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2012 Cincy Jungle Mock Draft - The New York Jets Select...

With the 16th pick in the 2012 Cincy Jungle Mock Draft, Kenneth Taylor selected for the New York Jets, who earned the No. 16 overall pick by finishing the 2011 season with an 8-8 record.

With the No. 16 pick in the 2012 Cincy Jungle Mock Draft, the New York Jets select...

Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama

The Jets have 2 desperate needs. One is a RT to replace Wayne Hunter and the other is some peace and quiet. We tried to work out a deal for Anthony Collins, but the Bengals wouldn't budge. Riley Rieff is off the board, so there isn't a RT prospect that really fits in at 16. On defense our top choice would have been Melvin Ingram, but he's gone. We were also looking at Malcolm Floyd & Mark Barron, but surprisingly enough they are both off the board as well. At the end of the day, we fell back to the guy we were looking at back in February.

Upshaw was considered a good fit for the Jets before the Senior Bowl. Coach Ryan has well-known fondness for Upshaw and his pass rushing abilities. He's a fast, athletic OLB who has terrorized top-tier offenses for 2 straight years. He's had 16.5 sacks, 32.5 tackles for loss, and 6 forced fumbles in the last two seasons at Alabama. His ability to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, no matter the quality of o-line or the stage he's on, makes him a special player.

At the Senior Bowl Upshaw stood out as a force to be reckoned with. He missed the combine due to knee tendonitis, which may have still been slowing him down at the Alabama pro day. He wasn't terribly impressive on the track, but on the field in high profile games he was a monster. His blend of speed and bullrushing power are exactly what we're looking for at OLB.

Courtney Upshaw Highlights:

Joe Goodberry's Instant Analysis:

Jets desperately need a pass rusher and they tap the Alabama pipeline in selecting Courtney Upshaw. Upshaw may never be a 10-sack guy, but he'll be great against the run, add physicality and always give maximum effort. Good pick and good value here.
Grade: B+
Value: -1

Draft Overview:

# Team Picked By Name/Positon of Pick
1 Indianapolis Alex Neyer Andrew Luck QB
2 Washington David Farrelly Robert Griffin III QB
3 Minnesota Palewook Matt Kalil OT
4 Cleveland Jason Garrison Justin Blackmon WR
5 Tampa Bay Andrew Bernius Morris Claiborne CB
6 St. Louis Jim0ijk Quinton Coples DE
7 Jacksonville AK513 Melvin Ingram DE
8 Miami Dan Lockhart Trent Richardson RB
9 Carolina Jason Blanton Luke Kuechly LB
10 Buffalo Casey Penn Michael Floyd WR
11 Kansas City Kenneth Taylor David DeCastro OG
12 Detroit (projected trade) Andrew Perrotta Stephon Gilmore CB
13 Arizona Dan Wolford Riley Reiff OT
14 Dallas Joshua Foster Michael Brockers DT
15 Philadelphia Travis Parker Mark Barron S
16 New York Jets Kenneth Taylor Courtney Upshaw OLB
17 Cincinnati (from Oakland) Jason Garrison
18 San Diego Anthony Knox
19 Chicago Steve Whited
20 Tennessee Jeff Welch
21 Cincinnati Jason Garrison
22 Cleveland (from Atlanta) Jason Garrison
23 Seattle (projected trade) Jared Egner
24 Pittsburgh Jason Garrison
25 Denver Jared Morgan
26 Houston Brett Kollman
27 New England (from New Orleans) Anthony Knox
28 Green Bay Travis Castleman
29 Baltimore Jason Garrison
30 San Francisco Chris Brown
31 New England Anthony Knox
32 New York Giants Matt Leitner