Jets looking for smarts to complement skills

Jets looking for smarts to complement skills
BY TOM ROCK

So what are the Jets looking for in the draft? The answer goes beyond their roster. Although they have areas that need improvement, the choices made Saturday and Sunday will likely have as much or more to do with personality than position. The Jets will try to marry intelligence and discipline with ability and potential, which is why player interviews are so important to their preparation.

"The interview process is another club in the bag," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said. He added that there is no single aspect of the player evaluation that is "outcome-determinative," but the interview is "a summation of a voluminous amount of information that collectively, as an organization, we try to assess and make the best decision."


Because the Jets look for thinking players, the interview often sways from the NFL standard. Terry Bradway, the Jets former GM who is now director of player personnel, said he watches video with prospects and is more interested in how a player can analyze what has happened than in how he performs.

"We asked them about their teammates, the guy they played across from," Bradway said. "A lot comes out. Personality comes out."

Just as character flaws sometimes hurt a player of great ability in the draft, character surplus sometimes overshadows physical limitations. That may have been the case last year when the Jets took Anthony Schlegel in the third round. Many saw that as a reach, and Schlegel hardly saw the field in 2006.

"[Bears GM] Jerry Angelo always said that the tape sets the floor and the character sets the ceiling," Tannenbaum said. "I think that's a short way of saying you can't have one without the other."

This weekend, the Jets will be looking for good students as much as they are looking for cornerbacks and linemen. Their 209 interviews in recent months were intended to shed light on player IQs.

"We wanted to be able to come out of the meeting, the interviews, with a good feel for the player's personality but also how smart they were, especially from a football standpoint," Bradway said. "That's the one thing: If guys want to have a chance to play, in particular play early, they've got to be able to pick it up."
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I knew when Terry Bradway stepped away as GM a few years back, he wasn't stepping out altogther. He's doing what he was cut out to do, Scouting and personel evaluation. 209 player interviews, i'd love to get a peek at their draft board!!-
Bill(draftnik)