Mike Tannenbaum popped into the interview room at the Jets facility in Florham Park late yesterday to discuss the selection of Massachusetts offensive lineman Vladimir Ducasse as the team’s second round draft choice. But the general manager wanted to keep things brief.
“We want to keep an eye on a couple of players,” Tannenbaum said, referring to the start of the third round of the NFL draft. “That’s why we’re going to cut this a little bit short and see what happens. If a player or two specifically is there, we might try to take a shot.”
The Jets didn’t have a pick in the third round after trading it to Cleveland in the deal to get wide receiver Braylon Edwards. Instead of taking the rest of the night off, the lull seemed to make Tannenbaum’s trigger finger itchy. He dashed out of the interview room and back to his office just in case there was a trade to make.
Ultimately, the Jets didn’t make a deal and aren’t scheduled to be on the clock again until late in the fourth round today when they will have the 124th selection. To someone like Tannenbaum, that’s like a gambler not being able to bet on the Super Bowl. After all, he’s not nicknamed “Trader Mike” for nothing.
The fact Tannenbaum made no deals in the first two rounds was an accomplishment in itself. Last year, he moved up to get Mark Sanchez (first round) and Shonn Greene (third round); he also moved up to grab Darrelle Revis (first round, 2007), Dustin Keller (first round, 2008) and Davis Harris (second round 2007).
But in this case being patient is a virtue. The Jets were wise not to trade up or down because they wound up getting two players who should help the team if not immediately, certainly in the future. Cornerback Kyle Wilson of Boise State, the first-round pick, will be the nickel back and likely punt returner. Ducasse will add depth to the offensive line, making a potential trade of Alan Faneca less problematic.
Tannenbaum said before the draft that he wasn’t going to move up from the 29th pick, but it wasn’t until the Jets took Wilson that he could be truly believed.
“We did a lot of practice trading,” Tannenbaum said jokingly. “I thought I did some really good ones on paper.”
It’s not that he wasn’t tempted. He fielded calls from teams interested in positioning themselves in the lower end of the first round, but there was nothing to prompt the Jets from moving off Wilson. Besides, coach Rex Ryan probably would have drilled his general manager for not selecting the defensive player he coveted.
“I think that was probably because of the quarterback situation going on around us, a couple of picks here and there,” Tannenbaum said. “But at the end of the day we felt good about the two picks that we have.”
The Jets stood pat in the second round as well, waiting to use the 61st pick on Ducasse. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound tackle didn’t start playing football until 2003, a year after he moved from Haiti to live with uncle in Stamford, Conn. He’s viewed as a raw talent, but his size was too appealing for the Jets to pass up.
“When we re-stacked the board [Thursday] night Vladimir was one of the guys we were hoping that would be there,” Tannenbaum said. “We feel fortunate that we waited through the whole round, got to 61 and got the guy we wanted.”
Maybe the Jets will move up in the fourth round today to get someone they like, or try to get a fifth-round pick [they don’t have one now]. But at least for two days, Tannenbaum resisted the urge to be “Trader Mike.” That proved to be a good thing for the Jets.