Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum spoke to the media at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Here’s what he said, courtesy of the New York Jets: On the quality of the wide receiver position at the combine workouts…
It looks at this point in time that there’s good depth at that position. I think this group is very interesting because they each bring a little something different to the table — from a size standpoint, some guys are good with the ball in their hands, some are short-area-quickness guys. I think it’s a good year for the receiver position.
On the interview process between teams and players at the combine…
Really, we just want to find out about their football acumen, the kind of person they are, their character, a little bit of everything, and you feel like this is a really good process to get information. It’s really one piece of the puzzle. It’s an important piece, but obviously we’re going to look at a lot of things over a six-, seven-month period of time. But when you sit there for as long as you do, guys do distinguish themselves in terms of what its perceived they know and what they don’t know. With that said, I really learned a valuable lesson from Curtis Martin a couple of years ago. He sat in with us, and at the end of the experience, I said, “What did you think, Curt?” He said he thought he would’ve done very poorly in that environment. I thought that was really good wisdom from Curtis and we try to take that within the context of the overall evaluation.
On if he’s ever had a player walk in and blow him away in his interview session…
Absolutely, especially with the offensive players, the depth of the adjustments they may know in terms of protections, even if they’re not offensive linemen. Some guys are real students of the game and they do distinguish themselves. But again, going back to what Curtis had taught me, I think you have to take that (information) within the context of an overall evaluation.
On if it hurts the process to have players now so well-prepared for these interviews…
We have a few different people ask questions. We’re trying to drill a guy on football acumen and so we’ll use a lot of different techniques to get there. Clearly, they’re prepared, but I think that also speaks well of them, that they’re taking this as a professional. It’s an interview and they’re prepared. I don’t necessarily look at that as a negative.
On if his view of Ohio State players has changed any after drafting Vernon Gholston with the sixth overall pick last year…
I think everyone’s unique. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Jim) Tressel. Obviously, his record speaks for itself, the people he gets there both on his coaching staff and obviously with his players. We’re always looking for good players regardless of where they come from. I have a good relationship with Coach Tressel, and again, I have all the respect in the world for their program (and) what they’ve accomplished.
On how much of an effect Brett Favre had on the Jets after playing just one season…
I think when you build a program, you try to bring people in that can affect people for years to come. Just to go back to Curtis Martin for a second. He came in, in 1998, and I’ll never forget Coach [Bill] Parcells saying, “Our best player is now also our best worker.” His work ethic resonated with people for years to come, with Leon Washington and Thomas Jones. I think the effects of Brett Favre will be felt on our program for a long time. Was he with us for a long time? No, but I think the effect he’ll have, the tangible effect he’ll have will last a long time. I think my favorite play of Brett as a Jet was going into the last week against Miami at practice. There was a 1-on-1 competition between the receivers and the defensive backs. On the last play, Wallace Wright, one of our backup receivers, caught the pass to win the period and here’s Brett flying down, 40 yards down the field, looking pretty unathletic, as I reminded him, jumping over the pile. That was Brett really in a nutshell, his unbridled enthusiasm to play football and I think that will resonate with a lot of people, not just Erik Ainge, not just Kellen Clemens but a lot of people, to go out to practice, compete, make it fun, get your work in. I think that Brett’s legacy with us will be that and I am very confident that legacy will stay with our program for years to come just like someone like Curtis’ legacy has remained with us obviously long after he has been done playing.
On the evaluation factors for quarterbacks…
You look at when your production and things like that and level of competition and who they are playing with or against. I think you factor in all those things and then try to make the best projection you can. You go back a year and you look at someone like Matt Ryan who did a lot of great things at Boston College. People said he didn’t have a lot of great receivers. Obviously that translated into a great rookie year, but every situation is a little bit different. You look at what Joe Flacco did, and what happened at Pittsburgh and he went to Delaware. I think every situation is a little bit different. You just got to be careful to look at all those ancillary factors as you try to rank them and evaluate them.
On more ‘premium’ offensive tackles and quick impact the recent ones have had…
I think it’s really the value of the position when we were back in 2006 looking at Reggie Bush, A.J. Hawk, D’Brickashaw and Vernon Davis. We really studied carefully and there was a long history of Walter Jones, Orlando Pace, Johnathan Ogden all being top five picks and looking at their impact before they arrived and then after they arrived and in some cases, the very significant impact that position had. I think it’s the value of the position. If you get the right types of guys that are going to come in with a good floor and then their work ethic is going to have them be an ascending player. I think it’s just so important, again it goes back to, I always heard Coach Belichick say, ‘more time, more money.’ How are they going to react to those two things? I know in our case with D’Brickashaw, tremendous work ethic. He came in did some things well, there were some inconsistencies. He got a lot better and I think the offensive line position in particular work ethic is really important so that they can hone the technique (and) lower body strength. Going back to D’Brickashaw, we beat Kansas City in overtime in the last game of the season in 2007 and he was the first guy in the weight room the following Tuesday and that translated into a much improved season in 2008.
On whether the quarterback solution is on the roster…
Philosophically, something that Rex and I believe in is the best players will play and if and when we have opportunities to improve the team we will do that regardless of position. Those three quarterbacks we have on the roster right now we feel good about. Kellen (Clemens) started eight games and actually played very well against Rex’s defense. Going back a year ago, Brett Ratliff I believe was number one in (passer rating) in the AFC preseason last year. You have to take that within the context of it was just preseason, but one thing I have to say about Brett Ratliff is as well as he played in the preseason, nobody in our building was surprised given how hard he had worked and how much he improved. I’ve been on record that Erik Ainge was drafted because his uncle is the GM of the Celtics and we have a lot of great Celtic gear. Erik has done a lot of great things as well. His meticulous preparation in helping some of the other younger players play this year was remarkable, in particular Dustin Keller. I think Erik Ainge had a meaningful impact on our team this year, despite the fact he did get hurt and had some other little bumps in the road, but I am really glad that Erik Ainge is with us. He has every opportunity to compete for playing time and the best players will play and that is what is really fun from where I sit in the world. There will be a great story this year, we just don’t know how that story is going to be written. Like a year ago, no one knew who Brett Ratliff was. Now again, he has to go out and earn it, but there are reasons to be encouraged.
On his approach to free agency…
I think it’s the same systematic approach, which I promised my wife I was not going to use the word process so we are going to use the same type of mechanisms. Really, what that is about is we are looking at our needs and we are going to look at trades, we are going to look at free agency and we are going to look at draft and we are going to put all those different ways we could acquire talent and we are just going to methodically approach it. If free agency is the best way to go, we are going to hit it hard and try to be efficient and go into the draft with much flexibility as possible. That is always the goal, but obviously with every draft there is a fundamental understanding that there is something we would really like to acquire.
On the draft/free agency and how the timeline impacts decisions…
We talk about it all the time in the office. Terry Bradway and I have had a lot of philosophical discussions about that. Really, what I think you are driving at is the structure of the contract. Sometimes, you’d love to sign guys in free agency and then something better comes along and then you’d love to move on, but you’ve made a two-year commitment. Those are real calculated risks that are tough calls. From where I sit those are as tough decisions that you have because it’s the bird in the hand versus the two in the bush versus we think there is a reasonable risk here that we could improve this position in the draft. Personally, I like to go into the draft with as much flexibility as possible because you just never know what is going to happen. For us, I think we were very fortunate to get David Harris in the second round. Every projection we had, he was going in the bottom of the first. When he was there in the second round, we went up to get him. We never thought in our wildest dreams that we would walk out with (Darrelle) Revis and David Harris in the first two rounds that we did, but we had put ourselves in position that we could take advantage of that opportunity. As best we can I would like to put us in that situation. But it’s never perfect.
On Percy Harvin’s durability…
That’s certainly part of the factor. You have to factor that in. We’re sitting at 17 right now. The economic commitment is not as significant so that’s something you really have to weigh carefully. I would say on the pro side. You can take calculated risks in terms of how you structure contracts, play time, waivers and splits in contracts. However, when you’re sitting there at 17, you’re making a significant commitment. We’ll weight that and we’ll weigh that carefully.
On a prototype defensive linemen…
If you looked at Baltimore, that may be give you a pretty good model. We may tweak some things a bit when you look at size at a couple of positions. However, we will also be looking for explosiveness, short area quickness and guys that can get off blocks and make plays. (Rex’s) history is really position flexibility up front and you can see some of the guys that he’s moved around in his fronts. From a personnel standpoint, that’s exciting. From a player’s standpoint, it’s exciting as well.
On whether there are defensive linemen with position flexibility in this year’s draft…
I think there are. Maybe more so with some guys than others from where we’re projecting them right now. I think these guys are versatile to line up at nose or to be extended out to a (three-technique). There’s a certain type of guy we’re looking for there. Position flexibility will be part of that but it won’t be the only factor in that decision.
On the Wildcat formation and its impact on the draft…
The draft just part of the process. As people build teams, position flexibility is important. Going back a couple of years, Eric (Mangini) and Brian Schottenheimer came up with a package for Brad Smith that I thought was really effective and, obviously, what Miami has done speaks for itself. I think the more position flexibility you have, the better especially for a 45-man roster.
On Wildcat and the draft link…
Within a certain context absolutely, but looking at our situation with Brad Smith covering kicks as well as he had. He’s taken snaps at quarterback. He’s played wide receiver. I think position flexibility really saves value for the 45-man roster.
On the fluctuation on player grades between now and the draft…
We really try not to do that. Obviously, things will be tweaked right up to the end. We have preliminary grades on all of our guys. We want to stay as close to that as possible. Obviously, the combine, the combine, the interviews, the spring workout will all affect things but we don’t’ any one part of the process to sway things too far.
On Head Coach Rex Ryan…
His sense of humor, gosh. I wish I could imitate him well. He’s funny and he’s been great to work with. He’s a natural leader and I can see why players enjoy playing for him. I’m looking forward to a good relationship with him and he’s been great.
On Bill Parcells and building a team…
I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. I’ve been fortunate to know him for a long time. A lot of the structure and methodology that we have is really stuff that he started in 1997 that we’ve tried to tweak and improve upon. A lot of the fundamental ways that we go about what (Parcells) called “player procurement” is things that he started.
On the uniqueness of this year’s free agency market, with regard to CBA uncertainty…
Yes. I think the 14 players that they have franchised may be representative of some uncertainty. It’s the challenge of structuring contracts, (taking into account) the 30 percent rule and a lot of other issues to find landing spots that work for the player and the club. It’s just another challenge that we deal with and I think the market usually speaks for itself. It’s not just the Jets. It’s 32 teams trying to assess value and structures so we’ll try to move quickly, but we’ll try to move astutely as well.
On the quarterback draft market…
There’s a lot of quarterbacks to be encouraged about. I think you’ll see at least a handful go in the first round. How that all turns out remains to be seen but I think there are a number of guys that will be successful at the next level.
