Of all the rookies on the New York Jets' roster, only one has a legitimate chance to win a starting job: second-round pick Vladimir Ducasse, who is battling Matt Slauson at left guard.

From all accounts, Ducasse is doing well, but let's be clear: It's a huge jump from UMass to the NFL, and Ducasse is trying to learn a new position. The Jets run a complex blocking scheme that uses zone and gap-control principles. It's not a man-to-man scheme. They got away from that system last season, when they transitioned to a zone-running team.

One of Ducasse's biggest challenges is pulling, blocking on the move. His predecessor, perennial Pro Bowler Alan Faneca, was very good at that.

"Faneca was a tremendous puller," LB Bart Scott said. "We've been doing a lot of front side pulling. Faneca was a tremendous backside puller who uses athleticism. Vlad and Slauson are very powerful. They can get movement, or attempt to get movement, on guys other than Kris Jenkins because of their girth and size."

But Ducasse still has a ways to go as a pulling guard. According to Scott, Ducasse tends to "sit off the ball. His weight was (on) his heels. That's an indication that he's doing that to clear himself, so he won't run into the center. Those types of things, after you defeat him and smack him around a little bit, you send it to
him in a text message."

Scott laughed.