say about Andrew Luck's health, they have a quarterback and they would have more impetus to tray out. Could you I mean, I know this is very very unlikely, but could you imagine don't we have some sound? Can we get to the sound? Yeah? Yeah, fine, fine.
I think there are at least four different difference makers at the top end that they are also clean off the field, and it would all fit Indianapolis. And if you discount the idea of trading down, which I think they have to be aware of. Secondly, given the quarterback rush this year, so I think you have a you have to be aware of trading down and then be
after that job is definitely worth a pick. Ka Kawon Barkley is a transformational back and I would put him in The same category is for Net Girly and Zeke Elliott, all of whom have been top ten picks and made the teams better immediately. Um, I would throw Quinton Nelson, the guard from Notre Dame in there, and make up Fitzpatrick the safety slash corner from Alabama and for some teams vita Ya de Backle. So to me, they are kind of like the Five Guys where you go, wow,
you can plug and play. But I'd also be aware in Indian apples of the potential trade down. I just want to say, I know this isn't gonna happen, or I assume it's not gonna happen, because in the draft you really just don't know at the end of the day. But could you imagine what kind of ripple effect it would have you A if the Colts actually selected a quarterback. Oh, that'd be fascinating. It's not gonna happen. I didn't say. I didn't say it would. I don't think it will.
I just think that would beus. This is not the Fantasy Land podcast. Okay, so that's not gonna happen. Okay, alright, So the Giants, yes, they could take see Kwon Barkley. So I still think the Giants. Is Josh Allen the guy for them? I don't know. Maybe, yeah, I think so too. That's been the what's gonna happen? And my other thing is Cleveland all So holds a lot of cards.
Obviously you got two picks in the top four because you take that quarterback one or do they address the quarterback much like the Jets are in a similar situation that they have a lot of money to spend. Do they try to go out and get a veteran and then take a quarterback at maybe not one, but four. Well, remember this is a J. McCarron's a free agent. A J. McCarron was, you know, probably the closest thing to a Brown in the off season. However, since they have a
new GM. So I'm we're at the This is where we are right now as it stands, right before the Colby. We're at the point where you start to see snowfall from the top of the mountain. And then once the league year turns on March fourteenth at four PM or whatever the whole that the mountains coming down, the avalanche starting, the dominoes go into effect. How whatever analogy you want
to use. I think everyone's scooting up to the edge of their seat waiting, just waiting to see what's gonna happen, because their rumors left and right about this guy and that guy, and it's just I'm excited. It's about damn time. Wow, as Lebron James would say, so wow, We're not We're not there yet, Young Pop So Free Ncy starts March fourteenth, but March twelve, teams will be able to negotiate with players with who have expiring contracts. Drew Brees, you, I
expect them to be a saint, he said that. He said as much leaving on Bow. A lot of people anticipate he'll get the franchise tag from the Pittsburgh Steelers. DeMarcus Lawrence, a pass rusher at fourteen and a half sacks last year with the Cowboys. He probably gets the tag. Ziggy Anza in Detroit, could he get the tag? If he goes on the market, He's gonna have a lot of suitors. And then from there, you know, through a lot of interesting names. Andrew Norwell, a guard from the
Carolina Panthers. Sammy Watkins, a former first round pick. Yeah, yeah, so you then we tell you to speak about the cornerback position because we're talking about ens Award and we're talking about Makeupitspetra, what about Malcolm Butler and Tremaine Johnson. Um. You know. So it's gonna be a really interesting couple of weeks because there's gonna be a lot of surprises and a lot of curb balls. That's what I anticipate. And my thing with the combine is it's a league
get together. It's a league event, and people talk during this event. So Wednesday will be Jets Day. Mike mcagnan and Todd Bowls. Don't expect them to reveal too much, as they shouldn't. Before you go into battle, you don't reveal your plans. Um. With that being said, maybe we hear something. As far as guys, they have been able to negotiate with the Morris Clayborns of the world, Josh mccowns, the Austin Safari and Jenkins and of course to Mario Davis.
Those are the foreign, strict, restrictive free agents that headline the Jets class right now, and those are the guys that can negotiate with now before we get to March twelfth, and then March fourteen. The market is open and the combine is just a piece of the draft process. Um, you just have a lot of people in the NFL, a lot of reporters, a lot of scouts, a lot
of coaches, a lot of g ms. Everybody is there and about a couple of square miles So there's a lot of talking, a lot of communication going on there. This is what's beautiful about the NFL. There's there is an off season, but there is no offseason because there's something constantly that pulls the fans in. Yeah. I just think that this is an awfully exciting time for Jets fans. And one thing that I want to be clear about is I think Mike mccagnet, Todd, Bowls and company have
go in this with a number of different options. I don't think all eggs are going to be in one basket. You get that sense out there sometimes because the quarterback position is in so much demand across the national football that you gotta get this guy, you gotta get this guy. Let's see their plans on full because with the league in the way it works, especially in free agency, is that maybe you have something set for Option A, but you're gonna have option B, Option C, and maybe they
We're gonna look at it that way. It's one A, one B, one C. You don't know. That's the That's I think that's the best part about this whole process and the draft and free agency. You just don't know. It's an adrenaline rush when it happens, and that's all we have. On this week's episode of the Official Jets podcast that was a combine preview. How do you feel
about going into the combine? Are you excited? I feel fine about working out the other day the other I saw you had a forty eight hour set on your stof no listen. I ran six miles on Sunday. Four miles I did it and just over twenty eight minutes, so that was really good for me. And then six miles I did and under eight minutes a mile, so I was happy about that. And my lifting program is bun on point. So I am ready for the convoy. I run from my couch to my kitchen and then
I make some food. No kid pap