New York Jets almost missed out on Shonn Greene because of GM Mike Tannenbaum BY Rich Cimini DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Friday, January 22nd 2010, 4:00 AM Five months before the first game of the Rex Ryan era, the new "Ground & Pound" philosophy was demonstrated in a most unusual place. Mike Tannenbaum's office. On Day 2 of the NFL draft, Terry Bradway and Joey Clinkscales - the Jets' draft-room honchos - sat in front of Tannenbaum's desk and came after the GM hard, lobbying intensely for him to trade up for Shonn Greene. The passion play began the night before, when Day 1 concluded and Greene - rated 19th on the Jets' draft board - still was available after two rounds and 64 selections. To Bradway and Clinkscales, this was a no-brainer, but Tannenbaum didn't want to do it. After surrendering the Jets' second-round pick and three players for Mark Sanchez, the GM didn't want to sell off more draft picks for a running back who would be no better than third string as a rookie. Bradway and Clinkscales were relentless, hammering away at their boss. Tannenbaum, who has the final say, wasn't budging. It was just before 8 a.m., two hours before the draft resumed. "They double-teamed me," Tannenbaum says now. "Eventually, they wore me down." Good thing for the Jets, who probably wouldn't be in this position - one win from the Super Bowl - without Greene. History will remember several turning points in this magical season, but one of the first occurred on the morning of April 26, when two longtime talent evaluators, trusting their guts and the eyes of their scouts, wouldn't take no for an answer. The Daily News was granted exclusive access to the Jets' scouting reports on the former Iowa star. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how Tannenbaum's "no" became a "yes," and how they landed the rookie sensation. 'Curtis Martin, but heavier' "He has special vision and instincts. Reminds me of Curtis Martin, but 30 pounds heavier. Really can see the defense and reacts quickly to defenders. Sometimes you see him making his move before he gets the ball. ... Really one season of being The Guy. Comes to the NFL without a lot of hits and miles." - From the scouting report of Jeff Bauer, Jets college scout. The scouting department got a late start on Greene because he left Iowa with one year of eligibility remaining. But from Jan.8 to March 30, six talent evaluators submitted reports on him - Bradway, running backs coach Anthony Lynn and four scouts. The reports were inputted into a database, allowing Tannenbaum to access everything from his desktop computer. Their final grade on Greene was 6.25. In draft numerology, that equates to a mid-first round grade. In fact, the Jets rated him the third-best back in the draft, behind Knowshon Moreno (Broncos, 12th pick) and Beanie Wells (Cards, 31st).
Again Bradway proves why, though he sucked as a GM, he's an incredible talent scout. I also saw earlier today a quote from Tanny that had the 3rd round been on Day 1, Greene would never have been a Jet.
I credit Tanny for swallowing his pride and trusting his co-workers in making this decision. I'm sure other GMs wouldn't.
I'm glad Tannenbaum needed to be convinced to trade up again. I loved the player, didn't like the move at the time. If the player is good enough, trading up is fine. But the player had better work out, or you're set back for years.
I am so sick of people crying about Gholston. Get the fuck over it. Do they get credit for Revis, Mangold, Brick, Harris, Leon, Smith, etc? Really get over it.
we really have a great behind-the-scenes talent. I like that our GM isn't blinded by ego, and can be convinced if the argument makes sense. Too many people think they are the end-all-be-all in talents/opinions.
Yeah really. Besides Gholston, Nugent, and DRob, how many real "busts" have the Jets picked in the last decade? And I'd argue that later round gems like Leon more than make up for them. The Jets have had remarkable success in the draft in recent history.
Absolutely. Just off the top of my head in the last 3-4 drafts we have gotten: D'Brick Mangold Leon Revis Harris Brad Smith Keller Sanchez Eric Smith Stucky And we've also traded draft picks for Jenkins, Lito and Edwards If we can sustain this success in drafting over the next few years, this team has the possibility of becoming a serious threat to win the Super Bowl every season
Absolutely. Just off the top of my head in the last 3-4 drafts we have gotten: D'Brick Shonn Greene Mangold Leon Revis Harris Brad Smith Keller Eric Smith Sanchez Stuckey If we can sustain this success in drafting over the next few years, this team has the possibility of becoming a serious threat to win the Super Bowl every season
and this year he'll have a day betweenrd 1 and 2.i can't imagine what he's gonna be able to do with that kinda time to create a deal
we've traded away depth for free agents and marque players for several years now. look for tanny to stockpile and stockpile as much as possible. with jenkins and leon coming back, that's like two first rounders joining the team.
