Good for the Jets. They did not reach. They stayed disciplined and did not make a pick simply to appease their fan base starved for yet another potential answer at quarterback who may or may not work out.
The Jets stayed in their lane and continued to build the team from the foundation up, picking Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee, who figures to immediately improve team speed, which has been a problem for a few years now.
Paxton Lynch, the impressive physical specimen at quarterback from Memphis, was staring the Jets in the face when their first-round pick — 20th overall — arrived shortly before 10:30 Thursday night.
Neither Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan nor head coach Todd Bowles blinked. Lynch, despite having become the popular prediction as the Jets’ pick in the most recent mock drafts, was never an option.
Six picks after the Jets took Lee, the Broncos — who can afford to make a reach pick on a project quarterback who cannot help them for at least a year while they spit-shine the Lombardi Trophy that gleams in a case in their lobby — traded up to No. 26 from 31 to take Lynch.
The Jets?
As enticing as Lynch’s physical skills and potential are, they could not afford to use their first-round pick on a project quarterback who may or may not pan out when they need too much help right now.
Bowles has talked since the middle of last season about the need to improve team speed — particularly on defense. This was his chance to do so and he did it.
The 6-foot-1, 232-pound Lee is not the edge pass-rusher the Jets would have loved to land, but they describe him as a three-down linebacker who’s athletic enough to run sideline to sideline.
The 21-year-old Lee, who had 12 sacks the last two years at Ohio State, will play alongside veteran David Harris.
“He can play the nickel now, and he will grow into a three-down linebacker,’’ Bowles said. “He will make us a lot faster, is a good pressure guy and a good cover guy who runs sideline to sideline. We’re going to use him in a lot of different places. We need a guy that can run around.’’
Lee is not a make-or-break player who will make a seismic difference in their 2016 season. He’s a building block in what Maccagnan and Bowles are trying to construct.
The most astute among Jets fans (and that hopefully begins with the most important one of all, team owner Woody Johnson) surely understand that just about everything that could break right for the Jets last season did break right and their 10-6 record is not an automatic precursor to 11-5 or 12-4 and a playoff berth in 2016.
A look back at 2015 will show you that Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was not even brought in to be the starting quarterback, became the starter because of an unforeseen right cross to the jaw of presumed starter Geno Smith and Fitzpatrick went on to have the best season of his career with a franchise and personal record 31 TD passes.
Fitzpatrick’s top receiver, Brandon Marshall, was on his best behavior after a tumultuous career and played magnificently. Marshall’s presence liberated fellow receiver Eric Decker, who looked like just another average receiver in his first year with the Jets, in 2014.
The Jets did not sustain any significant injuries that kept key players out of the lineup for any extended periods of time. And their schedule was as easy as any in the league, having feasted on the weakling NFC East and AFC South.
With this season’s schedule, the Jets trade the mediocre likes of Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston, Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia and the Giants for the NFC West and AFC North, with games against Seattle, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Baltimore on the slate.
Add that to the fact that Fitzpatrick remains in a contract impasse with the team and the team’s best defensive player, tackle Mo Wilkerson, is unhappy without a long-term contract, and what Maccagnan and Bowles face is a highly difficult task even matching what they produced in 2015.
The drafting of Lee was one step in that process. The Jets have five more picks to make in the next two days.
Lee said coming to the Jets represents “all my dreams finally coming true.’’ He vowed to “bring speed to the defense.’’
It’s a good start for the Jets. They’re a better team on Friday morning with Lee than they would have been had they reached for the project quarterback.