NY Jets Trade for RB Alabama Trent Richardson in 2012 NFL Draft?

With less than 24 hours away from one of the most anticipated NFL drafts in recent memory, people are wearing up for anything to happen. A move that would certainly land in that category would be if the New York Jets traded up in order to acquire Alabama running back, Trent Richardson.

Although it seems unlikely, Richardson would certainly be a perfect fit for Rex Ryan’s ground-and-pound offense. The Jets, who have the 19^th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, traded to get Tim Tebow this offseason, along with giving starting quarterback Mark Sanchez a hefty contract extension. There have been reports that the Jets contacted Richardson on Sunday, asking for his contact information for the draft.

So, realistically can the Jets pull off a draft-day trade and get who many consider to be the best halfback of this 2012 class? Not according to ESPN-New York’s Rich Cimini they won’t!

“This seems like a reach unless Richardson has a free-fall to the bottom of the top 10 or early teens,” Cimini explains. “The Jets would have to give up a lot to move into the top five or seven picks.

“The Cleveland Browns are linked to Richardson as high as No.4. To New York’s credit, the team does have 10 picks in this draft. That’s a lot of capital. But are the Jets willing to give up three, four or five of their picks to move up and take a running back? I don’t see it.”

One has to believe that adding Richardson would give this team a boatload of new options with new offensive coordinator, Tony Sparano coming over from Miami. With plans of playing Tebow on Wild Card situations, adding Richardson to that backfield with No.15 would give defenses a lot of problems.

But the high interest in Richardson also reveals another underlining plot. The fact that they would be willing to give up so much to get the Bama back means that their trust on starter Shonn Greene’s abilities isn’t all that high. His lack of explosiveness and big-play capability has really slowed down the momentum of an offense that a few years ago seemed unstoppable on the ground.

It’s going to be interesting to see what the Jets do on draft day. But if history is any indication, they will likely be moving up at some point and making a run at some fresh new players on this great class.