Transcript of the news conference with Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, head coach Rex Ryan and VP of college scouting Joey Clinkscales after the conclusion of the draft's first round Thursday night:
TANNENBAUM: We're excited to get Kyle Wilson and once we sign him to a contract, I'll tell you exactly how excited we are [laughing]. We're excited. He's a local guy from Piscataway, N.J., went out to Boise State, two-time captain, can come in and be our punt returner as well. As I've said many times before, Rex has always asked for depth at the cornerback position, so between trading for Antonio Cromartie and now adding Kyle Wilson, we feel like we've done that. We still feel really good about Dwight Lowery. We feel like with that set of four cornerbacks, it gives us a better chance to compete against the passing attacks that we have to face each year in the AFC. We're excited about Kyle.
On if Ryan twisted his arm…
RYAN: No. I'll tell you what. We sat looking at that board and I think I just said, "Just hang in there, hang in there," and that's exactly what happened. Dennis Thurman had him ranked way up there. I'm not going to say anything because I don't want people to know how we slotted. He was the 29th pick. That's all we'll say [laughing].
But realistically, what we need, the role that we have for him, he'll be our starting nickel and our punt returner, or compete for the punt returning job, and hopefully contribute on special teams. But this is a guy that we drafted in the first round, and this is a guy that will play. That's what Mike and I talked about. We take him in the first round and he's going to play and Kyle is definitely going to play for us.
On the influence of the AFC Championship Game on the selection…
RYAN: Peyton [Manning] played true to form. He picked everybody apart, including New Orleans, and they still lost the Super Bowl. Clearly that was an issue. Certainly our goal is to win a Super Bowl, so we're trying to put the best collection of players that we can together. I think what Mike's done and the guys that are under Mike, the collection of players that we have we feel really good about right now. We felt good about it going into the draft. We feel better about it right now.
On how tempting it was to take a pass rusher…
RYAN: Not tempting at all. This guy was rated over those players. We felt great about this situation. This is a starter in our sub package. With the fact that we added Jason Taylor to our pass rush already, we feel pretty good about where we're at defensively. We may end up No. 1 in the league this year [smiling].
On if it would have been tempting to take a linebacker had Jason Taylor not been signed…
TANNENBAUM: When we were putting our strategy together, I would say that in this case the board and need aligned. Which is, from our perspective, that's the dream scenario where what you feel like the most pressing need for your team is and the best player when you pick align.
I said a few days ago when we signed Jason, that would be more of a tiebreaker, but in this case, the way the board fell, it was really an easy decision. It was a unanimous decision. The phone did ring a couple of times. We listened to a few things just to be thorough, but we were really excited that Kyle was there. We think, as Rex mentioned, in the sub package, the way teams plays now, the sub package could be five, six hundred plays.
On Kyle Wilson…
CLINKSCALES: I think that you heard a lot. He played a lot of man-to-man at Boise State. He had a great Senior Bowl week. He's an athletic corner that is also a punt returner. He's physical. He's a good tackler. There were a lot of characteristics that he had that we coveted a lot. He'll help in our sub packages and he is a great kid.
On possible trades…
TANNENBAUM: We have a young guy, Dan Zbojovsky, who does a great job, "Let me know when we get to five minutes, let me know when we get to four minutes, let me know," and we did get a few calls, I'm assuming that was for the quarterback that was still out there. I don't know that. Our job is just to listen. But Rex was breathing down my neck, "Would you turn in the card in already?" [laughs] So we had a little drama there. We feel really good about Kyle. Again, as the cards were coming off the board and we knew that this was a position that we wanted to draft and punt returning, and he's the highest-rated guy, those are the fun times in the draft room because it is easy. You listen to the phone because that is your responsibility, but those are the fun picks because they are easy.
On selecting a different cornerback if Wilson had been gone…
TANNENBAUM: That is a hypothetical. That is hard to say. There were a couple of other players that we think will be really good players for years to come, so that is really hard to say.
On how the draft board fell the Jets' way….
TANNENBAUM:He was the best player on the board. Our dream scenario is to take the best player on the board. It goes back to what Rex said over a year ago. You look at Baltimore, you look at what Ozzie [Newsome] has done year in and year out, and put together successful sustainable success. I'm like Rex: What are the keys? "That's easy, just take the best player," and there is a lot of wisdom to that. Sometimes in our league and with the restrictions you have to deal with, it's not always convenient to take the best player because you have to fill this role or some other spot. I can tell you, there are a lot of people upstairs that were really excited because he was the best player on our board at 29.
On Wilson's punt-returning ability factoring into the decision to draft him…
CLINKSCALES: I think it factored in some because he will compete. We are not giving him the job. He's going to have to compete. We have two other guys that did a good job returning punts this year. But the kind of defense we want to play, he's able to play that type of defense. So I think that factored in more than just the fact that he's also a punt returner.
On where Wilson matched up with the other cornerbacks in the draft…
TANNENBAUM: We were really happy about taking Kyle Wilson. In our opinion, he matched up very favorably to all the other corners. To get him at 29, I feel like when we drafted Nick Mangold at 29. You know, we were just really happy that he was there at 29.
On why Ryan likes corners on his defense so much…
RYAN:Well, it's the style of play. We want to get after you. We want to be able to line up and play man coverage against you and come after the quarterback, so that's why. If you don't have corners, you don't feel good about your corners, you could end up sixth in the league like we did one year when we lost everybody — I'm still trying to recover from that one.
But that's the truth, that's a great statement. In fact, I was really concerned that Baltimore would take Kyle. Then when they made the trade, when Denver made the trade for [Tim] Tebow, I was real excited about that. I guarantee you, with [secondary coach Chuck] Pagano and their coaches over there, they definitely would have wanted this guy.
On what it was like waiting so long for the pick tonight…
TANNENBAUM: A couple of thousand calories.
RYAN:It wasn't bad for me, but a certain somebody gets a little itchy over there [laughing].
TANNENBAUM:It may have been a few more than a couple thousand calories.
RYAN:I will say this: We got off easy this year, because last year he about tore my shoulder off high-fiving me for the Mark Sanchez pick.
On what Wilson demonstrated during Senior Bowl week in terms of level of competition…
CLINKSCALES:Well, not necessarily that because the level of competition Boise played was actually pretty good. I mean, two or three years ago they beat Oklahoma in a bowl game, they beat TCU this season, so he has done a lot of good things. But the Senior Bowl week for him, comparing him with the other corners was really special for him. I mean, he played physical. He was very instinctive, his ball skills were great, so we felt like as the process went on and we studied him more that the characteristics that he has were something we coveted.
On if Wilson's physicality has improved during his career…
CLINKSCALES: I'm sure it has. Like most young corners, they don't always play like you want them to play. But as his career progressed, he got better.
