New York Jets Could Swing Huge Trade Amid Rising Dante Moore Concerns

The New York Jets own the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and the general expectation is that they will select Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore. Well, assuming he enters.

But perhaps the Jets selecting Moore is no sure thing?

There are rising concerns about Moore's ability to live up to his billing heading into the draft, and ESPN's Rich Cimini explained why during a recent episode of the Flight Deck podcast.

“He is only 20 years old, he has got only 18 college starts, and if you look at the recent first-round quarterbacks with fewer than 20 starts — it is not a promising field,” Cimini said. “I’ll read some names: Anthony Richardson, Trey Lance, Mac Jones, Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Tannehill, [and] Cam Newton.”

While Tannehill and Newton both experienced considerable success on the NFL level, the rest of that list does not exactly inspire much confidence.

“That is going back to 2011,” Cimini continued. “All of the first round quarterbacks with fewer than 20 college starts. The only star of that group is Cam Newton. Ryan Tannehill had a solid long career. The rest of them [were] either busts or underachievers. So beware of the college quarterback with very few starts.”

So, could New York actually make the decision to trade down from No. 2 rather than outright taking Moore this April?

It's a distinct possibility.

The Jets already have five first-round picks the next two years thanks to some wheeling and dealing back at the trade deadline, but imagine if they move down from No. 2 and pick up a couple of more first-round selections?

While the quarterback position has long been the biggest issue for Gang Green, the team has holes up and down its roster. New York has needs everywhere, so stockpiling as much draft capital as possible might be the best avenue for the Jets to pursue.

Plus, if New York wants to mitigate its risk, it can trade down and then nab Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller Ty Simpson in the latter half of the first round. In that scenario, the Jets would still land a quarterback while being better positioned to address other areas of weakness, as well.

While taking Moore is probably still the most likely outcome for New York, we cannot entirely rule out the chances of the Jets choosing a different path.