Newsday Article On Draft

If Darrelle Revis and David Harris show the same ability to size up opponents, calculate risks and make aggressive moves on the field as the Jets showed in drafting them Saturday, all parties should be happy for a long time to come.

Rather than wait to see who would be available when their turns in the first and second rounds came up, the Jets engineered a pair of deals to grab players atop their wish-list. First they negotiated a deal with the Panthers to move up 11 spots to the 14th overall selection.

From that position they were able to take Revis, the first cornerback in the draft, one spot ahead of the Steelers who were a more-than-likely suitor for the same player. Later in the evening, the Jets traded most of their remaining draft selections to the Packers to pick Harris, an inside linebacker from Michigan, with the 47th overall selection. Harris was projected by some as a first-rounder and should fit nicely in the middle of the Jets' 3-4 defense.

Essentially the Jets used their entire first day's allotment and most of their second-day picks to bolster a defense that was ranked 20th overall and 24th against the run in 2006. The Jets have only a sixth- (177) and a seventh-round pick remaining unless they unload some veterans for picks in today's early hours, but they were clearly focused on quality over quantity in a decidedly weak draft.

"Going into it we certainly didn't say 'We hope we have four picks in this draft'," said Tannenbaum, who started the day with six and picked a whopping 10 last year.

"I understand we had to play a price to get (Revis and Harris), but we felt that for our organization, given where we were and what we wanted to accomplish, to get those two players we were willing to pay that price."

The Jets traded their first-round selection (25th overall) along with their second- (59) and fifth-rounders (164) for Carolina's first (14) and sixth (191). Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum said he'd had preliminary discussions with the Panthers during the week that were hypothetical and speculative. The Jets were also in discussions with the Texans to move up to the 10th selection.

"We felt having the flexibility with four first-day picks, we wanted to keep all our options open," Tannenbaum said.

They followed that move up by trading their second- (63), third- (89) and freshly acquired sixth-rounder (191) to Green Bay for the Packers' second- and seventh-rounder (235).

Once they had acquired the 14th selection, the Jets used almost all of their allotted 15 minutes before officially picking Revis. There was speculation that the Jets could be entertaining offers for that pick or mulling over a possible surprise selection of quarterback Brady Quinn or tight end Greg Olsen. Tannenbaum said the team was simply double-checking that all parties were in full agreement.

"We were interested in acquiring Darrelle Revis and that's what we went ahead and did," Tannenbaum said.

Revis, a junior from Pitt, topped the Jets' list at the position they needed to solidify most, especially with the Patriots bolstering their receiving during free agency. Coach Eric Mangini said they liked Revis on tape, but were truly impressed with him during his visit to the Jets complex at Hofstra earlier this month.

The Panthers wound up picking linebacker Jon Beason with the 25th pick they received from the Jets. By that point, cornerbacks Leon Hall and Aaron Ross had already been taken.

Even Revis said he was surprised to hear his name at that point, not to mention the team that picked it. "I didn't know what was going on," he said. "When I looked on the TV screen, I saw Carolina had the pick. Then I get a call from the Jets organization, and that is when they told me the news."