02/22 — The halls surrounding the Indianapolis Convention Center are great venues for NFL fans to stargaze. For instance, as I was sitting at an empty table talking with Eric Allen for today's "radio interview" on the newyorkjets.com multimedia home page, Colts coach Tony Dungy went strolling by.

The Jets coaches are, of course, among the many spotted coming and going from the RCA Dome and the adjoining hotels for their tasks here at the NFL Scouting Combine. And among the Jets coaches, new assistant HC Bill Callahan was spotted by Greg Bishop, the Jets beatwriter for The New York Times. Bishop asked if he was available to chat, and Callahan politely declined.

But others can do Callahan's talking for him. As head coach Eric Mangini said Thursday about bringing him aboard, "I really liked the things he's done offensively throughout his career."

And one of his former students from Nebraska offered glowing praise of Callahan during his meeting with NFL media later Thursday.

Carl Nicks, a 6'5", 343-pound OT for the Cornhuskers expected to be a second- or third-round pick in April, said the Jets "are getting a genius. He has a nose for detail. He has a massive football brain."

Nicks may be biased, but Callahan, who will work with the Jets' O-linemen, is one of the reasons there is hope for a quick turnaround of that unit.

Another is just the natural process that all NFL coaches and general managers go through at this time of year and prepare for beginning here at the combine. They evaluate their past season, examine their roster and work on making weak areas strong and strong areas stronger still.

Green Bay GM Ted Thompson was the first of the NFL team personnel people to talk with reporters this morning, and he related what happened when he took over the Packers helm in 2005.

"We had two very good, established guards in Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera," Thompson said. "We didn't have a lot of flexibility at the time to do much and we had to let them go. I didn't do a good job of getting those guys replaced that first year."

So in the past two years, some of Thompson's and the Pack's focus was on improving that area of their offense Needless to say, with the success that Brett Favre, Ryan Grant, their wideouts, et al., had in helping guide Green Bay to the NFC Championship Game in January, things seem to have worked out in the trenches.

"It didn't start out as well as I would've hoped," Thompson said. "We're getting better."

The Jets' offensive line situation is not directly analogous to the Packers', of course. But there is a natural tendency for fans and reporters to say, "This team we root for/cover has too much to fix. They can't get it done in one year." But NFL teams can and do strengthen positions quickly in the 21st Century. And the Green & White's O-line is no exception.

Flipping the Draft

The draft order is of interest to the Jets, who sit at sixth, and all the teams below them in the sense that everyone now knows where those three teams line up if and when talks begiit becomes time to begin about trying to trade up into the top five.     

But the coin flip doesn't alter the procedures long established for tied teams rotating from round to round. Because the Jets are the fourth team to finish 4-12 last season, they are in the rotation with Atlanta, Oakland and KC. In succeeding rounds, teams move up one rung at a time, with the top team in the rotation falling to the bottom of the order.

Thus, the Jets move to the fifth pick of Round 2, which is the 36th overall in this draft. Then to fourth in Round 3 and third in Round 4 before falling back to sixth in Round 5.

Gil Brandt announced for the NFL, just before Boston College QB Matt Ryan met with reporters, that Atlanta, Oakland and Kansas City had their three-way coin flip to resolve their tie for the third through fifth spots at the top of the draft's first round.

The Falcons won the flip against the Raiders and thus will pick third, with the Raiders fourth and the Chiefs fifth. Since the Raiders hold a tiebreaker over the Chiefs, there was only one flip. Had the Falcons lost the flip, they then would have flipped with the Chiefs for the fourth spot. But that wasn't necessary.