Speaker 1: Welcome to the Official Jets Podcast powered by Amazon Web Services.
Speaker 1: On today's episode, e A and Joe Douglas one on one,
Speaker 1: an exclusive interview with the Jets general manager leading up
Speaker 1: to the draft. Of course, the draft is Thursday. It
Speaker 1: is Monday, right about three o'clock to fifty seven to
Speaker 1: be exact. The sun is shining here. Ea, how you
Speaker 1: doing of Greg Green's Listen is draft week, so obviously, uh,
Speaker 1: the excitement is going to continue to build as we
Speaker 1: get to Thursday. But at the start of the week, listen,
Speaker 1: if you're a Jets fan, right now, this is what
Speaker 1: it's all about, organizational building, and Joe Douglas is first
Speaker 1: draft as general manager. We've been talking about it for months.
Speaker 1: Eight draft picks in all that number eleven overall selection
Speaker 1: and of course the four in the top eighty overall.
Speaker 1: But listen, this extend past the draft, Greens, because you're
Speaker 1: gonna be active on Saturday. As soon as that draft ends,
Speaker 1: Joe and his guys to be on the phone trying
Speaker 1: to get some priority undrafted free agents in green and White.
Speaker 1: I wonder how the virtual draft, and really the virtual
Speaker 1: pre draft process, how that will affect the undrafted free
Speaker 1: agent process, if there will be better talent compared to
Speaker 1: years past. I'm just curious how it all breakdown. But
Speaker 1: you spoke to Joe Douglas after Joe Douglass spoke to
Speaker 1: the media, and one of the things that Joe Douglas
Speaker 1: spoke to the media about was the status of Jamal
Speaker 1: Adams and the Jets. But last week Adam Schefter said
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams probably not going to participate in the virtual
Speaker 1: off season program, which Joe Douglas emphasized our voluntary. But
Speaker 1: then he also said that the plan is still for
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams to be a Jet for life. Yeah, you're right, Greens,
Speaker 1: if you really think about it. There was nothing new
Speaker 1: on the Jamal Adams Adams front from Joe Douglas today.
Speaker 1: He reiterated that his plan is to keep Jamal Adams
Speaker 1: a Jet for a long time. He did say that
Speaker 1: he hopes to connect with Adams after the draft, so
Speaker 1: we'll have to wait a little bit for any potential
Speaker 1: news on that front. I know you took this away
Speaker 1: as well. He said, my attent is not to move
Speaker 1: any players. But Joe Douglas has said it for months
Speaker 1: now that if a team calls, he will listen. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that's the essence of being a general manager.
Speaker 1: Somebody calls and wants to make a deal for one
Speaker 1: of your players, You pick up the phone, you listen,
Speaker 1: you evaluate, and you go from there. And it feels
Speaker 1: like a similar chain of events to what happened around
Speaker 1: the trade deadline in October. You think about Jomal Adams
Speaker 1: name was in the public then saying with Levy on Bell,
Speaker 1: but Joe Douglas made it clear that he wasn't shopping
Speaker 1: those guys. He was just listening to calls. In terms
Speaker 1: of the draft, some players will get dealt, not necessarily Jets,
Speaker 1: but across the league. You think about guys that are
Speaker 1: potentially on the trade block per se, or guys that
Speaker 1: haven't even been discussed, And I think that Joe Douglass
Speaker 1: point remain is the same. He's not looking to move
Speaker 1: any of these guys. And the other part of this
Speaker 1: whole thing to me is maybe he hasn't spoken to
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams since the last time that Joe Douglas spoke
Speaker 1: to the media. Well, this is draft season. Maybe it's
Speaker 1: put on the backburner per se until after the draft,
Speaker 1: when the draft is finally over. Because this is really
Speaker 1: such a long process from last mayor June to present
Speaker 1: that it doesn't feel like it's the right time to
Speaker 1: even try to go about that. There's a couple of
Speaker 1: points here that I'd like to stress. Number one is
Speaker 1: the off season program for the Jets, since they don't
Speaker 1: have a new coach, begins April, so the virtual off
Speaker 1: season program has not begun. That's my first point. The
Speaker 1: second one is Joe Douglas said if he believes he
Speaker 1: is a franchise quarterback, that is the one player on
Speaker 1: his roster that is off limits. He has talked about
Speaker 1: Sam Donald bean a franchise quarterback, so Sam Donald is
Speaker 1: off limits. Finally, to Green's, are we talking samantics here?
Speaker 1: I don't think we're talking samantics because to me, shopping
Speaker 1: a player means Joe Douglas getting on the phone after
Speaker 1: his conference call today and calling twenty teams and saying, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm willing to part with this guy. What are you
Speaker 1: gonna give me? Listening to calls to me is taking
Speaker 1: a call from one of your peers who is a
Speaker 1: general manager in the National Football League and having a conversation,
Speaker 1: and if they bring up a player, of course you
Speaker 1: always assess the value because otherwise, to your point, you're
Speaker 1: not doing your job as a general manager. I totally
Speaker 1: agree with that. And Joe Douglas said to you that
Speaker 1: he learned a lot under Ozzy Knewsom, who, of course
Speaker 1: he believes should be a Hall of Fame general manager
Speaker 1: for the Baltimore Ravens before Erica Costa took over a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. And we'll talk about it after
Speaker 1: your interview right now with Joe Douglas. What Joe learned
Speaker 1: from Ozzy Newsom. Here he is Joe Douglas one on one. Joe,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us. What do you
Speaker 1: think about the opportunity at hand for you and this
Speaker 1: organization draft weekend? Oh, great opportunity. Eric eight picks four
Speaker 1: in the top seventy nine. It's a chance to really
Speaker 1: bring in guys that were excited about, guys that we
Speaker 1: we thinking come in here and make an impact. Fortify
Speaker 1: this roster really adds to it. We've had great meetings
Speaker 1: with our coaching staff over the last week. Are our
Speaker 1: coaching staff and scouts have done a great job collaborating
Speaker 1: navigating through the technology. I feel like our meetings is
Speaker 1: no different than having him in the facility at Flora Park,
Speaker 1: So really excited about this week. How much did the
Speaker 1: past ten or eleven months give you an advantage as
Speaker 1: you head to the draft because you were able to
Speaker 1: look at this roster from a thirty thousand foot forty
Speaker 1: foot level and see exactly what you have before you
Speaker 1: get your draft plan in place, no question, Eric being
Speaker 1: able to be here throughout training camp, throughout the season,
Speaker 1: really evaluating on a day to day basis, getting another staff,
Speaker 1: being around the scheme offense, defense, special teams, building rapport
Speaker 1: with players and staff, having a chance to get in
Speaker 1: the meetings with our own scouts and our own personnel
Speaker 1: guys and see how they evaluate, see how what lens
Speaker 1: they're looking through players, and it's really helped. I feel
Speaker 1: like it helped with our free agency process and it's
Speaker 1: gonna help us this week. Speaking of your free agency process,
Speaker 1: what are similarities and then talk about the differences as
Speaker 1: far as entering free agency compared to the draft when
Speaker 1: you're looking at players. Yeah, I think our our process
Speaker 1: is very similar far as how we go through setting
Speaker 1: up our free agent board versus how we go up
Speaker 1: to go through setting up our draft board. We still
Speaker 1: go through similar meetings, format, similar discussions with coaches, and
Speaker 1: so it's a good forum for personnel and scouts and
Speaker 1: coaches to get together and just discuss each player's individual
Speaker 1: fit for this roster, this team, the scheme. It really
Speaker 1: helps us develop a consensus after after going through the
Speaker 1: meetings and hashion outs disagreements. So take us behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: What is Joe d like in those meetings with your
Speaker 1: coaching staff and also obviously your personnel guys, but the
Speaker 1: prospects as well. You're a little bit in the weeds,
Speaker 1: running the run the meeting, making sure that the pace
Speaker 1: is good, that the format is good, the right questions
Speaker 1: are being asked, the right questions of being answered. But
Speaker 1: I think once we go through each coach of scouts
Speaker 1: individual opinion on the player, Okay, no holds barred. How
Speaker 1: does this guy? How does this guy help the New
Speaker 1: York Jets? Who is better than is their comp to
Speaker 1: this player in the National Football League? Talk about the makeup,
Speaker 1: how he's gonna fit in the building, not only amongst
Speaker 1: the coaches staff and personnel staff, but with everyone around
Speaker 1: the building. We try to come to as summation of
Speaker 1: what this person is going to bring. What are the
Speaker 1: final days and hours like, because you just said our
Speaker 1: draft board is not set until Thursday night. Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: going through players. We're having strategy meetings and making phone calls,
Speaker 1: were gathering information partilary eleventh hour on these players. And
Speaker 1: I think we have a great group. We have great
Speaker 1: contacts around college football that can help us. But with
Speaker 1: any questions that we need answered, you know, we've got
Speaker 1: a great group that can come together and determine who
Speaker 1: the best guys are going to be for us moving forward.
Speaker 1: He started a professional career, of course, with the Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens in two thousand. What did you take from the
Speaker 1: way as he knew some navigated throughout the draft process
Speaker 1: over the years, Ozzy was the calm and the storm,
Speaker 1: you know, in Ozzie's mind once today, it was in
Speaker 1: the bar. We went over every scenario, We talked about
Speaker 1: every player comparison that we could, and we did all
Speaker 1: that while things were calm and rational, and so even
Speaker 1: when there was perceived pressure or perceived things were heating up.
Speaker 1: You know, Ozzie was always always the calm in the
Speaker 1: middle of the storm, and he brought that, you know,
Speaker 1: every day and every year in the draft. That was
Speaker 1: always unique for me to see to see Ozzy operate.
Speaker 1: So I think for us, I think it's important that
Speaker 1: we that we discuss every every scenario, every everything that
Speaker 1: could come up, so that when things are getting hectic
Speaker 1: through Thursday, Friday, Saturday that Okay, we've discussed this, and
Speaker 1: this is a decision that we made when everything was calm,
Speaker 1: and we're going to stick to that decision. Obviously, Joe,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna ask you about specifics here, but what's
Speaker 1: your trading philosophy, because speaking of Ozzy, he had quite
Speaker 1: a run there where the at first pick he was
Speaker 1: either moving up or moving back. I can't remember the
Speaker 1: number of years, but he was awfully active. Yeah. Look,
Speaker 1: I mean, if the right opportunity presents itself, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be as flexible as we need to the right opportunity
Speaker 1: presents itself. If a player starts to fall, we will
Speaker 1: be aggressive. If another team wants to reach out and
Speaker 1: and they want to be aggressive, we're gonna listen to that.
Speaker 1: So I think we have a lot of flexibility at
Speaker 1: eleven to help this team. Speaking of flexibility, but how
Speaker 1: about the four picks? Like you mentioned early on here
Speaker 1: in the top eighty overall, including two and a third round.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, having picktight and then two early third round picks,
Speaker 1: I mean, there's there's gonna be a lot of meat
Speaker 1: in that draft left. I mean there's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of good players that are choose from I think
Speaker 1: those three picks, we really have an opportunity set up
Speaker 1: set ourselves up. How about the undrafted free agent process
Speaker 1: as well, because I know a lot of people think
Speaker 1: the draft unsay after Thursday or even that's seventh round
Speaker 1: on Saturday. But in terms of getting in there and
Speaker 1: getting some quality people after the draft is over, Day
Speaker 1: three is a great opportunity to really really make your
Speaker 1: draft from good to great. The great thing about Day
Speaker 1: three is that everyone around league circles, fans everyone, they
Speaker 1: know about these first and second round players. They've been
Speaker 1: discussed on NFL Network, ESPN, they know, they know about them.
Speaker 1: Only the scouts know about about the Day three guys.
Speaker 1: So you're talking about the late round free agent guys,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of good players that make your
Speaker 1: team better in that group. So we spend a lot
Speaker 1: of time going over those guys, making sure that we
Speaker 1: have the right sequence, making sure we've targeted the right
Speaker 1: guys for us, and we have good we have a
Speaker 1: really good post draft free agency protocol that we're gonna follow.
Speaker 1: Undraft of free agency is just a great opportunity to
Speaker 1: really take your take your draft from good to great. Joe,
Speaker 1: would you say you guys go into this weekend with
Speaker 1: a quiet confidence knowing that you put in the work,
Speaker 1: You had healthy discussions, you had guys on the ground
Speaker 1: throughout the year filing thorough reports, and now you have
Speaker 1: the ammal to really help this organization take a step forward.
Speaker 1: You want to make sure that you've dotted every eye,
Speaker 1: you've crossed every team in terms of the detail of
Speaker 1: each player. So right now we're going through that. I
Speaker 1: feel confident in the work that our scouts and our
Speaker 1: coaches have done on these players. And now with the
Speaker 1: meetings that we've had, with the discussions that we've had,
Speaker 1: we formulate the game plan based off that, based off
Speaker 1: these great weekend meetings that we've had. You execute it.
Speaker 1: You execute the plan. I feel good about our protocols
Speaker 1: are format to get that done. How much of a
Speaker 1: weight do you put into character? I know we talked
Speaker 1: about talent all the time. But you've been very specific
Speaker 1: in what you're looking for in terms of a guy
Speaker 1: what he brings on the field, but also inside the
Speaker 1: room and potentially in the community as well. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a big thing. That's a big thing for us because
Speaker 1: guys have to love football. Talked about that almost every
Speaker 1: time we've we've gotten together, Eric, and football character is important.
Speaker 1: Personal character is important. How you treat people. You know
Speaker 1: what kind of teammate you are. And we talk about abilities,
Speaker 1: and we're talking about coach ability, reliability. Those are some
Speaker 1: of the best abilities that a player can have. Those
Speaker 1: are all the things that we discuss and and uh,
Speaker 1: it carries a lot of weight. And lastly, I gotta
Speaker 1: imagine this is not the way you envisioned your first
Speaker 1: draft as Jets the general manager. But with all that
Speaker 1: being said, as the world combats an invisible enemy and
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen and everything going on around you, what do
Speaker 1: you think it's going to be like for you? Are
Speaker 1: you gonna have a chance to say, take a step
Speaker 1: back and say, you know, this is it, this is
Speaker 1: my time, this is what we've worked for together as
Speaker 1: an organization. But you've been in this league since two
Speaker 1: thousand what do you think that first night in two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty that draft is gonna mean to you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you haven't been in the weeds for the last few
Speaker 1: weeks with free agency and draft. I've just tried to
Speaker 1: stay in the moment and not thinking about anything outside
Speaker 1: of the team in the organization. It's a unique experience.
Speaker 1: Is pretty cool. This is personally, this is what you've
Speaker 1: worked so hard to do to get to this point,
Speaker 1: to try to help an organization and reach its ultimate goal.
Speaker 1: Knowing that we've got guys that have been in the
Speaker 1: trench trenches for the last few months and since August,
Speaker 1: and it makes you feel good and excited about the
Speaker 1: opportunity that we're gonna have starting on Thursday to really
Speaker 1: help this organization. Thanks Joe, We'll be talking to you
Speaker 1: throughout the week. Okay, Thanks man. Yeah, I thought Joe
Speaker 1: was great, and you spoke to earlier in this pre
Speaker 1: draft process, more so talking about free agency, and I
Speaker 1: thought he was great. Then I thought he was great
Speaker 1: in this interview here and going back to what he
Speaker 1: learned under Ozzy Knewsom, the calm in the storm and
Speaker 1: really focusing on the preparation when everything is calm, so
Speaker 1: that if things start to get a little bit hectic
Speaker 1: in the draft, you stick to your guns. You stick
Speaker 1: to what you know, what you believe in, and that's
Speaker 1: how you execute a drafts. I think the man is
Speaker 1: just so steady, and what you see is what you
Speaker 1: get from Joe. The person that you just heard during
Speaker 1: that interview or on the conference call with the media,
Speaker 1: that's the guy you're getting behind the scenes. Uh. He
Speaker 1: is a measured person, very confident in his abilities, but
Speaker 1: also willing to listen to everybody on his staff, and
Speaker 1: he's confident in this group. So when this weekend gets
Speaker 1: under way, the first virtual draft in NFL history, I
Speaker 1: don't want to anticipate Joe Douglas his heartbeat to jump
Speaker 1: at all. I think Joe's ready for this. He has.
Speaker 1: His NFL career has brought him to this point. So
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna see a lot of Ozzy Newsome
Speaker 1: in him this weekend and in the weekends. Uh down
Speaker 1: the line, because I think he's gonna be leading this
Speaker 1: team for a lot of drafts, hopefully the one and
Speaker 1: only virtual draft. Because although this is very unique, I
Speaker 1: I like it a lot more when it's in person.
Speaker 1: I'm sure Joe Douglas would enjoy that a little bit
Speaker 1: more than being at home in his at home office.
Speaker 1: Which by the way, I know this is a podcast,
Speaker 1: but in the interview, your one on one interview you,
Speaker 1: which you can watch on New York Jets dot com.
Speaker 1: I love the Joe Namith photo right behind Joe Douglas,
Speaker 1: right over his head. Got to give them man props
Speaker 1: for that. I'm wondering if Steve Piazza, director i T,
Speaker 1: who works with Tommy Murphy Murph of course Long Island native,
Speaker 1: who heads up the whole i T group. I wonder
Speaker 1: if Piazza brought that over to him, you know, this week,
Speaker 1: or maybe just maybe Joe has had that one around
Speaker 1: for some time. But yeah, iconic photograph of Joe Namath.
Speaker 1: And by the way, when I went back and looked
Speaker 1: at that greens, I think that's one of the photos
Speaker 1: I scanned back in the old archives that we but
Speaker 1: you bank call in Hempstead. I swear I swear on
Speaker 1: that because the old images greens, they weren't on slides
Speaker 1: and there was no such thing as digital obviously, they
Speaker 1: were all prints. So for us to keep those images,
Speaker 1: we actually had to scan them that's one of the
Speaker 1: images I scanned. So there you go. He a is
Speaker 1: a part of Joe Douglas is at home office. And
Speaker 1: something that Joe talked about also in the conference call
Speaker 1: was about free agency but after the draft. We've talked
Speaker 1: about the different waves of free agency before and the
Speaker 1: first couple of days is the first wave, then a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks after that is the second wave. Well,
Speaker 1: after the draft, it almost seems like there's an injection
Speaker 1: of life into free agency, and Joe Douglas said that
Speaker 1: he anticipates that it will happen a little sooner after
Speaker 1: the draft than in years past. And there are some
Speaker 1: good players still left on the market. So depending on
Speaker 1: let's say who and what positions the Jets attack in
Speaker 1: the draft, they could still add a valuable piece in
Speaker 1: free agency afterwards. Yeah, you're right about that, and that
Speaker 1: was very interesting and that's something we can touch upon
Speaker 1: with Joe further this coming draft weekend. But the market
Speaker 1: was different this year Green's I think a lot of
Speaker 1: players thought the market might be different early. So when
Speaker 1: we talk about tears and free agency, I mean, what
Speaker 1: we're actually going to witness probably is a new tier
Speaker 1: post draft. Uh, the Jet do have money under the cap,
Speaker 1: so they do have some flexibility if they want to
Speaker 1: make some moves. And there are some veterans out there
Speaker 1: who have had productive careers who still can give you
Speaker 1: some value on the field in looking for new homes.
Speaker 1: Some of these guys that are still on the market,
Speaker 1: the Headliners Jadeveon Clowney, you and I have talked about
Speaker 1: Jason Peters in the past, Vinny Curry, Logan Ryan. I mean,
Speaker 1: those are just some guys that stand out to me
Speaker 1: without looking at a list. But I think that Joe
Speaker 1: Douglas has a plan not only for the draft, not
Speaker 1: only for who's on the board at pick eleven. Maybe
Speaker 1: trade up, trade back scenarios round one through seven. But
Speaker 1: when you think about where the Jets are right now,
Speaker 1: and you think about the potential impact of a draft
Speaker 1: that has four picks in the top seventy nine and
Speaker 1: eight overall e a one team. One scenario that I've
Speaker 1: come back to multiple times is the Saints in two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen, coming office seven and nine season, they held
Speaker 1: the number eleven overall pick. It sounds a little familiar
Speaker 1: right now. Well, in that draft d A at eleven,
Speaker 1: they selected Marshawn Lattimore, the cornerback out of Ohio State.
Speaker 1: Then at thirty one they selected Ryan Ramcheck the tackle,
Speaker 1: and then you go further and further. They got Alvin
Speaker 1: Kamara in the third round. They got Marcus Williams the
Speaker 1: safety in the second round, and then they got a
Speaker 1: contributor and Trey Hendrickson and alex anzelone. When I look
Speaker 1: at that draft, you think about that's probably one of
Speaker 1: the anomalies where the Saints really nailed almost all of
Speaker 1: their draft picks. I'm not saying Joe Douglas will do that,
Speaker 1: but he has an opportunity to add a number of
Speaker 1: Day one contributors, if not starters if you hit on
Speaker 1: these guys not only in rounds one and two, but
Speaker 1: really three through seven, and of course, like we've talked
Speaker 1: about before, the undrafted guys. Yeah, especially in this draft.
Speaker 1: I was talking to Bob with Shusan about this the
Speaker 1: other day, the Voice of the Jets. He said he
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised if the Jets took the three or
Speaker 1: four offensive players in those first over those first four picks.
Speaker 1: Uh ending up with that ladder pick in the third round.
Speaker 1: You know, so I know free Uh months now, people
Speaker 1: have pegged either tackle or receiver to the Jets at eleven.
Speaker 1: If they stay there, well, we'll have to see how
Speaker 1: that all plays out, no doubt about that. But Uh,
Speaker 1: the wide receiver class, we've talked about its depth, we
Speaker 1: talked about its talent and how far it extends. There
Speaker 1: are some tackle prospects that I think people probably shouldn't
Speaker 1: be sleeping on either. UM. So, I think this is
Speaker 1: a good draft for the Jets going in because a
Speaker 1: lot of their perceived needs on paper greens. I think
Speaker 1: there are good classes in those groups, specifically offensively wide
Speaker 1: receiver and tackle. When we're talking about happen our arms
Speaker 1: around Sam Donald, that's what the Jets are trying to
Speaker 1: do here. And then on the defensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: I do think it's an interesting edge class. I want
Speaker 1: to know where is the drop off for the cornerbacks
Speaker 1: boundary cornerbacks. I talked to um Jim Naggy, the executive
Speaker 1: director of the Senior Bowls the other day. He said
Speaker 1: he really liked slot cornerbacks, and no doubt about it,
Speaker 1: those nickels are very important in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: but the Jets more so at the need on the
Speaker 1: outside right now. I think that's a great point that
Speaker 1: the way the draft is shaping up right now fits
Speaker 1: what the Jets perceivably need on their roster heading into it.
Speaker 1: And we'll all see what happens on Thursday night, just
Speaker 1: a couple of days away. And on tomorrow's podcast, e
Speaker 1: A myself Anthony Becks, we're going through a mock draft
Speaker 1: over the next two podcasts, and then on Thursday, the
Speaker 1: whole thing comes together. And that was another edition of
Speaker 1: the Official Jets Podcast powered by Amazon Web Services. E A.
Speaker 1: I'll see you tomorrow for the mock draft. Looking forward
Speaker 1: to a grace