The argument for the Jets to take an offensive lineman in the first round of the NFL Draft

We are entering the home stretch before the draft and every team is putting the finishing touches on their draft boards, making calls to other teams to set up potential draft day trades, and preparing for worst-case scenarios.

Joe Douglas is preparing to make one of the most important draft selections of his career and one that could wind up being his last. While Woody Johnson hasn’t expressly said so, it is pretty clear from his comments and Woody’s history that the jobs for Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas will depend on how the team fares this season.

With jobs on the line, will Joe Douglas really select a player in the top 10 that won’t start for the team? He definitely could.

There was a clear goal that Joe Douglas needed to accomplish at the outset of the off season. Get the offense better. Anyone who knows a thing about football knows that starts with the offensive line. As Jim Harbaugh will tell you, no other position group affects every other position on the field than the offensive line.

So, with that in mind Joe Douglas cut Laken Tomlinson and waved goodbye to Mekhi Becton and Duane Brown, three guys who classically under performed. He then went out and signed John Simpson from the Baltimore Ravens and future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith from the Dallas Cowboys. Not stopping there, he also traded for former Jet, Morgan Moses. Offensive line rebuilt. Mission accomplished, right? Maybe not.

While all those guys he acquired will start for the Jets, two of them are 33-years old. Tyron Smith has not played a full season in almost a decade (2015). They are also counting on second-year center Joe Tippmann who missed games in his rookie season, and Alijah Vera-Tucker who hasn’t played a game past Halloween in three years.

Needless to say, the Jets don’t need an offensive lineman, but they may wind up desperate for one.

Which brings us to the NFL draft. There are several high-quality offensive linemen in this year’s class that would be able to slide right into a starting role on most teams. While the Jets aren’t one of those teams, they could easily become one with one high ankle sprain, or torn ACL.

Joe Alt from Notre Dame, Olu Fashanu from Penn State, Taliese Fuaga from Oregon State and Troy Fautanu out of Washington are all options for the Jets at pick number 10 (though it is likely at least Alt will be off the board by then).

Everyone points to Aaron Rodgers being injured as the main reason last season was a disaster for New York, but the injuries and flat-out terrible play along the offensive line were just as much to blame.

With Aaron Rodgers at the helm, the objective of this year’s draft needs to be to go all-in on this season. If the Jets truly believe the Rodgers can return close to form, their number one priority must be to keep him upright as much as possible.  But they also need to give him as many weapons as possible to run the offense.  It is essentially choosing between the sword and the shield.

So, what does Joe Douglas do? Take a player that will immediately come in and help the team win? Or take the player that might have to come in and keep things as close to status quo as they can be? 

I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision.