NY Times: NY Jets Rogues' Gallery

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At N.F.L. Draft, Jets Collect a Rogues’ Gallery of Talent

By GREG BISHOP

Published: April 30, 2011

At N.F.L. Draft, Jets Collect a Rogues’ Gallery of Talent

By GREG BISHOP

Published: April 30, 2011

Last week’s three-day N.F.L. draft further highlighted the evolution of the Jets’ philosophy. Consider these developments:

¶ Last off-season, the Jets traded their second-round pick to San Diego for cornerback Antonio Cromartie, a mostly model citizen who still made a series of outlandish statements last season. He has fathered nine children, with eight women, in six states.

¶ On Friday, the Jets spent their third-round pick on Hampton nose tackle Kenrick Ellis, a player South Carolina once kicked off its football team. He is also facing a felony assault charge that could get him 20 years in prison.

¶ On Saturday, the Jets took Louisville running back Bilal Powell in the fourth round. Of his childhood — which multiple reports said included gangs and an altercation in which he was stabbed — Powell said: “I had troubles. I kind of rebelled a little bit. I ended up getting saved my senior year and changed a lot of things.”

General Manager Mike Tannenbaum defended the Jets’ philosophy throughout the draft, relying on the same phrases and reasoning he used when the franchise traded for Santonio Holmes, or Braylon Edwards, or Cromartie. Of those three, only Edwards, who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last season, created any major stir off the field.

Tannenbaum said the Jets were comfortable with their research into Ellis, who, according The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., broke the nose and jaw of a man in an altercation last April. He is scheduled to stand trial July 12. This followed his dismissal four years earlier from South Carolina.

The Jets described Ellis as “transparent,” “honest” and “accountable” about his past. In a conference call with reporters, Ellis chalked up the trouble to immature mistakes. But the Jets also had Ellis slotted as the 36th- or 38th-best player on their draft board, a big, strong run-stopper who wreaked havoc last season despite a bad ankle. Surely that boosted the Jets’ comfort level, because they grabbed Ellis at pick No. 94.

Tannenbaum said any pick or transaction contained a certain amount of risk. But although the Jets’ risk level seems to have risen higher than most teams under Ryan, the organization believes that his coaching style is conducive to taking chances. Tannenbaum noted Ryan’s “innate ability to relate to all different types of people” and called the risks taken “a referendum on why we hired Rex.”

That said, Tannenbaum also defended the character in the Jets’ locker room, which last season included LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor, two former N.F.L. man of the year winners.

“To win back-to-back road playoff games, to go to the championship game two years in a row, our locker room is filled with great people,” he said. “That’s what helps breed success.”

On Friday night, before the Jets took Ellis, the same-stadium rivals, the Giants, made a risky selection of their own. They drafted Marvin Austin, a defensive tackle from North Carolina, who was suspended for two games in 2008 and benched for two more in 2009. He missed last season for improper contact with an agent while already under suspension for unspecified violations of team rules.

The Giants, like the Jets, remained confident in their choice. Coach Tom Coughlin called the draft a high-risk business. Austin said all the right things: that the absence increased his appreciation for football, that it humbled him. More important, of course, was that the Giants projected Austin among the top three defensive tackles in the draft, a top 15-type talent.

“Certain people you take a chance on if they aren’t habitual problems,” said Marc Ross, the Giants’ director of college scouting. “With Marvin, he’s genuinely remorseful about what happened.”

The Giants continued to shore up their defense and special teams Saturday by selecting Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones, Iowa safety Tyler Sash and South Florida linebacker Jacquian Williams among five picks.

The Jets followed their Ellis pick by taking Powell in the third round. He, too, came with questions. By all accounts, Powell became a leader at Louisville after he moved in with his high school coach, away from his neighborhood in Lakeland, Fla., and found faith in his senior season.

“He was pretty wild,” Keith DeMyer, one of Powell’s high school coaches, told ESPN. “He had no G.P.A. — a 0.0. It’s amazing that with the gangs and life on the streets and other things he was involved in, he was able to survive.”

Late Saturday, Ryan dismissed the notion of too much depth at running back, danced around a question regarding the future of Tomlinson and laughed about how the Jets did not select a cornerback, his favorite position at which to collect players.

“Your roster always changes,” Ryan said. “Whatever you think you need to get the job done, that’s what it takes.”

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