Former Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden doesn’t think the Jets consider the North Carolina quarterback with the sixth pick.
The New York Jets are no strangers to quarterback issues. They’ve struggled to have much consistency at the position over the past several seasons.
It’s easy to see, especially with their current quarterback room, why the team would be in on some of the top quarterback prospects in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Former Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden, who knows the quarterback position incredibly well, told Jets beat writer Rich Cimini that he doesn’t believe any of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class is in play for the Jets at number six.
"“I can’t see them going that high for that,” Gruden said. “There’s a lot of unknown with some of these quarterbacks. Five of the seven are underclassmen. Trubisky has played one year of college football. I don’t know. A lot of it will be dependent on what they truly think of their young quarterbacks they currently have.”"
Gruden makes a very valid and overlooked point when saying he doesn’t believe the Jets go quarterback with the sixth pick. New York already has young quarterbacks on its roster and it will truly come down to how they feel about the young gunslingers in their quarterback room.
The Jets 2015 fourth-round pick Bryce Petty and 2016 second-round pick Christian Hackenberg are those young guys. Petty made four starts for the Jets last season, while Hackenberg red-shirted his rookie season. The team also added Josh McCown in free agency.
The high pick of Hackenberg just a season ago could delay the Jets from reaching on one of these quarterback prospects.
The Jets have still met with numerous of the top quarterbacks in this years draft like Trubisky, DeShaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Pat Mahomes, but that could easily be considered as due diligence.
Gruden did state he likes the upside of Trubisky, but he was adamant to Cimini of the unsettling feeling he got regarding the 2017 quarterback class.
ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has the Jets selecting Trubisky with the sixth overall pick in his recent mock draft, as many others do as well.
Next: NFL Mock Draft: Browns take QB early
If Jon Gruden had any say with the Jets, this clearly wouldn’t be their selection.