Let the mocks begin.
Actually, draft analysts have been mocking away for a while already. It gets earlier and earlier each year. The NFL has become the football equivalent of the Davis Cup, with provisional mocks being conducted before the current season is over.
Here, on the arrival day for this year's NFL combine workouts in Indianapolis, are a few of the selections being made for the Jets in recent mocks on NFL sites I like to visit.
Steve Wyche, now a senior writer at nfl.com who not long ago was the excellent beatwriter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has tabbed Ohio State LB James Laurinaitis for the Jets at No. 17 , stating in his analysis that "New Jets head coach Rex Ryan loves LBs who can get to the ball, and Laurinaitis certainly can do that."
Scout.com's Chris Steuber has updated his mock in advance of the combine and he has Florida WR Percy Harvin coming up I-95, stating that the Jets "have to add more playmaking ability on offense and provide whoever is their QB next year with a versatile weapon. Harvin is the answer."
And draftek.com has Georgia QB Matthew Stafford falling to the Jets at No. 17.
I'll mention more mock results from free Websites that you can check out in the coming days and weeks.
Anthony's Ace
Anthony Lynn is an up-and-coming RBs coach in the NFL and the Jets have him. I profiled him as part of newyorkjets.com's series of stories on Rex Ryan's new coaching staff and that story is now live.
Lynn was an NFL back and special-teamer from 1993-99, mostly with Denver but for 1995-96 with San Francisco. It was with the '96 Niners that he ripped off the longest run of his career and more than one-third of his career total, a 67-yarder in an already decided game against the Falcons.
"Probably what made it special was that week I played golf with John Madden's assistant," Lynn recalled. "John lived in Danville, Calif., and I got my first hole-in-one in Pleasanton. And so after that run, it gave John something to talk about on the air, I guess, so he talked about the hole-in-one."
