It's the time of the season when draft fever runs high, so draft zombies everywhere are doing what they always do at this time of year: getting educated.
And we're planning a draft blitz in the coming month to get Jets fans and all else who come to the Radar and to newyorkjets.com up to speed for the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25-26.
We're going to kick off our draft coverage Thursday with Eric Allen's feature on the top quarterbacks entering the draft. Rich Gentile, Jets senior director of multimedia, and his staff will be coordinating video coming in from several different directions — highlights from the top prospects' college careers and clips from some of the candidates' work at last month's NFL Combine — and editing them up to illustrate the story.
Then every Monday and Thursday for the following three weeks, we'll provide you with another position package. EA will also have the defensive backs for you next Monday and I'll report on the running backs on Thursday, and so on. Here's our tentative schedule:
Thursday, March 19 — Quarterbacks
Monday, March 23 — Defensive Backs
Thursday, March 26 — Running Backs
Monday, March 30 —Linebackers
Thursday, April 2 — Offensive Line
Monday, April 6 — Defensive Line
Thursday, April 9 — Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Fold into that mix some of the most thoughtful mock drafts available from our friends at Real Football Services. Real will produce two first-round mocks plus a second-round mock, with the final mocks going live the week before the Lions (or whoever holds the first overall pick by then) go on the clock shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 25.
We'll also pass on information on our annual draft parties. And we'll provide Radar entries reporting on our reports, on other people's mocks, and on draft and free agency news. And make no mistake: Your comments are a part of our coverage as well, both on the Radar and on our Message Boards. Check both forums out early and often.
We think this will be one of the most ambitious draft packages available from any NFL team Website and will be up there among any you will find on the internet. We invite you to come by tomorrow and check out the quarterbacks as they parade across your screen — and then perhaps all the way onto your team's roster in a little more than five weeks' time.
Coach Rex on the Air
Head coach Rex Ryan will be a guest on Colin Cowherd's radio show on 1050 ESPN New York this afternoon at 12:40 p.m.
Update:I've just been told that the Cowherd interview with Rex Ryan has been moved back to 1:40 p.m. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you've got an extra hour to get situated and pick up the Coach on ESPN Radio.
