Getty The Minnesota Vikings have cut quarterback prospect Kellen Mond.
Today was the NFL’s final cutdown day and the New York Jets community was locked in on the decisions made by general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh.
In case you missed it, here is the full list of Jets roster cuts, along with the initial 53-man unit that was crafted.
Of course, in between fans praising and criticizing NYJ decisions was some time spent trolling others — namely the Minnesota Vikings and ESPN analytics expert Seth Walder. Why? It all centered around a trade from the 2021 NFL draft.
Vikings Waive Kellen Mond & Wyatt Davis
During Douglas’ second draft leading the franchise and his first working with Coach Saleh’s staff, the Jets GM traded up in the first round to land the highly-touted Alijah Vera-Tucker, an offensive line prospect out of USC.
In this swap with the Vikings, New York gave up the No. 23 selection and two third-round picks (No. 66 and No. 88) in exchange for No. 14 and a fourth-round pick (No. 143). Minnesota used their newfound haul of draft capital on three prospects: OT Christian Darrisaw, QB Kellen Mond and G Wyatt Davis.
Just after the draft, Walder wasted no time ripping the Jets on Twitter. He voiced: “Worst trade of the draft? Tough call between Jets’ trade-up for Alijah Vera-Tucker and Texans’ trade-up for Nico Collins. Jets pick was costlier (and for a guard), but Houston’s was a total outlier in terms of cost given where in [the] draft it occurred.”
Worst trade of the draft?
Tough call between Jets’ trade up for Alijah Vera-Tucker and Texans’ trade up for Nico Collins.
Jets pick was costlier (and for a guard), but Houston’s was a total outlier in terms of cost given where in draft it occurred.
Well, Seth, the North remembers and so do Jets fans.
After both Mond and Davis were cut today on August 30, 2022 — approximately 16 months from the day they were drafted — uSTADIUM led the charge in exposing this ice-cold take from Walder.
They also quote-tweeted a fan who was critical of the Jets after the draft, calling it one of the “worst trades in recent memory.” uSTADIUM commented back that it was “one of the worst for sure. 2/3 cut just a year later. AVT projecting to be one of the best guards in the game.”
Keep in mind that the Jets ended up flipping that extra fourth-rounder for a 2021 fifth and a sixth. The fifth was then traded again, but eventually turned into safety Jason Pinnock and defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall. Both were surprisingly cut this afternoon — like Mond and Davis — but are expected to return on the practice squad so long as they pass through waivers.
The sixth turned into cornerback Brandin Echols, the real sleeper of the group. The Kentucky product started 14 games last season and should act as quality depth behind newcomers D.J. Reed Jr. and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner in year two.
At the moment, the final scorecard reads Darrisaw for Vera-Tucker and Echols.
Fans Get in on the Fun
Jets fans tweeted at Walder for a response this morning and the analytics pro did answer but was unwilling to surrender his take.
“Sigh,” he responded. “Let’s follow this logic through. You’re saying if the Jets hadn’t made the trade with the Vikings they were going to draft Kellen Mond? The Jets didn’t trade Kellen Mond. They traded several picks, one of which turned out to be Kellen Mond.”
Walder’s argument is that the pick’s value trumps the end result — or selected prospects — while fans believe the players gained should be the only thing that matters.
“This is the problem when you only look at the value of the picks instead of the value of the players,” one fan countered. “You end up missing the only thing that matters.”
“You were wrong. Deal with it,” another stated firmly. “Take the L like a man Seth. You made a bad take & are dying on the hill of arrogance by not admitting how bad it turned out to be,” a third chimed in.
All in all, it was Walder against the world this afternoon. Some replies were more measured: “Worst take of the draft.*” Others were harsh: “You are a M O R O N Seth Walder.” A few even took pity: “They are killing this man for this awful take.”
In the end, it came down to one simple fact, voiced by one fan. “[The Jets] needed a Guard. They got the best Guard in the class. This isn’t hard.”
Although I have to admit, the greatest response of all might have been from another. “The funny part about this is that Nico Collins is also good,” he stated, and it’s absolutely true.
Time heals all wounds but it does nothing for bad takes gone wrong.