Kentucky Jet Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jets' Vlad Ducasse spent rookie season learning many positions, including right tackle Published: Tuesday, March 08, 2011, 3:45 PM Updated: Tuesday, March 08, 2011, 3:46 PM By Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger At last month's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said trying Vlad Ducasse at right tackle was "something we've talked about." The second-year offensive lineman said he hasn't had that explicit conversation with the team -- but that he spent his rookie season mastering both tackle and both guard positions, so he could step in wherever the team needs him. "That was the whole point of learning all those positions, so I could be ready to go out anywhere," Ducasse said today at TEST Sports Clubs in Martinsville, where he is set up to train in the event of a lockout. Trying Ducasse at right tackle could make sense, particularly since the Jets cut 33-year-old Damien Woody last week. Wayne Hunter, who stepped in as the starter when Woody was injured late in the season and played well, is due to become a free agent. Ducasse, the Jets' 2010 second-round pick, was active for only a handful of games last season and saw limited time after Matt Slauson beat him out for the starting left guard job in training camp. Ducasse played at right guard in the season finale against the Bills, when the Jets had already locked up a postseason bid and subbed in many of their back-up players. He said he took reps in practice at four positions -- right guard, left guard, right tackle and left tackle -- to be a versatile back-up in case any of the starters went down and also to give different looks to the Jets' first-team defense. "Last year, you just had that feeling that you’ve got to be ready," Ducasse said. "If they said, 'We need you on the left'; I was ready if they said, 'We need you on the right.' Every practice I was getting reps at tackle and guard." Ducasse said his major hang-up as a rookie was learning the Jets' playbook, a complicated task under renowned offensive line coach Bill Callahan. He admitted he struggled at times to apply what he learned in the classroom to the practice field. Once he lost out in the battle for left guard, Ducasse took time to slow down and go back over his mistakes. Callahan was a willing teacher, Ducasse said, staying late with him after meetings or watching extra film with him early in the morning. "It’s different now," Ducasse said. "As a rookie, it's just like everything comes down on you, that’s the hardest part. I pretty much took a year off, but I was still learning all the other positions. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel comfortable now." His focus now is staying in shape and maintaining the weight he was at all through his rookie season, 330 pounds. Ducasse, a three-year starter at left tackle at UMass, is perhaps a best fit at the tackle position. He says he is ready to prove what he can do, after a year in the background, and would be happy if that chance came at right tackle -- or anywhere. "Last year the main thing I did was learning, not only right tackle, but all the other positions," Ducasse said. "I'm very much excited about going in there and showing everybody what I learned in that year off. I'm just ready to go." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadwayJ667 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 it's not hard to believe that he had trouble with the playbook. English is not his natural language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark6sanchez Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Mr T has a good track record drafting O-lineman, The kid has some of the best coaches in the NFL hopefully so he will pan-out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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