WEBVTT - LISTEN | Jets Draft Podcast | Mike Tannenbaum on the Jets Draft (4/20) 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:08.160 Welcome to another edition of the Official Jets podcast, The 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.240 Draft Podcast, presented by PEPSI. We got a great episode 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.600 in store. Former GM of the New York Jets, Mike 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.000 Tannenbaum does work for ESPN. He has his own thing, 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:22.840 the thirty third Team. He was great. Yeah, he's fantastic, 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.279 and he did a very good job as GM in 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:29.320 the New York Jets. I think his run here overall, 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:34.120 sixteen years with the Jets, seven years as GM. Remember 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.400 the last time the Jets were in the playoffs two 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:43.560 thousand nine, two ten, they came a fraction away from 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:47.120 actually going to the Super Bowl in Dallas. Would were 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:50.000 not able to complete that comeback against the Pittsburgh Steelers, 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.080 But that was a hell of a team, that two 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.680 thousand ten team who took down Peyton Manning in his place, 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.200 then Tom Brady in his place, and I thought it 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.560 was gonna be a historical run. Well, I think a 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:03.480 lot of Jets fans were hoping that it would be 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:05.240 historical when that team was a lot of fun to 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.959 watch too. Brian Baldinger just put out a breakdown of 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:14.080 the OH nine Jets, focusing on the offensive line. Thomas Jones, 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.959 Seawan Green Leon Washington, who of course is now back 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.600 in the building as an assistant special teams coach. And 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.440 you know, it's fascinating to see how good that team was. 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.640 And I think Mike offered great perspective of bringing in 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.120 a rookie quarterback, which a lot of people are expecting 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.240 the Jets to do in just a couple of weeks 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.959 here in April's draft. Happen and even Joe Douglas alright, 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:41.400 it's happening. So anyway, Um, Mike has great inside because 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.399 he's been in the war room. We've talked about a 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.280 lot of things, you know, when do you discuss trading 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.360 up and what types of players do you want to 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.760 surround your rookie quarterback with? And he was great, really, 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:54.240 and you know, I don't want to spoil anything. So 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.840 with that being said, let's hear from Mike Tannenbaum. I 0:01:57.880 --> 0:01:59.480 heard you on the radio the other day. You said 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:01.440 that Zack Wilson you believe is the right pick for 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:03.520 the Jets at two. Can you elaborate on why you 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.880 believe that and what does Zach Wilson now bring to 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.000 the table and what you could expect from him as 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.040 a rookie I like him a lot. I think he 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.960 makes a lot of throws that you see traditionally from 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.840 the pocket. Um, but I think what really separates him 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.200 is his ability to make plays outside the pocket. And 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.880 I think his accuracy down the field is really something 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:27.000 that is unusual. And I think when you look at 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:29.919 the characteristics of these top five quarterbacks, what separates him 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:33.000 in my mind to clearly make him the second best 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:38.120 quarterback is that downfield accuracy. Do you think it's clear 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:40.000 cut for the Jets right now that he is the 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:45.440 guy at number two because this quarterback class appears pretty 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:49.960 talented at the top. Yeah, I mean, I surely don't know, 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.840 but um, it certainly seems that way. And uh for 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.760 me again, I think it's trivial on straw lines. Zach 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:58.920 Wilson draw line, and that I think is really interesting 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.440 conversation amongst the next three. And then after that, I 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.400 think there's a big line to see who the sixth 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.720 best quarterback is in this draft. You know, with the 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.839 Jets having five picks in the first three rounds and 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.320 a lot of people anticipate Joe Douglass to add either 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:19.040 playmakers or protection for Zach Wilson, assuming he's the number 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.720 two overall pick in your opinion, Mike, what is the 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.640 more important play there if the Jets were to add 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:27.480 you know, if they had a choice of a playmaker 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.920 or a protector at twenty three and thirty four and 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.520 so on. Yeah, I think it's offensive line, offensive line 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:38.720 and offensive line after that, because if you can't protect him, 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.160 nothing else matters. And when I had the privilege of 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.920 being the Jets GM, my first draft was OH six 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.440 and our first two picks were the britishaw Ferguson and 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.000 Nick Mangold, and they were the foundation for a lot 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.840 of great teams that we had, and a lot of 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.320 that was in the formulive years of my career. I 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:56.800 just saw in two thousand and five we had lost 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.960 two quarterbacks and seven snaps between Chat Payton and j Feeler. 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.040 And when I was promoted to GM, I just we 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.040 there were some other really good players that draft running 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.960 Davis Redney Bush. And my point was very simple, like, 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:12.840 which is, if you can't protect a quarterback, nothing else matter. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.000 You can't went on the road, you can't handle crowd noise, 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.000 you can't run the ball, and they know you're gonna 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.159 run it. So unless your offensive line is fortified, everything 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:24.360 else really doesn't matter. You could run four to four 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.279 one on the outside, but if your quarterback can't step 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.919 up in a firm pocket, if they can't move people 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.080 off the ball when you need a yard or two, 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.240 it's really really hard to win consistently in our league. 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:40.720 You moved up a couple of times in two thousand nine, 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.640 of course, to draft Mark Sanchez. What changes for the 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:48.160 entire organization when you take a quarterback in the top five. Yeah, 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.400 you know, and we'll see obviously presumptively it will be 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:53.920 Zach Wilson for the Jets. And I think what Joe 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:55.640 Dumbans would be doing there with some of what we 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:57.320 did in OH nine, which is, you know, you tie 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.880 a head coach and a quarterback together. In our k 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.159 so it was Rex Ryan Mark Sanchez, and you know, 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.320 we were fortunate to have success early on with them. 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:08.120 And you know, I think from a front office ownership 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.000 standpoint is, you know, if you can tie a head 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.360 coach and a quarterback together much the way Robert salom 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.599 and again, assuming it's gonna be Zach Wilson, you know 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:17.920 you want them to grow together, and that's gonna be 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.839 you know, the face of your franchise. So when you 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.279 can accomplished that and they're both rookies at the same time, 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.080 I think that's great because they're gonna grow together, they're 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.600 gonna make mistakes together, they're gonna fumble out of press 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:32.240 conference together. There's a lot that they'll go through together, 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.839 and ultimately that just brings them closer together. Um, and 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:37.960 that's really what you want. Um. There's a lot of 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:40.919 things that happened, especially when you have these jobs in 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.320 New York. It's it's gonna be times ten. When it's good, 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.560 it's gonna be really good. You know, when you lose 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.800 a game or miss a time out or whatever it 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.960 may be, it's gonna be really bad. And those scars 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.480 and life experiences, unless you actually live it, it's really 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.640 hard to explain. But to be able to have a 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.640 partner in a meaningful way that's you in sort of 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.040 like the same place in your career is meaningful and 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.839 in my opinion, ultimately productive. How unique is this place 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:12.400 New York, in this organization because when you took Sanchez, 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.400 of course he was coming out of USC and you're 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.920 under the spotlight at USC. But it's different coming to 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.239 New York. If the Jets do indeed take Wilson, here's 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.359 a kid who grew up in Utah and he's coming 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.280 to the bright lights of the big city. Yeah, New 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.960 York soft for everybody. I was born there, grew up 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:34.279 in Boston, and you know, I'm a Northeast person through 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.159 and through, and I guess it was just something that 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:38.480 I was used to and expected. But you know, when 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.600 you speak to people around the league, Um, some people 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.080 love New York. They embrace it, they could, they love 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:46.719 to stay there. They love the Northeast. And for others, 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.360 it's just not for them. So there is you know, Eric, 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.479 it's a really good point. You just don't know how 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.800 that's gonna go. And you know where the facility is 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.919 and being in that part of the country in Mars County, like, 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.479 there's a lot more options that people perceive it to be. UM, 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.839 but there's no doubt, like Zach Wilson, coming from Provo, 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:09.560 Utah to New York City is gonna be a big, 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:12.880 big difference. What kind of challenges do you think that 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.840 the front office had going through not only evaluating quarterbacks 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.520 but every position. Not being able to sit down and 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:22.120 talk to prospects as opposed to what it's been like 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.760 this draft process, where it's mostly through zoom or solely 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.400 through zoom except for maybe an in person hello at 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.720 certain pro days. Yeah, everyone's deal with that. We speak 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.120 to people around the league that it's just it's difficult. 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.600 And you know, you hear some people talk about, you know, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.920 the same pick next year is more valuable than the 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.720 same pick this year for that same reason. So it's 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.440 just different and you you have to make the best 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.280 of it. And um, everyone's dealing with the same challenges, 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:50.920 you know, for being part of the that that's part 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.440 of the process. I love sitting down just hearing people's 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:58.280 stories and hearing their dreams, and you know their insecurities 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.240 and their fears, and you know what they're trying to 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.640 accomplish and who they're trying to accomplish it for. And 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.600 you're certainly getting some of that through the zooms. But 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.280 it's just not the same. You just do the best 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.160 you Ken. I want to ask you about the trade route. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.200 In seven seasons the GM of the Jets, you made 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:17.480 eighteen trades that dealt away twenty eight draft choices and 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:20.840 eight players on the other side of the coin, you 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:25.040 acquired fourteen draft choices and five players. What did you 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:31.520 enjoy most about that um direction in order that you 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.880 used to help your team? Geez, I can't believe you 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.080 made some intern do all that research or I don't 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:41.240 know how those trades worked out, you know, Yeah, a 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.600 lot of those trades did work out. Yeah, some of 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.240 them didn't. The you know, those are the ones that, uh, 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.440 you'll probably keep up, you know, up at night. I 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.880 know for me, like, look, I was raising this business 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:53.840 by a couple of Hall of famers and Coach Parcels 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.120 and Belcheck, and if I took one thing for them, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.720 it was it was a mindset which was scour just 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:04.920 hour every day. You Vinnie test already gets cut by 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.520 the Baltimore Ravens in June, and we have a young 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.280 quarterback in Glenn Foley that we really like. And Coach 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:14.040 Parcels felt like, hey, you know, Vinnie testa very body 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.080 give us a better chance to win. Or let's addam 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.600 we go the ah Chantonship game that year with Nnie Testaverdy. 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.120 So it was really just more of a mindset, Hey 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.880 let's go get you know, a practice squad player. You 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.000 never know where it's gonna lead to you know, it's 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.840 it's like we signed a guy one time, Austin Howard, 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.440 a former tight end, sign him off for practice squad 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.360 because our propersonal department really liked them. And those are 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.520 things like you're as proud of as much as training 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.400 up for Darrell Rievers or David Howard. Excuse me, David Harris. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.000 It just it's a mindset of just always trying to 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.439 get better and when those opportunities come along. And as 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.000 relates to draft day trades, you just you never know, um, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.080 what's gonna happen. Look at Miami, you know we're sitting there. 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:58.800 The number one player on our board in Steen was 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.559 Laramie Tunsel. We had a very good left tackle in 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.680 a guy named Brandon Albert, and you guys saw what happened. 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.520 You know, Lara Vi Tulsa was a good person. There 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:11.280 was a video out and we got what we felt 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.959 was the best player in the draft in with the 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.280 thirteenth pick. So you just never know. And draft a trades, 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:20.920 it's fun, it's exciting, it's nerve wracking, and you sit 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.800 there with your head coach, your owner, um, and sometimes 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.480 you have to make decisions really really fast. What about 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.080 the decision looking back on it, because I know a 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:33.520 lot of people are hoping that Carl Lawson provides that 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.200 kind of speed and explosiveness off the edge that John 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:40.480 Abraham did. What went into the thinking there of you 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:43.520 getting rid of an edge rusher, But on the turn 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.480 you get a guy who is one of the franchise 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:49.320 is top centers. He becomes one of the top centers 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.160 in the National Football League. Nick Mangle, Yeah, it's funny 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.640 you mentioned that, Eric, because one of the things that's 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.839 a lot of fun about what I do now is 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.120 we're on Get Up and we're trying to figure out 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.120 We're in a production meeting and we're kind of spitballing 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.640 ideas about well, you know, could Sam Donald wind up 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:09.040 in Seattle? And you know, how does Russell Wilson get 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.560 to Chicago? And I'm like, you just do a three 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.280 way trade? And they're like, oh, you can't do a 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.080 three way trade. I'm like, well, I actually did one. 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.720 And that was something that I was really proud of. 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:20.839 You know. John Abraham was a guy we just felt 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.280 like we couldn't extend at the time, and Atlanta wanted 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:26.360 him badly, and we weren't gonna do without a first 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:28.720 round pick, so they got Denver involved, to their credit, 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.319 and we did a three way trade and it doesn't 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.640 happen often, but that was a win win. I think 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.880 everyone benefited from that. And you know, for us, there 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.679 was three players um that we were looking at um 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:44.680 at nine and it was just really interesting. It was Marses, 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:48.080 Louis D'Angel, Williams and Nick Mangel. I'll never forget this, 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:54.640 so they go right before Nick Um. We were very 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.600 happy that Nick was there. We take him at twenty 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:58.960 nine and we turned the card and I was sort 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.680 of like relieved, and then I'm thinking myself, like gosh, 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:03.920 like we just took two offensive line in the first round, 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.920 Like I can't imagine people are gonna be excited about that. 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.480 In the phone rings and it's Ozzy Newsome and Ozzie's like, 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:13.560 I just want to know you're the luckiest guy in 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:15.040 the NFL right now. I'm like, you know, what are 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.440 you talking about? He said at thirteen it was gonna 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.520 be Nick Mangold or Helodi Nata and it was like 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:26.520 fift Collodi Nata, Nickmingle. He's like it was a coin 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.440 toss in our room. It's like, there's no way you 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:36.079 can explain how Nick Mangold could be almost gone at 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.160 thirteen and then be available at twenty nine. And that's 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.840 what happens on draft day. Like if if the three 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.079 of us are having this conversation a month from now, 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.160 I promise you each one of us would be saying like, Wow, 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.080 I can't believe that happened. And you know, I just 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.160 lived in a couple of times. Larye Tunsil is obviously 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.000 an example, but you know, so was mcmingole falling to 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.440 the bottom of the first that draft class in two 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:01.160 thousand and six historically good. Yeah, that's an amazing story. 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.280 I think that leads me to my next question in 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.600 terms of trades. Let's just say, hypothetically, obviously we know 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.280 the Jets have ammunition to move up. I'm looking at 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.280 the thirty third teams draft prospect rankings. I see the 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:16.880 number one interior offensive lineman Elijah Vera Tucker. If he 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:19.040 were to slide out a little bit, you know, maybe 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.400 he's in the team somewhere. At what point does this 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.240 become a conversation in a war room, Hey, do we 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.520 want to move up and get this guy? Not necessarily 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.120 Vera Tucker, but a player that you think is within 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.440 reach and you want to go up and get that guy. Yeah, 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:34.680 well that's a great point. I would be aggressive. You know, Look, 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.040 Joe Douglas has done a great job of acquiring picks, 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.520 go use them. I'm a big believer in, you know, 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.600 quality of a quantity when you're convicted about a guy. 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.360 And you know, after Jets we weren't perfect at it, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.240 but you know again, players like Derrell Rivas, David Harris, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.960 those were guys that in our minds like check every box. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.240 And you bring up a guy like Vera Tucker. We 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.199 were watching him last night and it was interesting, like 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.680 some people felt like he could play left tackle. Other 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.400 study was a guard. But point being is, he's going 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:03.040 to be a guy that should be a ten year player, 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:07.320 very good athlete, strong, good, low value, flexibility. And if 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.439 I'm the Jets, and that's been let's be candid an 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.080 area over the last several years that hasn't been good 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.360 for them. It's really been a problem. And for them 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.000 to get to where they don't want to go, they're 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.840 gonna have to go on the road to Foxboro, Buffalo, 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.160 Miami and move some really big defense linemen off the ball, 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.400 and I think Vara Tucker is one of those guys 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.080 that ultimately can do that and if you have to 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.120 give up a third round pick to go do it 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.840 by all means because he has the requisite heightweight, speed, 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.200 he has great tape, he's a good kid. And that 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.960 to me like when you can get foundational pieces like 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:45.160 a Vera Tucker. And I think sometimes this is what happens. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.480 You sit there and say, like, well, maybe the value 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.640 is really a four. But guess what if you give 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.200 up a third round pick and he's a ten year 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.720 starting no one's gonna care about that. Do you think 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.160 about it in terms of the Jets build right now 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.240 where they're at, they're starting a new Joe Douglas has 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.680 been on the job not even two calendar years. This 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:06.360 will be the second draft. Obviously you just hired Robert Salo, 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:08.720 But do you think about it, you know, a long 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:11.600 term perspective as well with these twenty one draft picks 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.840 over the next two years, because you got the ten 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.520 picks this year, but you do have two first round 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.920 picks next year, two twos next year. I mean you're 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.520 loaded up. You got five picks in the first three rounds. 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:27.040 So what does he have to do, Joe, not just 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.280 this spring, but over the course of the next couple 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:34.360 of drafts. It's fortifying the lines. I just believe in that. 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.160 I've seen it. You see the teams that way consistently. 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.320 We go back to the Super Bowl. You know, you 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:43.360 think about guys like mcole Hardman and Tyreek Kill, Travis Kelsey, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.440 all the firepower that Kansasy has, they were decimate on 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:48.840 the offensive line, and look, we saw what happened. So 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.720 until you fortify both lines and can rush the pastor 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.200 with four players like you look at what Robert Salo 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.560 came from in San Francisco, and I worked with Chris 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:02.040 tick Eric, the defensive line coach in San Francisco, who's fantastic. 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:04.520 They were able to get there with four Now they 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.040 had great depth of their D line and allowed them 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.800 to move on from DeForest Buckner. They take Javon Kinlaw 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.840 to replace him. They didn't hit on Salomon Thomas, but 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.560 the mindset was there. You can see how they attack 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:20.760 the lines. Um. Obviously they resigned Trent Williams, they ampired 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.560 Alex Back. You know, that's to me, the mindset Eric, 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.280 you know, to me, it's not about having nine picks 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.840 next year, eleven picks next year. Look, having multiple first 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.400 round picks is great, but I would be attacking both 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.200 lines because that is your foundation. Mike, is there a 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.200 certain list of qualities at certain gms? Are you particular 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:43.560 look through or look for in the mid rounds? I mean, 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.080 I'm looking at the fourth round in particular during your 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.760 time with the Jets, not necessarily as just GM talk 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.600 about guys like Brad Smith, Leon Washington, carry Rhads, all 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.120 mid round picks, all good players for the Jets. Are 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.080 there are certain qualities that you look for when you 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.160 hit those mid rounds? Yeah, all those good picks are 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.680 my ideas, just so we could set the reconstrate here. 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.159 Um now, I would say, you know something that coached 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.800 ourselves instilled in me. And we can talk about any 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.600 of those players, but started with someone like Brad Smith. 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:19.640 They need equality to really like start with and and 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.879 Brad there was a gazillion of them. We were so 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.640 fortunate again as a human being, as a player, I mean, 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.000 there's no finer person that you can meet than Brad Smith. 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.800 But he had incredible production. He was a really good 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:32.480 athlete with the ball in his hands, and we felt 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:34.160 like there were a lot of jobs he could do. 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.199 He had third and fourth down value for us. But 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.720 it starts with an attribute. It could be quickness, it 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:43.520 could be production, it could be sized, but there's got 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.000 to be something that you can build a foundation and 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.320 a story from that. Hey, we take this player in 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:52.000 the fourth and fifth round. There is a developmental attribute 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:55.880 about them. You traded for far if he came in 0:17:55.960 --> 0:18:00.440 here eight and three at the time that he variance 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.919 shoulder shoulder injury, shoulder soreness, and the team was not 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.560 the same down the stretch, make the coaching change. Then 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.399 you draft the quarterback. Let's go back to Sanches for 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:15.600 a second. Oh nine, has a rookie quarterback ever walked 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:20.360 into a better, historically, better historical situation than the way 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.240 you had set that up? You guys, as far as 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.480 that roster was concerned with that offensive line, the run game, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.520 and the defense. Yeah, it's interesting about that. Like, um, 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:32.280 you know, I get the privilege of working with guys 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:36.080 like Damian Woody and Bart Scott. And you talked to 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.520 d wood and he said, you know, in his opinion, 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.359 he felt like that oh a team was, you know, 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.920 our best team, you know, would beat Tennessee. Jeff Fisher 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.840 jumps out of the helicopter. That really piste off a 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.720 lot of people and uh, you know down there. Yeah, 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:53.840 and look, you never know what will happen if Breth 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.200 didn't get hurt. That's just part of the game. Um. 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.000 But it did sort of validate like our belief that 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.199 we had a really good team and there was a 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.800 good foundation there. But it was guys like gaming one again. 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:05.200 It goes back to the line we felt like, you 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:07.720 need to tackle. He would did not play a lot 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:11.040 of tackle the year before in Detroit, and Bill Callahan 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:13.399 a ton of credit. You know, we really studied that 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:16.280 one carefully because the market was way more than we 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.639 wanted to pay, and I was concerned from a GM 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.639 perspective that, gosh, like we're extending on a player that 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.600 really doesn't have a ton of experience a tackle. And 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.600 to Damian's credit, he played exceptionally well, better than what 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:32.960 you could have ever expected. Guy is an unbelievable athlete. 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:37.040 And you know, to Sanchez's credit, he came in and 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.920 you know took advantage of the opportunity. You know, I'm 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.400 you mentioned d would. I'm just curious a lot of 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:46.440 this time year. There's a lot of projections in terms 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.760 of draft prospects. Where will this person play at the 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.440 next level? If you play tackle, is you're gonna kick inside? 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.720 And you know, through all different positions. So in terms 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:56.879 of the old line in particular, how difficult is a 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.440 positional jump from the college level to the pro level 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.880 if you have minor experience. Let's say, if you play tackle. 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:06.440 I'm thinking of a guy like Keevin Jenkins started a 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:09.919 guard and tackle at Oklahoma State. Just how difficult is 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:14.159 that switch? And I know it's a player by player determination, 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:18.960 but what is that conversation like behind closed doors? Yeah, 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:21.520 you know, it's a great question. You know, context is 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.920 really important. You know, you take a projection in the 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.960