New York Jets Draft Report Card

By Chris Catania, NFL Correspondent

(Sports Network) - The Jets pulled a surprise move dealing their two first- round picks (13 and 22) to Chicago in exchange for the fourth overall spot before they knew who would be available. After celebrating, Jet fans immediately pointed out it would now only take one bad pick to ruin the draft. Gang Green, however, got their man in Kentucky DT Dewayne Robertson, who was one of the hottest players in the draft. The Jets have lacked a terror at DT since the days of the "Sack Exchange." After being defenseless versus Oakland in consecutive playoff games, New York made the bold move for an impact player. Robertson may not start right away, but he should be a huge part of the club's DL rotation. DTs Jason Ferguson and Josh Evans showed they could not help John Abraham put pressure on the quarterback. The Jets have now used four first-rounders on defensive linemen since 2000. By trading up Terry Bradway showed plenty of guts, countering an offseason where he was heavily criticized. The mass exodus of talent to Washington has been well-publicized, but the Jets were wise not to match those salaries. Bradway’s future will ride on the outcome of Robertson. The move up gave him the choice of DTs in a deep draft. Robertson not only has to be good, he has to outplay the other top DTs from this draft -- Jimmy Kennedy (St. Louis), Johnathan Sullivan (Georgia) and Kevin Williams (Minnesota). Linebackers Mo Lewis and Marvin Jones really showed their age last year. Victor Hobson wasn’t rated as a second-rounder by many, but he was very productive at Michigan and will be groomed to replace Lewis. The Jets stayed in Ann Arbor for third-rounder B.J. Askew. He’ll replace Richie Anderson as the pass-catching fullback, but the Jets probably could have snagged him later. They did a nice job on day two. Derek Pagel was a good value pick and they grabbed another productive big college guy in Matt Walters. Brooks Bollinger can run and was a great leader at Wisconsin. He could be the guy to replace Vinny Testaverde as Chad Pennington’s clipboard holder. New York failed to address the need for youth at the guard position. The Jets also did not go for a WR on day one. Free agent WR Curtis Conway had a big year for San Diego in 2002, but he has a long history of being injured.

2003 Draft Picks: (1st Round-4th overall) DT-Dewayne Robertson, Kentucky; (2-53) LB-Victor Hobson, Michigan; (3-85) FB-B.J. Askew, Michigan; (5-140) S- Derek Pagel, Iowa; (5-150) DT-Matt Walters, Miami; (6-200) QB-Brooks Bollinger, Wisconsin; (7-237) OL-Dave Yovanovits, Temple.

Overall Draft Grade: C+

04/29 15:53:54 ET