When the New York Jets selected RB Bilal Powell in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, the selection came to a surprise to many since the team already had three running backs on their roster.

“For me, it’s interesting. I go back to two years ago when we had Thomas Jones and Leon Washington, and Shonn Greene was the best player on the board. We feel good about our running back position between LaDainian (Tomlinson), Joe (McKnight), (FB) John Conner and Shonn (Greene), obviously,” Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said. “We just thought he (Powell) was the best player on the board and we just try to stay to the value of the board. It goes back to when (head coach) Rex (Ryan) came here and said, “Hey, (the) Baltimore (Ravens) always did a good job by sticking to the value of the board,” and we had him high on our list. The fact that he was available when he was, I think he went 126th overall, we just thought it was really good value for us.”

Powell’s addition to the roster might not be a good sign for McKnight, who struggled to become a factor last season. Tomlinson’s role is still being defined.

“I can tell you this, LaDainian was outstanding for us last year, not only as a runner, but what we really thought of was, ‘Here’s a three-down back, a guy that can run the football, but is a pass protector picking up blitzes and a guy that is a great receiver out of the backfield.’ I thought he did a tremendous job,” Ryan explained. “He made some huge plays for us. Then, you combine his talents with Shonn Greene’s and the emergence of Joe McKnight, who I think is going to be an explosive talent. We saw what he can do against (the) Buffalo (Bills) with the 158 yards rushing and the special teams contributions. He might even be a punt returner or kick returner, who knows? Now, you just add this guy (Powell) to the mix. I almost felt like in the draft, other teams, they never wanted us to take this guy because, “Here’s a strength of their team.” Well, we just added another piece to it. We’ll see. It will be fun. I understand there is only one football but, it’s going to be fun. There is going to be a lot of confidence in whoever that back is back there.”