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Jets general manager John Idzik was able to completely put his own stamp on this year's preparations for the NFL Draft.

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

FLORHAM PARK – Last year, when the Jets hired John Idzik as their new general manager in January, Idzik had to leave his job with the Seattle Seahawks’ front office and hit the ground running in New Jersey.

That meant abbreviated preparation for the NFL Draft, at least for Idzik. As he set about overhauling the Jets’ scouting department – something he did not do until after the draft – Idzik also had to get ready for the draft itself.

He values the draft highly, having seen how important it was to the Seahawks building their Super Bowl championship team. Moreover, last year was Idzik's first draft as a general manager.

Last year, Idzik incorporated some of the Jets’ previous regime and methods as he readied for the draft. But this year, he was able to completely put his stamp on the process, which he obviously likes.

“Last year, I didn’t get the benefit of scouting the college season with the Jets staff,” Idzik said Wednesday during a press conference. “I came in in January, so I got the tail end (of the scouting process) and the bowl games and Indy combine. Even so, it was kind of a hybrid where we weren’t going to flip the switch and create a new system on the fly. So it was a little bit of change last year as we were going.

“This year, we set that table way back in May of last year. We brought some new scouts in. We went through the entire cycle together, not only with the college staff, but with the coaches and everybody else that’s involved. Simple things like setting up our pre-draft visits, our local (pre-draft workout) day. It was our first time through last year. This year, we had somewhat of a template. That’s always going to be massaged to a certain degree, but much less so this year. So yeah, there’s definitely a higher comfort level this year.”