The New York Jets were really hit and miss in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Here is a look at how their rookies did in their first taste of the NFL:

22-year old DE Muhammad Wilkerson was the Jets’ first round pick in 2011.  He played in all 16 games for the Jets last year and he had 49 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  Wilkerson is likely going to be a starter for a long time for the New York Jets.

24-year old DT Kenrick Ellis was a 3rd round pick of the Jets last April.  He played in 5 games for the Jets last year and he had 7 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  The Jets hope that Ellis improves in 2012.

23-year old RB Bilal Powell was picked in the 4th round by the Jets.  Powell played in 2 games for the Jets last year and he carried the ball 13 times for 21 yards (1.6 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 7 yards for the Jets.  He is buried on the depth chart right now.

23-year old WR Jeremy Kerley came to the Jets in the 5th round.  Kerley played in 14 games for the Jets last year and he caught 29 passes for 314 yards (10.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 28 yards (5.6 ypc) and he completed his only pass attempt of the year and it was good for 41 yards.  Kerley wasn’t done there as he also helped out on special teams.  He returned 29 punts for 317 yards (10.9 avg) and 1 kickoff for 15 yards.

23-year old QB Greg McElroy came to the Jets in the 7th round.  He spent his rookie season on the Injured Reserve List due to surgery to repair his right thumb.  McElroy’s future with the Jets is up in the air after he sounded off about the locker room recently.

23-year old WR Scotty McKnight was also picked in the 7th round.  McKnight was cut before the season started.

GRADE FOR 2011:  C+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B

The Jets got pretty good value last April in the NFL Draft.  DE Muhammad Wilkerson came to the Jets in the first round of the NFL Draft.  He is not an elite pass rusher but he brings tremendous size (6’5″, 305 pounds) to the edge of the Jets’ D.  NT Kenrick Ellis came to the Jets in the 3rd round.  He only slipped because of his off the field issues.  If the Jets can get Ellis to behave, he could be a beast on the interior of the D.  RB Bilal Powell was picked in the 4th round of the NFL Draft and he does most of his damage between the tackles as he is a very tough runner inside.  WR/KR Jeremy Kerley will likely replace Brad Smith on kickoff returns if he leaves in free agency.  In the 7th round, the Jets drafted a couple of developmental players in QB Greg McElroy and WR Scotty McKnight.

PROJECTED GRADE:  B

The Jets took 24-year old WR Scotty McKnight out of Colorado with the 227th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  McKnight is 5’11″, 185 pounds.  McKnight caught 50 passes for 621 yards (12.4 avg) with 7 TD grabs last year.  He caught 219 passes for 2,590 yards (11.8 avg) with 22 TD grabs in his four years with the Buffaloes.  McKnight will likely have to make it on special teams early in his career before he gets much of a shot to play WR.

UPDATE:  (11/2/2011) – The Jets have placed Scotty McKnight on the Injured Reserve List due to a torn ACL.  He didn’t get into any games for the Jets as a rookie.

The Jets took 23-year old QB Greg McElroy out of Alabama with the 208th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  McElroy is 6’1″, 222 pounds and he runs a 5.03 40.  McElroy is the classic dropback passer minus the big time arm.  McElroy is a leader as the Crimson Tide was 24-3 when he started at QB.  He will also outwork almost everyone off the field to have his team ready to play.  McElroy played in 13 games (all starts) for Alabama last year and he completed 222 of 313 passes (70.9%) for 2,987 yards with 20 TD passes and 5 INTs.  He played in 35 games (27 starts) in his four years with the Crimson Tide and he completed 436 of 658 passes (66.3%) for 5,691 yards with 39 TD passes and 10 INTs.  McElroy will likely be the Jets’ #3 QB in 2011 and he could develop into a solid #2 behind Mark Sanchez down the road.

The New York Jets took 22-year old WR/KR/PR Jeremy Kerley out of TCU with the 153rd pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Kerley is 5’9″, 188 pounds and he runs a 4.49 40.  Kerley is very fast and he has a wide assortment of moves, especially as a kick and punt returner.  Kerley played in 13 games (11 starts) for TCU last year and he caught 56 passes for 575 yards (10.3 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  He played in 50 games (20 starts) in his four years with the Horned Frogs and he caught 120 passes for 1,299 yards (10.8 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  Kerley also returned 37 punts for 1,006 yards (27.2 avg) and 94 punts for 1,299 yards (13.8 avg) with 2 TD returns at TCU.  Kerley will likely make a much bigger impact on special teams than he will on offense with the Jets.

The Jets picked 22-year old running back Bilal Powell out of Louisville with the 126th overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Powell is 5’10″, 204 pounds and he runs a 4.55 40.  Powell has an upright running style but he likes to drive through defensive players.  His physical style with fit right in with the mindset the Jets like from their players.  Powell played in 12 games (10 starts) for Louisville last year and he carried the ball 229 times for 1,405 yards (6.1 ypc) with 11 TD runs.  He also caught 18 passes for 158 yards (8.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs for Louisville.  Powell played in 42 games (15 starts) in his four years with the Cardinals and he carried the ball 436 times for 2,338 yards (5.4 ypc) with 19 TD runs.  He also caught 45 passes for 344 yards (7.6 avg) with 3 TD grabs for Louisville.  Powell could make a big impact for the Jets down the road as he was pretty darn good in college.

The New York Jets took 23-year old DT Kenrick Ellis out of Hampton with the 94th overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Ellis is a huge man at 6’4″, 338 pounds and he plays with a big time mean streak.  Apparently though, he is also fired up off the field as he has failed drug tests and he’s facing an assault charge this summer for a fight on campus at Hampton.  Ellis played in 10 games (all starts) at Hampton last year and he had 94 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.  Ellis played in 4 years at Hampton & South Carolina in which he played in 44 games (28 starts).  In those games, Ellis had 195 tackles, 37.5 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, 4 batted down balls, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.  Ellis will have to keep his nose clean with the Jets and he’ll also have to adjust to the big step up in competition.  This is a boom or bust pick for the Jets.

The New York Jets selected 22-year old DT Muhammad Wilkerson out of Temple with the #30 overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft last night.  Wilkerson is 6’4″, 305 pounds and he fills a big need for the Jets as he will likely line up over the center as the NT.  Wilkerson played in 12 games (all starts) for Temple last year and he had 70 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, 3 batted balls, 2 forced fumbles and he had 1 fumble recovery.  Wilkerson played 3 years for the Owls and he played in 36 games (25 starts) in which he had 144 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 17.5 sacks, batted down 11 balls, forced 3 fumbles and he recovered 3 fumbles.  The Jets are ecstatic with this pick as they thought Wilkerson was going to be long gone by the time they were going to draft.

The New York Jets are never afraid to trade up on draft day to get the player they really want.  This is probably going to be a little different this year because they can’t deal players for picks.  With that in mind, the Jets might stick where they are more than usual in this draft.  Here is who I saw the Jets landing in my mock draft:

1st round (#30 overall) – Jabaal Sheard, DE, Pittsburgh

3rd round (#94 overall) – Greg Salas, WR, Hawaii

4th round (#126 overall) - Lance Kendricks, TE, Wisconsin

5th round (#161 overall) – Ronald Johnson, WR, UCLA

6th round (#194 overall) – Sealver Siliga, DT, Utah

7th round (#208 overall) – T.J. Yates, QB, North Carolina

With the Jets picking so late in the draft, I think it will be hard for them to trade up to fill needs.  With that in mind, I think they will resort to taking the best player available.  Sheard would likely be a starter from Day #1 for the Jets, but the rest of the guys project to be backups in 2011.

The Jets didn’t get a lot of immediate help in last April’s Draft but they got players who can help them down the road.  Here is a quick look at how the guys they drafted did as rookies in the NFL:

Kyle Wilson:  The Jets used the 29th pick of the first round on 23-year old corner Kyle Wilson out of Boise State.  Wilson played in all 16 games for the Jets last season and he had 21 tackles and 5 passes defensed.  Wilson also returned 15 punts for 111 yards (7.4 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 22 yards (11.0 avg) last year.  Wilson could develop into a starter down the road for the Jets but only if he improves in coverage.

Vladimir Ducasse:  In the 2nd round the Jets used the 61st overall pick on OG/OT Vladimir Ducasse out of Massachusetts.  The 23-year old Ducasse is strong as an ox at 6’5″, 325 pounds but he’s very raw.  He played in 2 games for the Jets last season but he didn’t start any of them.  The Jets hope they can develop him into a starter down the road, but it’s going to take some time with him.

Joe McKnight:  In the 4th round, the Jets used the 112th overall pick on 22-year old RB Joe McKnight out of USC.  McKnight was buried behind L.T., Shonn Greene and Brad Smith at RB last season for the Jets.  He played in 9 games for the Jets last season in which he carried the ball 39 times for 184 yards (4.8 ypc) and he caught 3 passes for 20 yards (6.7 avg).  McKnight also helped out a tad on special teams with 2 punt returns for 43 yards (21.5 avg) and 3 kickoff returns for 60 yards (20.0 avg) last year.  He also had 4 tackles last year.  McKnight has the look of a third down back right now but he might develop into more down the road for the Jets.

John Conner:  23-year old fullback John Conner was drafted in the 5th round (#139 pick overall) out of Kentucky last April.  Conner played in all 16 games for the Jets last season and he had 8 carries for 44 yards (5.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 9 yards (4.5 avg).  Conner also returned 3 kickoffs for 35 yards (11.7 avg) and he had 5 tackles last year.  He could push Tony Richardson out of the NFL soon.

GRADE FOR 2010:  C-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C+