FanHouse BrettRatliff

Kellen Clemens knows the deal. New head coach Rex Ryan spent the early part of the spring suggesting that the Jets would happily go into next season with Clemens and Brett Ratliff battling for the right to replace the eminently replaceable Brett Favre.

Pretty sure nobody believed that, including Clemens. The Jets were interested in Jay Cutler as he whined his way out of Denver, and when that didn't happen, they swapped first-round picks with the Browns and took Mark Sanchez (and sent Ratliff to Cleveland in the process).

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

One of the most common criticisms of draft grades is that you can't possibly judge a draft until the players selected have spent some time playing in the NFL. It's a common criticism, because it's absolutely true and it may never be more true of any team than it is of the 2009 New York Jets.

Whatever winds up at the bottom of this post, the Jets draft grade will either be an A+ or F. There's no middle ground when you do something as gutsy, as fraught with risk as trading up to the fifth pick to take a quarterback.

The Cleveland Browns entered Saturday's NFL draft with the fifth pick. They'll exit the draft having used that pick to acquire seven players.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The 2009 draft finds the New York Jets in an uncomfortable predicament. They have spent the last two years spending on free agents to put many aspects of a contending team into place. That's a big part of the reason why they started last season 8-3, and briefly had Jets fans thinking that big things were in store for their team. But a strong running game, sound defense and dangerous special teams are being undermined by an invisible passing attack.

After day one of New York's voluntary minicamp, new Jets head coach Rex Ryan spent the better part of a 25-minute press conference cracking jokes and talking confidently about his team. It wasn't all fun and games, though, as Ryan also had to briefly address the absences of quarterback Erik Ainge and running back Thomas Jones from the team's offseason activities.

Jones' absence is believed to be contract-related. The 30-year-old Jones is entering the third season of a four-year, $20 million contract, but is making just $900,000 base pay in 2009 and coming off a season where he racked up 1,300-plus rushing yards.

Brett Favre's retired (knock on wood), Jay Cutler wound up in Chicago instead of New York, and frankly, the Jets just need someone to start at quarterback next season. Currently left on the Favre-less roster are Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge, and of that group, only Clemens has seen NFL action.

So perhaps that's the reason why Clemens feels he's going to be the Jets' guy. On Thursday, Clemens told the New York Post that, "It's my full expectation to be under center opening day.

Even though head coach Rex Ryan has publicly stated otherwise, the Jets are in the market for a starting quarterback. Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff are young and full of potential, but if New York can land a Pro Bowl-caliber veteran, why wouldn't they?

The short answer, I guess, is: they did ... last year, and look how that turned out. Fair enough. Blowing a third-round pick on an old, slow and banged-up Brett Favre was a tad impetuous in hindsight, but surely there is some middle ground between an over-the-hill, future Hall of Famer and a fourth-year guy with 12 career starts.

With the launch of the FanHouse Mock Draft 3.0 Wednesday, Mark Sanchez was left off the mock for the third straight time (out of three chances total). Almost every other Web site that compiles a mock draft has him going in the first round, and some have him in the top half of the first round.

You'll find comments peppered throughout our three mocks ranging from us being stupid to negligent. I can assure you we definitely didn't just forget about him. You'll find a compilation of thoughts as to why he wasn't taken in any of our three first run-throughs after the jump.

The combine is over, we're a week into free agency, and the draft is less than two months away. For NFL teams, this time of year is about finding cheap, young talent to replace aging or ineffective veterans, and the draft evaluation process is a big part of that.

Everybody agrees that Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez are the draft's two best quarterbacks, the only question is where they will end up. The Lions, who have the first-overall pick, are the favorites to take Stafford, but they could very easily select an offensive lineman -- just as big a need -- at No. 1. (And it may also help explain all the Jay Cutler trade talk.)

By most accounts, the Jets were very successful over the opening weekend of free agency. Linebacker Bart Scott and cornerback Lito Sheppard should pay immediate dividends, particularly in new head coach Rex Ryan's blitz-happy scheme.

The team also added former Ravens safety Jim Leonhard and re-signed guard Brandon Moore. All in all, not a bad few day's work. But even though this team is better -- at least on paper -- there's the lingering issue of who will replace Brett Favre. (Putting aside, for the moment, your thoughts on Favre's effectiveness, the point remains: there's a void at the quarterback position. The only question is if you think that's been the case for a couple months or a couple years.)