Waiting for substance in the New York Jets' pre-draft news conference yesterday was a lot like the wait for a substantive question in Wednesday night's Democratic debate.

It occurred, but not often.

General Manager Mike Tannenbaum, director of college scouting Joey Clinkscales and director of player personnel Terry Bradway met with the media to discuss the upcoming NFL draft. Fans looking for hints — and in fairness, few teams offer those — as to what the Jets will do with any of their six picks would have come away disappointed.

Still, there were some morsels in the nearly 45-minute session.

Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, once thought to be unattainable for the Jets at No. 6 overall, recently has been rumored to be falling somewhat. His character has been called into question as the result of two incidents outside nightclubs in 2006 and last January. He was not charged in the recent incident, but he is waiting for the follow-up results of a second test in a paternity suit — the first test showed him not to be the father — and he has two other paternity cases to be resolved.

Clinkscales, however, said McFadden passed the organization's extensive vetting and that the team would be comfortable selecting him. "If we draft a player, we've checked out his character thoroughly," Clinkscales said. "If that's the pick we choose to make, we'll be comfortable with that decision."

They also would be comfortable with the player they've been most linked to, Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston. "Vernon's a very explosive player," Bradway said.

Tannenbaum did not rule out grabbing Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan — "he can make all the throws" — but also didn't rule out a cornerback or someone other than the players mentioned. 'Nothing has been ruled out. "We want to have as much flexibility as possible," Tannenbaum said.

Bradway said the Jets evaluated more than 1,200 prospects and have interviewed "close to 450 players." He said that list has been whittled to 397 whom the team considers "draftable" over the full seven rounds, including 172 the Jets consider as potential picks in rounds 1-5.