Jets, Feeling Draft Pressure, Look for Picks Who Won't Crack By KAREN CROUSE Published: April 22, 2006 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., April 21 ? The cornerstone of the Jets' evaluation process for National Football League prospects is discomfort. They want to gauge how players react under pressure when they are confronted with something unexpected and maybe even unpleasant. Adjustability and adaptability have perhaps taken on renewed significance after a season in which the Jets lost their top two quarterbacks to injuries in the same game and their head coach and both coordinators after the final game. Mike Tannenbaum, who was promoted to general manager after the resignation of Terry Bradway, and Eric Mangini, who replaced Coach Herman Edwards after Edwards left for the Kansas City Chiefs, devised a rapid-fire line of questioning that turned each pre-draft player interview into an interrogation in a dark room. They ran film clips of each player and peppered him with questions about assignments, formations and motivations. They conducted more than 450 interviews this way in preparation to make their nine draft picks, including two in the first round (at No. 4 and No. 29). "We tried to put players in uncomfortable situations," Tannenbaum said Friday at the Jets' practice facility. "We wanted to see how they were going to respond, see if they could learn in an uncomfortable environment, what kind of players they could be in that environment, what kind of people they could be." "We want leaders," Tannenbaum added. "The whole process that we've tried to tweak, improve, change since February has been with that in mind." Tannenbaum was intentionally vague when talking about the Jets' strategy for the April 29-30 draft. His poker face was firmly in place. "I know we're not going to take a kicker or punter," he said. "Outside of that, I think any position will be looked at thoroughly." He said the Jets were not locked into filling a need at any one position ? quarterback, for example ? with their first pick. "Philosophically, we'll take the best player regardless of that position, as long as they're not a kicker or punter," he said. On draft day, Tannenbaum and Mangini will be tested on their ability to adjust to the unexpected. What will they do if presented with the opportunity to trade up or down from their No. 4 spot? How will they handle the hot seat? Tannenbaum said he relished the pressure. He trusts his preparation. "I look at the entire draft process as an opportunity, not just one pick," he said. "I do feel we are more than one player away. The entire draft is an opportunity for us to improve the entire makeup of the team."
May I just say.. that I've been waiting for a front office like this for a while now. Seems to me these guys know what they're doing and are out to prove all the skeptics wrong. If Eric Mangini can follow this up with a solid coaching year, it's nothing but green pastures from here on out...
{"Philosophically, we'll take the best player regardless of that position, as long as they're not a kicker or punter," he said} Hmm ... appears to be a smoke screen. Clearly we will be taking a kicker at #4 and a punter at #29!!! WoooooT! Sorry .. its late .. I am drunk .. couldn't resist!
As PFT pointed out, Mike Tannenbaum got real old real quick in the photo that accompanied the article... http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/sports/football/22jets.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
I read about this also in the Star-Ledger this morning, although the article in that paper didn't make it sound quite as dramatic as an "interrogation in a dark room." I think this writer has a somewhat vivid imagination. But be that as it may, I like the idea. Watching yourself in a certain play and then being able to explain why you chose to doa certain thing really gets into the mind of the player and how he thinks and reacts on the field in real time and under a lot of pressure. Kudos to Tangini. And I'm not buying the "interrogation" stuff either. It's just good, solid, football scouting.
These types of test are really bringing up the Jets to current world standard in sports science.....this is only a good thing for the organisation, as the current cutting edge thinking around these types of assessments is that they are much more able to wean out the 'elite thinkers' on a football field much better than an intelligence test like the wonderlic or a standard interview. Remember that many top athletes go bust after the draft not because they don't have the requisite tools to make it at the next level, but because they can't think like an elite athlete. Kudos to the Jets personnel who thought of this idea....introducing current paradigms from the world of sport science into the organisation is one way to shorten the odds on success dramatically.
