04/26 — 9:32 p.m. EST: Round 2 is over and the first day is complete.  The Jets get a talented pair from the Big Ten. Vernon Gholston is a perfect fit for the 3-4 and he should help the Jets, who also added Calvin Pace in free agency, get to the quarterback.  Dustin Keller fits a receiving need and his speed will be an asset.  Randy just informed me that his Gholston feature is live.  Check it out and everything put up throughout the day.  We'll touch base in the morning. 

6:25 p.m.: The Jets just made a trade with the Green Bay Packers, moving up to 30th overall in the first round to draft Purdue TE Dustin Keller. In order to move up six spots (from 36 to 30), the Jets gave up their second-round selection and one of their two fourth-round selections in this year's draft.

5:22 p.m.: OK, we're back live. Vernon actually called in to newyorkjets.com (you'll hear the background noise) as he made the media rounds in the city. I spoke with him for a few minutes and you can listen to that interview now!  He may have been listed as a DE at Ohio State, but he has experience at OLB and will be comfortable in the 3-4..  “A lot of people miss the fact that I did play some outside linebacker at college," he said.  "It’s something I’m used to doing and I’ve been doing it at Ohio State and I can do it on the next level.”

3:42 p.m.: Vernon Gholston is a New York Jet. He'll be an OLB on the pro level.

3:38 p.m.: Randy, who's taking it all in from Radio City, says, "J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!" chants are coming every minute or so from the fans.

3:33 p.m.: The gamebreaker takes his show to the West Coast. McFadden joins the Silver & Black and the Chiefs are on the clock. Then the Jets!

3:22 p.m.: Matty Ice heading south to the Falcons. They needed a quarterback and got a good one. Now, what are Da Raiders going to do? Is it McFadden, Dorsey or maybe even Gholston?

3:15 p.m.: If you're scoring at home, that's Long to Long. Chris Long, son of NFL Hall of Famer Howie, is a St. Louis Ram defensive end. We're not the only ones watching the draft today. Jets WR Jerricho Cotchery will have the TV on at home throughout the day.

"I'm a big draft fan. Ever since I was young, I used to sit down and watch the whole draft," said Cotchery in a recently published article. "I was a Buffalo Bills fan growing up, so I used to write down all their picks, what colleges they were from, their weaknesses and all that stuff. But I still do the same, I sit down and watch the entire draft now.

"I just like the whole draft idea, picking the players. Everyone is showing their highlights, I just love everything about the draft."

3:05 p.m.: Commissioner Goodell just got this baby under way. Jake Long, who signed with Miami a few days ago, is officially a Dolphin. The Rams are on the clock.

2:00 p.m.: Brian Mulligan, our gameday and special events director, says we’ve got some energized crowds at the Coors Light Jets Draft Day Parties. The J-E-T-S chants have started and there are plenty of boos when any Patriot is seen on television.

1:45 p.m.: Randy just checked in from RCMH with an update: “I just talked with Jim Corbett, the former Jets beatwriter from Westchester who's now the esteemed NFL writer for USA Today's football pub. He seemed to think McFadden for the Jets, felt he answered all the character questions correctly. 'He's a young kid,' said Gentleman Jim. I told him the Rams seemingly zeroing in on CLong could send MRyan to the Jets. 'That'd be the ultimate quarterback competition,' said Jimmy.

"Also as I walked past the fans waiting to get into Radio City, a guy wearing a Ty Law Patriots jersey was walking toward them with a cup of coffee to get on the back of the line. A number of guys in Jets gear at the front of the line started a chant: 'Cheater, cheater!' 'Ty Law' didn't seem to notice at first the chant was for him. Then when he did, he took it well.”

1:40 p.m.: If you’re at home, you might want to keep your television tuned to SNY but keep your computer in front of you. Bracket coverage seems only fitting on this day. My plan is to throw out my thoughts as this event unfolds. But when the Jets make a selection, I’ll remove myself from the laptop to cover the post-selection process. So periodically, you’ll not hear from me but I’ll always return. Consider this your Monster Blog, so throw all your draft related comments here.

Okay, that’s enough background. Let’s get to the meat and potatoes. ESPN is projecting St. Louis, which owns the No. 2 overall selection, will take Virginia DE Chris Long, Atlanta, following at No. 3, will select Boston College QB Matt Ryan, and then they project Oakland will tab Arkansas RB Darren McFadden at No.4.

The Chiefs own the fifth selection and they might want to move out and stockpile draft selections. That brings us to the Jets at No.6, so we shall see.

1:30 p.m.: Good afternoon, Jets fans, and welcome to the 2008 NFL Draft on newyorkjets.com. We’re going to try something different today and that’s have a stream-of-consciousness blog as the draft unfolds.

I’m situated at the Weeb while Randy Lange, our editor-in-chief, is at Radio City Music Hall. He’ll be checking in with some regular blog entries throughout the afternoon, including a behind the scenes view of the Jets’ top pick. Then Randy will shuffle off back to the Island and finish the evening at the facility.

But I’m in Hempstead and will be here throughout Day One. In fact, the office Randy and I share was just used by Mike Tannenbaum and Eric Mangini for a SportsNet NY shot. Steve Overmyer followed with individual interviews of both and you’ll probably see those soon on SNY.