The infamous 2014 New York Jets draft class was officially put to rest this week.
Longtime veteran offensive lineman Dakota Dozier announced his retirement at the age of 32, via Dennis Waszak Jr of the Associated Press.
“The game of football has been an absolute blessing in my life. I’m so thankful for all [of] the people it’s allowed me to meet, places it’s given me the opportunity to go, and so many wonderful experiences,” Dozier wrote on social media. “I’m extremely grateful to have been a part of the Jets, Vikings, and Bears franchises.”
Dozier was carted off of the practice field in 2022 because of a serious knee injury when he was on Chicago’s roster. He ultimately was forced to miss the entire 2022 campaign. Dozier revealed on social media that he was never able to fully recover from the injury and decided to officially walk away from the game in March of 2024.
With Dozier’s retirement, every member of the John Idzik-12 draft class as it came to be known, is now out of the NFL.
The History of the Idzik-12 Jets Draft Class
Ahead of the 2014 NFL draft, the Jets had accumulated 12 total draft selections.
Then head coach Rex Ryan “unsuccessfully lobbied” Idzik to trade up from the No. 18 overall spot in the first round to go get LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, per Rich Cimini of ESPN. Instead, they stood pat and selected the “Louisville Slugger” Calvin Pryor a safety out of Louisville.
Cimini called it “bad karma” especially considering how the rest of the draft played out naming it “arguably the worst in Jets history.”
While the rest of the NFL seemed to get some juice out of the orange with that draft class producing 27 Pro Bowlers according to Cimini, the Jets experienced the opposite reaction.
Only two members of the 12-person class played more than four seasons in the NFL: wide receiver Quincy Enunwa (five years) and the aforementioned Dozier (seven years).
From the draft in April of 2014 through April of 2019, those 12 picks were cut “44 times by 20 different teams,” per Cimini.
The entire 2014 Jets draft class was infamous for its ineptitude earning the nickname, “The Idzik 12”, but no one became more famous than IK Enemkpali for all of the wrong reasons.
In August of 2015, Enemkpali got into an altercation with then-Jets quarterback Geno Smith which resulted in his jaw getting broken and both players’ careers changing forever.
Smith went from starter to backup which opened the door for Ryan Fitzpatrick to have the best season of his career with the Jets in 2015. Who knows what would’ve happened if Smith never got his jaw broken?
While Enemkpali was out of the league in 2018 and moved on to a different career path.
The Past Is a Stern Warning for the Future
Idzik was fired a few months later in December of 2014. This coming back in the news cycle provides a cautionary tale for general manager Joe Douglas heading into April’s draft.
New York has seven total selections in the class as it stands. This season is do or die for this regime. If they fail, everyone will be fired.
That puts a tremendous amount of pressure on JD to hit some home runs in this draft. Idzik refused to move around the board during that 2014 NFL draft. It was a key reason for his departure.
Douglas must have an open mind during the draft and be willing to move when the opportunity presents itself. Whether that’s trading up or down.
Douglas pulled off arguably one of the best Jets draft classes of all time in 2022. Now he will look to repeat those efforts in 2024.
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