Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Jets coach Eric Mangini, holding court at the league meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla., explained why his team invested so much in Calvin Pace, a player who cashed in after a productive 2007 season for Arizona.
"He reminded me a lot of Mo Lewis on tape: big, strong, fast, fluid guy," Mangini said. "For a guy that size, not just height but weight, as fluid as he was, that was the player comparison that came to mind right away."
Lewis is best known for delivering the hit that knocked out Drew Bledsoe and cleared the way for Tom Brady to take over as Patriots quarterback in 2001. The Jets held Brady to season lows in passing yards (140), touchdowns (zero), completions (14), completion percentage (51.9), yards per attempt (5.2) and passer rating (51.5) when the teams played in December. They still lost the game, 20-10, on their way to a 4-12 season. They were aggressive this offseason, and their investment in Pace was significant.
"He played outside, he put his hand down on third down and he played sub-end, which is consistent with what we do, " Mangini said. "He played in the middle in some of their substitute defenses, like a buck rover type position. To see him in all those different spots [was important]. The other thing that was impressive was to watch him on punt coverage. To see a guy like that run down and make plays in the open field and get the punt returner, for that size, is pretty impressive.
"Then to get to know him, talk to him -- smart guy. It was really important to him as to what his roles would be, what type of game planning we did each week. That stuff excites him."
