Transcript of the Jets' predraft news conference with general manager Mike Tannenbaum, director of player personnel Terry Bradway and director of college scouting Joey Clinkscales on Thursday afternoon:
Tannenbaum:First of all, thanks to everybody for coming out today. Actually, I also wanted to thank, in particular, our college scouts for the sacrifice they make all year going out on the road and being away from their families so much. I saw Ozzie Newsome do it, so I have to give him some credit. I do want to thank our scouts, in all seriousness. Right now, we're sitting with the sixth pick in the draft, as I'm sure everybody knows. We also have a second-round pick, then we have the value of the Kris Jenkins trade when we gave up a three and a five, but we have two fours, a six and a seven. That's where we stand right now heading into next weekend.
Since the end of the season, Eric [Mangini] and I and the rest of the organization have tried through every possible avenue to improve the team. As I'm sure most of you know, we have signed Andre Woolfolk, Artrell Hawkins, Tony Richardson, Bubba Franks, Alan Faneca, Damien Woody, the Kris Jenkins trade, Calvin Pace and Jesse Chatman. We're also really excited about signing Kerry Rhodes and Sione [Pouha] to extensions. All that was done with the goal of giving us as much flexibility heading into next weekend as possible. We tried to improve the team, but in doing so, we wanted to make sure that going into next weekend, our stated goal remains the same. We want to primarily build this team through the draft. Extending players such as Jerricho Cotchery, Kerry Rhodes and Sione, those are examples of us trying to do that for the long term.
I think this is a really exciting time for the organization. As many of you know, at the end of training camp we are going to move into the Atlantic Health Jets Training Facility, which will be over in Florham Park, N.J. Woody Johnson and Jay Cross deserve a lot of credit. It's going to be a state-of-the-art facility that I think will give us a tremendous competitive edge for not only the players and the staff but in terms of a culture of being able to learn and develop. It will be a great thing for our organization and we're really excited about it. That will happen some time after training camp. With that, I'm going to pass it over to Terry and we'll go from there.
Bradway: I don't know if you guys have the numbers on some of these things, but we usually like to give this out to give you an idea of what we've gone through. We've evaluated over 1,200 players in getting ready for this draft, of which close to 1,000 of those are players that we consider to be at least free agents for some clubs. We did over 5,200 reports. We really did a good job with our interview process. We interviewed close to 450 players at the combine, at the Senior Bowl, at the East-West game, formal interviews here. We brought 32 players in this week, two of whom are local and 30 who we're allowed by league rules to bring in. We either formally or informally interviewed close to 300 players at the combine, of the 330 players that are invited. Although those interviews may last 10, 15 minutes, we felt like we did get something out of those. I think our coaches and scouts did a real good job as far as those were concerned.
This spring, our coaches went out and visited 41 schools in addition to our scouts who went out. I know I personally saw 14 schools and got a pretty good feel. We have 397 players that we consider to be draftable players. In our meetings the last two weeks, we discussed 172 players that we had roughly in our first five rounds that we would give serious consideration to drafting.
Understanding that a lot of work goes into this as Mike mentioned, with our scouts, Joey has done a great job as always. We are still in the process of interviewing part of the 30 — we have a few more this afternoon, we have about six tomorrow that we are going to talk to. Next week, we really get into our preparation. We have our special teams meeting on Monday with Kevin O'Dea, our new special teams coach. We will begin our review of the draft board on Monday at 1 p.m. Each day we will take time to review the board and will change it. We will move some guys around. We also have our security meeting next week with Steve Yarnell.
One good thing we did prior to our meetings is we had an early medical and security meeting to go over some players, which I thought was helpful in getting us through our draft meetings. We will also have some strategy meetings, relative to the possibilities of trading up or trading down, depending on what the board might show us in the first couple of rounds.
The one change this year we do have is the fact that we only have two rounds on the first day. Second-day picks, which were typically fourth-round picks, a round we really like when we restacked the board and we were able to get players like Cotchery and Rhodes and [Leon] Washington and Brad Smith, will now begin with the third round. It will be interesting to see how that turns out in terms of restacking the board on Saturday night after two rounds and then getting into the third and fourth. As Mike mentioned we don't have a third or fifth, but there is always a chance we can pick something up.
We have to be prepared for that in terms of tradeback scenarios and players being available and also tradeup scenarios, which we were involved in last year — our first-round pick, Darrelle Revis, and our second-rounder, David Harris. We gave up some picks to get those players and you lose a little bit of quantity, but we felt like we got really good quality with those two. I think if you were to redraft last year's draft, some would argue that both those kids could have been top-10 picks based on the way they played. I think that was a good move. Sometimes you have to get lucky.
Right now we are about a week ahead, because last year we ran our position meetings up until the final week. This year we finished last week and had a chance to play with the board a little bit and make sure all of the values are correct, identify what our needs are, identify players within those groups who could fit those needs. I'm excited about what we have done so far and we will get our scouts back in here next week and get ready to go.
On who is included on the list of 397 draftable players …
Tannenbaum: We actually have that meeting at 1 o'clock next week. We're going to open that up to the media. We're going to try a new approach so you can see first-hand the process [laughs].
Bradway: Like I said, I think the thing is, we've evaluated that many that we think are draftable, but when you think about it, we've talked about 172 in the meeting, and really, we will really spend most of our attention on the players that show up in the first three rounds next week when we review the board because if you get down in the fifth or sixth round, you're really wasting your time because the scouts have all done those players and we've identified and ranked them, and a lot of those guys won't be there when you restack the boards. We will really work hard on the first three rounds next week to get those lined up right.
On the decision-making process in selecting a player …
Tannenbaum: I pride myself on being a good listener and try to solicit everyone's opinion. Obviously, I'm going to rely on these two guys up here quite a bit and Eric, and at the end of the day try to come up with the best decision for the team. Just to give you an example of that, last year, soon after we had picked Darrelle Revis, I went to the restroom and in there I saw Brian Cox. Grudgingly he said, 'Hey, good job' — Brian is a hard guy to please. And he goes, 'Don't forget about David Harris now.' Brian was the first guy to actually put the bug in my head that let's keep an eye on David Harris. Just as the chips fell as they may, we were fortunate enough to trade back up and get David. That just happened to be Brian's idea to kind of at least put it on our radar and say, 'Hey, let's just monitor this.' I think it's a collaborative effort. Everyone does a lot of work from the doctors to security to the area scouts to the coaches. Everyone's input is sought.
On selecting players based on talent or need …
Tannenbaum: That's a great question. Primarily, we want to say that the board will dictate what we do. But I think if you study the evolution since 1993, you at least have to factor in need and the value of the board. In a perfect world, the two will mesh. But I don't think you can take the idealistic approach of saying it is the highest-rated player and we're going to take him. It's a factor in the decision-making process.
On if the Jets are considering taking RB Darren McFadden if he's there at No. 6 …
Tannenbaum: Right now, we're prepared to take the sixth pick in the draft and there will be six players that we like.
On evaluating a player's character …
Tannenbaum: I'll let these guys chime in. However, before they do, it fundamentally goes back to the process. We have a thorough process and it starts next month for the 2009 draft where Terry and Joey and their group go out to the spring national meetings. It's a year-long process. I feel good about the process. We'll always fall back on that. Steve Yarnell has a big say on things and player development has a big say. In a big-picture view, I'm comfortable with our process.
Clinkscales: With all of the players we are prepared to draft, we've done all of the character work. We have Steve Yarnell, who is our [senior] director of security. We have other people in the building. We have people at the school. We have people in the community there. If we draft a player, then his character has been checked out thoroughly.
On McFadden in particular …
Clinkscales: I really don't want to get too specific on that. I will say that we've talked with him. He's a great person to talk to. We've done our homework. If that is the pick that we choose to make, we will be comfortable with that decision.
On Tannenbaum's impression of McFadden …
Tannenbaum: He was one of our 30 visits. It's part of the process. We'll take players out to dinner. It's just part of the evaluation process.
On whether McFadden's visit was a positive experience …
Tannenbaum: We're collecting information right now.
On how Tannenbaum's approach to the draft has changed over the years …
Tannenbaum: It fundamentally comes back to improving your football team every year. Eric and I sat down after last season. We looked at what we needed to do to improve the team. This is just another step in the process. We try to tweak the process. The input we get from the coaches and the scouts has been a positive experience. I look at next week as part of the continuum of improving the team. Obviously, it's an important day, but it's just the next step in the process.
On whether the team prefers to select a player at No. 6 who will make an immediate impact or one who will take a year or two to develop …
Tannenbaum: We factor in all those variables when we make the decision. At the end of the day, we want to take the best player for us. We're going to factor in his upside, his work ethic, his position. All those factors will go into the decision. With that said, we're not taking this pick just in the view of the 2008 season. We hope this player will help us for a long period of time.
On time spent identifying players who will be signed as undrafted rookie free agents …
Bradway: We actually started last year with a recruiting process that's pretty involved. We've got a list of players. Some of them may get drafted. They are players we've given a late-pick or a priority-free-agent grade to. We'll get on the phone and talk to them and try to develop some sort of relationship with them. Last year, Jay Mandolesi did a great job with Jason Trusnik, who ended up making our team and actually playing for us at the end of the year. A lot of that had to do with recruiting — calling him every couple of days, text messages, similar to college. With some guys, it comes down to the money. At the end of the day, if a guy feels comfortable with your program and feels like he's got a legitimate shot — which we have some history now of free agents coming here and making our team — I think that will help. It's a pretty involved process. We'll get our coaches involved with phone calls, especially next week. Like I said, Jay did a great job with that last year. He's got a list and he takes a lot of pride in developing relationships with players. Hopefully, we'll get a guy or two.
On if more emphasis is placed in an evaluation on a player's performance on the field during the season rather than the workouts and the combine …
Clinkscales: At the end of the day, how a guy plays on the field usually determines how he will play for you. The combine process should be a confirmation of things you already know. That being said, you have a chance to get interviews at the combine. You can get a medical background. The combine is useful in that factor. However, the tape is the most important evaluation tool.
Bradway: Joey will meet with all the scouts in December. To me, December is the truest grade because that's when they have played football at their school in a system that they are comfortable with. They'll put a grade on him based on the fall. They'll also come back in February when they've had a chance to crosscheck either by position or by area and also look at some all-star games and put another grade on him and maybe tweak it a little bit for the combine. We want to make sure the final grade isn't too far off what that December grade was. If a guy jumps a significant number, you want to be real careful that you don't take him too high. Going back to needs, we've learned through our history that if you start to push guys up your board because of need, you have a tendency to make mistakes. We want to keep him with a true grade. If we understand that we are taking a player with a lower grade because it's a need, at least we know that.
On how the Jets see the top five picks …
Tannenbaum: It seems like a pretty fluid situation. I read the same things that you are reading. We have to be comfortable with six players and that is the part of the process we are finalizing right now. That's the only part of the process we can control — the preparation. There could be trades up, trades back, so we just have to be prepared to have six names we are comfortable with.
On whether his group of six players is already set …
Tannenbaum: It's in pencil. We have our eraser available [laughs]. Next week, we will really fine-tune things. We have our preliminary stuff done, but as Terry mentioned earlier, we are going to spend next week crosschecking it, rehashing it — a quality control process. We already have a preliminary order from that standpoint but again, we are going to tweak it next week. That's just part of the process. Preliminarily, the board has been set.
On character and the Jets' core values …
Tannenbaum: It goes back to the process. We had the opportunity to bring Kris [Jenkins] in before we finalized the trade, we had permission from Carolina. We had a great visit with Kris, he got to know us and we got to know him. We talked about a lot of things on both sides and I thought we came up with a solution that was going to be good for him and good for us. On the pro side in free agency or for a trade or for the draft, I am comfortable with the process and how thorough we are. We try to get to know each player and not just go by what we've heard or reputation. We try to evaluate each situation independently and obviously at the end of the day it's a subjective analysis, but it's the totality of those factors that will make us make a decision.
On whether there are specific issues that can rule out players …
Tannenbaum: We don't have a magic formula to say that X or Y is outcome-determinative in any situation. It is going to be all the factors. We are just going to try to be thorough in the process and talk to people around the player, be it his agent, former teammates, coaches. Once we go through that process, be it on the pro side or the college side, we'll make that decision.
On whether objectivity is an issue when talking about players with their agents ...
Tannenbaum: Yes. You ask an agent between now and the draft, "Tell me about your guys." "Well, they're great guys."
On the top of the draft …
Clinkscales: If you are sitting at No. 1, obviously the Dolphins have two guys in mind, supposedly, that they feel are better than the rest. That being said, it depends on how your board is stacked and who you think is the best player. As far as one through seven, I really couldn't tell you because I don't know what everyone else is thinking. I know that we feel there are at least six guys that we would be interested in drafting at No. 6.
On if this is a deep draft …
Bradway: That's hard to say. There is more depth maybe in this draft than in last year's draft overall. Last year we felt like there wasn't and that's why we traded up and gave up some picks, because we didn't think the value would have been there. I think the value is going to be there through three or four rounds this time. Like we normally say, if you are picking sixth, there are five players you like. If you are picking 10th, there are nine players you like. If there are eight guys on the practice squad, you want nine. It's always like that.
But we feel pretty comfortable with the guys toward the top. We've done our homework on them. We've ranked them. We'll talk again next week. You never know what's going to happen. The phone can ring. There are all kinds of variables that come into play. You have to be prepared for everything. We'll be prepared to sit at six and take a good player. We'll be prepared to listen to a phone call. Whatever happens, some of it is going to happen prior to the draft, some of it may happen on draft day — which may be a little more unlikely because you have only 10 minutes instead of 15 in that first round.
On Dewayne Robertson …
Tannenbaum: Dewayne's under contract. He's on the team right now. Until something changes, we expect him to be here. I'm not going to comment on any speculation or rumors, just to say that Dewayne's had a good career with us so far and he's on the roster and will be here unless something changes.
On trading out of the sixth pick …
Tannenbaum: It depends on the opportunity that's presented to us. I do feel that trade talks among the top 10 picks will probably heat up the night before. It did last year. On the Revis trade, we were getting an agreement in principle with [Carolina GM] Marty Hurney and the Panthers if the scenario worked out the way where the player they wanted wasn't there, they could move back, and obviously for us it was Darrelle. I think because of the shorter timeframe that we have within the first round, the activity will heat up in the latter part of next week. Because of the complexity of the trades and the value of the contracts, I just don't think that it will happen when you are on the clock.
On whether the Jets need to draft a playmaker on offense …
Tannenbaum: We are always looking to improve the team. We try and start that process as soon as the season is over. With football being the consummate team game that it is, we feel with adding people like Alan Faneca, Tony Richardson and Damien Woody, we can improve the offense in a lot of different ways. We are always going to try and improve ourselves. Sometimes it will be in a direct way and sometimes it will be in an indirect way.
On whether the Jets currently have a player who scares opposing defenses…
Tannenbaum: We are always trying to improve all three phases of our team. I think you can improve your offense by not only having a "playmaker" but improving the depth of the offensive line or having depth on the offensive line or depth at the running back position. So there is more than one way to do that.
On McFadden as a player…
Clinkscales: I think he is a fantastic player. He is explosive, he is fast and he can catch. As a football player, I think he is a fantastic player.
On which free agent acquisition will have the biggest influence on the Jets …
Bradway: I think the two areas we addressed that are going to help us are up front, both on the offensive line and defensive line, with Kris, with Pace, with Woody, with Faneca. We play in a tough division. I think the teams that are good up front have a chance. We identified our needs prior to free agency. We were able to address a lot of them, not all of them. We still have needs going into the draft, which we have identified. There is a chance we won't get all those, either, but we have a wish list and hopefully we can match up a value on the board to a need that we can fill and help us win.
On the specific needs for the Jets…
Bradway: I'm not going to go and tell everybody, but I think you can probably figure that out in some of the positions. Not even just starters but backups, maybe a third or a fourth at a position or a special teams guy who can come in and improve our team not only on the top end but even on the bottom end. The one thing we have done is taken those areas and identified players throughout the draft whether it is a second-round pick or a fourth-round value or a sixth-round value where if that guy was there, he would have a chance to come in and fill that role for us.
On the difficulty of projecting college talent due to the spread offense …
Bradway: It is hard. You have the tight end position in some schools. It has become different than your typical "Y" where you have a guy playing "H" and playing in the slot or teams don't really play with fullbacks. That is why you have NFL teams looking at linebackers or oversized running backs to fill that role. It has become hard. The spread offenses are good offenses. If you're Kansas and you put up 76 against Nebraska in the spread offense, it's a pretty good offense. But it makes our job a little more difficult.
On comparing Calvin Pace to Vernon Gholston …
Bradway: Calvin, in terms of playing, is a little bit like Farrior was. The first year James started was his fifth year and he played very well. He then went to Pittsburgh and has had a fine career. You kind of hope the same thing happens with Calvin. He is a good guy who meets all of the character requirements, but a very good athlete. He is probably on the verge of a breakthrough in terms of sacks and getting to the quarterback. Vernon is a very explosive player. He is strong and he is physical. In terms of setting the edge and doing those things, he should be able to do those things. I don't know if they are the same kind of player, but they are both good football players.
Tannenbaum: One of the things that really attracted us to Calvin was his versatility. He had all of the skill set that we saw on tape that we were looking for at that position. We think he will be a three-down player for us and can help in a variety of ways for Eric and Bob [Sutton].
On Bryan Thomas being an every-down player …
Tannenbaum: That has been his track record here. He's been an every-down player for us. He has shown versatility in playing more than one position as well.
On if draft mornings for Tannenbaum are similar to game mornings …
Tannenbaum: It is really gameday for us and a year's worth of preparation goes into two days and it is an opportunity to improve the team. Again, the only part of the process we can control is the preparation and as long as you feel good about that, that's all you can worry about.
On selecting a quarterback …
Tannenbaum: If that opportunity presents itself and we feel like it is the best thing for the team, we are not going to rule out any position heading into this year's draft. You can see that a lot around the league. You saw it here in 2000 where we had Ray Lucas and Vinny Testaverde and we ended up taking Chad Pennington in the first round. You've seen it recently where Warren Sapp was at Tampa Bay and they took Anthony McFarland, or New Orleans has Deuce McAllister and they take Reggie Bush. We try to stick to the value of the board as best we can regardless of position.
On whether the feelings about a QB would be different with a different performance from Kellen Clemens last season ...
Tannenbaum: Philosophically, what I can tell you is we want to try to stick to the value of the board as best we can. You can look at the Giants taking Mathias Kiwanuka in the first round when they already had [Michael] Strahan and [Osi] Umenyiora.
On quarterback being different than those other positions …
Tannenbaum: I am just trying to take a big-picture approach. We want to approach the draft regardless of position and try to stick to the value of the board as best we can.
On Delaware QB Joe Flacco …
Clinkscales: Joe Flacco is a tall kid who played mainly out of the shotgun. He's got a big arm. He's a Delaware kid — Terry knows the Delaware program quite well. Flacco has come a long way since he transferred from Pittsburgh. There are a lot of good things to like about Flacco.
On the cornerbacks in this draft …
Clinkscales: I think cornerback is a position where there are some candidates who fit the size requirements, who are athletic. Some have better ball skills than others, but as a group I think you can find guys at some point in the draft that can help you at that position.
On whether there will be any gamesmanship with New England, with the Jets at six and the Patriots at seven …
Tannenbaum: It is just about us and what we can control with the sixth pick. We just have to be prepared to have six players that we would be comfortable taking at that position. Obviously, we know New England is sitting there at seven, Buffalo I believe is at 11, so the whole AFC East is picking pretty quick here.
On if the Jets will be smoke-screening …
Tannenbaum: I'll answer that a week from Monday [laughs].
On Matt Ryan …
Tannenbaum: We had a great visit with Matt. He is a great person. He can make all the throws. He played for a couple of different coaches up at BC. There is no reason to think he won't be a successful NFL quarterback.
Clinkscales: I will just echo that and say he is a bright, articulate kid who, again, can make all the throws and has the chance to develop into a really good NFL quarterback.
Bradway: Well, I have known Matt since his senior year at Penn Charter High School when my son's team went in there and beat them, 40-8, and sacked him eight times in the second half, so I have followed his career quite closely and Dana Bible, his offensive coordinator, is a good friend of mine. He is very smart, he did a great job at Boston College, and like these guys said, he should be successful in this league.
On the pressure to select a great player when picking high in the draft …
Tannenbaum: I think the pressure in these jobs is what you put on yourself. You get into this business because you are competitive and driven. We want to succeed for the entire organization and for Mr. Johnson and our fans and I think you feel that pressure every day just driving to the office. I think next weekend, starting with the sixth pick in the draft, is just another opportunity to improve this team.
