Well, that should definitely give Joe Douglas something to think about, right?
There are a lot of reasons why you can refrain from thinking about DeVonta Smith with the second choice in the project. Conventional wisdom says don’t choose wide receivers so high. Conventional wisdom says that if you choose so high, it would be better to take a cornerstone position – defender, quarterback, left attack – to make sure you don’t pick so high again.
Conventional wisdom says: if you can trade that choice for a lot of assets, make the call and make the transaction.
Funny thing, though: conventional wisdom doesn’t take into account what we all saw Smith do on Monday night, when he robbed the Ohio State Buckeyes for 12 catches and 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, igniting the Sea Crimson on his way to a 52-24 shot that won the sixth Bama championship in the Nick Saban era.
Conventional wisdom doesn’t explain how Smith – who only won the Heisman Trophy last week, who was just the dominant force in college football this year – somehow ran against Ohio State. Maybe they didn’t have a story about Heisman’s winner in the Columbus Dispatch last week.
Or maybe Smith is so good.
If you’ve watched Smith this year, if you’ve seen him score 20 touchdowns (34 in the last two years), if you’ve seen the way he always manages to play, make good defenses startle, make coaches and hold your breath whenever a blow or a blow is directed in its direction, you know how good it is.
Heisman voters knew, giving him the big trophy even in a year when Trevor Lawrence was the young man with the clean hair of the sport and it turned into a season worth giving. And he wasn’t very close, with Smith getting twice as many first-place votes as Lawrence and voting for him outside the 1,856-1,187 poll.
So what should Douglas do?
There are many years in which a 2-14 season would have been a quick path to choice no. But the Jaguars were completely uncooperative, they went from 1 to 15, so they will design Lawrence. If the choice is Lawrence vs. Smith, then there is no choice: go with the general defender.
Nr. 2 is a different animal. For 10 days, it looked like the earth had moved to Columbus, thanks to the forever game that Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields posted against Clemson, in which he completely overtook Lawrence. It felt like the people who felt that way could speak for themselves, and Fields wasn’t overwhelming against Alabama on Monday night. He could still be an excellent professional. What about number 2?
BYU’s Zach Wilson is the other buzzworthy defender; Is a Franchise Choice 2nd? Oregon’s Sewell feather could team up with Mekhi Becton for a formidable pair of approaches (although Becton’s presence means Sewell would probably play the right attack, another conventional position would argue against No. 2). There is no player to change the franchise.
So would we even get so lost outside the envelope to simply pick the best football player – or at least the best of those who aren’t called Trevor Lawrence – at number 2? Because, based on his career, based on this season, based on an epic first half that represented night work, after injuring his hand on the first target of the second half, it would certainly seem that it is DeVonta Smith.
And something else?
Behind the Jets, at number 3, are the Dolphins, Miami holding the selection from the first round of Houston. It is certainly not unimaginable that he might want to reunite Smith with his college defender, Tua Tagavailoa. And then the Jets would have the distinct pleasure of reaching out face Smith twice a year for the foreseeable future.
Look, it wouldn’t be an easy choice for Douglas. He would have opened up to the same criticisms that Dave Gettleman made three years ago when he took Saquon Barkley in 2nd place, conventional wisdom screaming that you can find a great run below in the draft, often from the first round, the same as a wide star.
But in this case, the notion was that the giants were losing a golden chance to choose a franchise defender. They chose to wait a year to try to meet this need, as none of the candidates questioned them (they were probably right about Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, except when it comes to Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson). ).
If there’s a defender who captures Douglas’ fantasy and he’s 100% sure, that’s one thing. If a team offers a reward of choices, from all points of view, it is something to consider.
But if it’s April 29 and the Jets are thinking who’s the best player on the board? I saw him on Monday night. He wore the number 6 in red. He might look great wearing Mark Sanchez’s old number in green.