Jets strike gold in fourth round, yet Again?
The best move the Jets made in free agency, may have been the one they chose not to make. Rumors speculated, Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel would reunite with his old defensive coordinator, now Jets head coach, Eric Mangini. It turned out Samuel took flight for a different team, the Eagles. Samuel went on to sign a $57.3 million contract, playing in Philadelphia for the next 6 years.
The Jets may have saved themselves $56 million dollars and acquired a future Pro Bowler in the process. Dwight Lowery was selected by the Jets in the fourth round of this year’s NFL draft. The cornerback from San Diego State University has put together quite the resume, twice being named an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association. It didn’t take long for opponents to recognize, Lowery’s ball hawking skills. Lowery recorded four interceptions last year while recording a school-record nine as a junior for the Spartans.
While not blessed with blazing speed, Lowery makes up with his anticipation and ability to react to the ball.
If you were to compare Lowery’s combine numbers to that of Samuel’s, they are eerily similar.
Asante Samuel: Dwight Lowery:
2003 / Round 4 / Pick 120 2008 / Round 4 / Pick 113
Height: 5-11 Height: 5-11
Weight: 185 Weight: 201
Combine: Combine:
40: 4.49 40: 4.54
20: 2.66 20; 2.60
10: 1.59 10: 1.53
SHUTTLE: 4.14 SHUTTLE: 4.38
CONE: 6.95 CONE: 7.31
In the last three drafts the Jets have found great players from the 4th round.
- 2004 – Wide Receiver, Jerricho Cotchery. 08’ stats – 82 rec / 1,130yds / 2tds
- 2005 – Safety, Kherry Rhodes, 08’ stats 67 tckl / 2 sck / 2 ff / 5 int
- 2006 – Running Back, Leon Washington, 08’ stats 3 kick rtn tds / 353 yds / 3tds
- 2007 – No Pick
- 2008 – Remains to be seen
