2020 NFL Draft: Grading each New York Jets draft pick
4.120: Lamical Perine, RB, Florida
The New York Jets were rumored to be looking for their running back of the future and they may have found him in the 2020 NFL Draft. I have seen a bunch of evaluations saying Perine doesn’t do any one thing at a high level, but he does do everything fairly well. I’m not sure how that is a knock on a player, but to me, it just shows how much of a well-rounded player he truly is.
https://twitter.com/nyjets/status/1254134533856821250
Perine possesses the breakaway speed that the Jets have been desperately missing. He has great vision and balance to succeed at the next level as well. I believe he could be a great compliment to Bell for the 2020 season as well. Perine has the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield as he had 40 receptions in 2019 for the Florida Gators.
In my evaluation and scouting report back in January, I gave Perine a 4th round grade and that is exactly where he wound up going. So based on my own evaluation and rankings of Perine and factoring the Jets team needs, I gave them a decent grade. Darnold needs weapons and it doesn’t matter what position they play. They now have two running backs that can help out in the passing game.
Grade: B
4.125: James Morgan, QB, Florida International
This was the biggest shock of them all when the New York Jets selected a quarterback in the 4th round of the 2020 NFL Draft. I completely understand why they did it, but it just seemed a tad early to grab a backup quarterback.
I am not very familiar with James Morgan so I won’t be providing much of an evaluation, but I do know that he’s a gunslinger. He grew up in Green Bay and was a huge Brett Favre fan, so it makes sense why he would adopt his play style.
Let us not forget that Joe Douglas knows how important backup quarterbacks are in the NFL as he won two of his three Super Bowl rings with a backup signal-caller. Also, if you watched those three games without Darnold (I’m sorry) you would know that the Jets need to find a competent backup quarterback.
Grade: C+
4.129: Cameron Clark, OL, Charlotte
When Douglas told Darnold’s parents eleven months ago that he would do everything in his power to protect their son he was joking. Cameron Clark marks the sixth new addition to the New York Jets offensive line and second in the 2020 NFL Draft.
https://twitter.com/nyjets/status/1254215357272817665
Again, I’ll admit when I’m not too familiar with prospects and Clark is one of them. I haven’t watched much of his tape, but when talking to some people that are familiar with his game he’s a guy that can play both guard or tackle in the NFL which is the exact versatility that Douglas looks for in his offensive lineman.
Clark also mentioned that he worked out with Jets first-round pick Mekhi Becton in the past and they could now potentially line up next to each other with Clark at left guard and Becton at left tackle.
Grade: B+