A rookie head coach will get his first look at the 10 rookies he drafted and several more signed as free agents when the Jets’ three-day rookie mini-camp opens Friday.

Eric Mangini’s background is on defense, but on draft day the Jets prioritized offense by selecting offensive linemen D’Brickashaw Ferguson (Virginia) and Nick Mangold (Ohio State) in the first round and quarterback Kellen Clemens (Oregon) in the second. Nevertheless, Mangini will spend the bulk of his time this weekend working with the defensive rookies as the Jets transition from a four-lineman, three-linebacker front to the three-lineman, four-linebacker front Mangini ran as New England’s defensive coordinator last year.

An important aspect of the effort to develop the 3-4 was the Jets’ decision to invite two undrafted rookies from Virginia’s defense – end Brennan Schmidt and linebacker Brian White. Like Mangini, Virginia coach Al Groh (the former Jets head coach) runs a 3-4 defense patterned after the defense Bill Belichick runs in New England, so Schmidt and White will be more comfortable in Mangini’s system than most rookies.

Size is more important than speed for 3-4 defensive linemen, which is why the Jets will give nose tackle Titus Adams, this year’s seventh-round choice out of Nebraska, every opportunity to make the team. Seventh-round picks often get cut in training camp, but the 308-pound Adams played both end and tackle in college and should be versatile enough to earn a spot on the Jets’ line. Inside linebacker Anthony Schlegel, the third round pick from Ohio State, is a solid run defender and should compete for a starting position immediately.

Schlegel and fellow Buckeye Mangold will need to soak up as much of their playbooks as possible this weekend because they will be ineligible to participate in the Jets’ organized team activities for three weeks. An NFL rule designed to encourage college players to get their degrees after they’re drafted dictates that rookies can only participate in one camp with their NFL teams until their college classes are finished. Class is in session at Ohio State until June 8, so Schlegel and Mangold will have to return to Columbus on Sunday night while the rest of the Jets stay to work out.

On offense, Ferguson and Mangold are expected to start immediately for new coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, but Clemens, who ranked seventh in the nation last season with 300.8 passing yards per game at Oregon, is an unknown quantity. He doesn’t have the pedigree of the big-name quarterback the Jets passed over in the first round, USC’s Matt Leinart, but he is a smart, accurate passer. If he picks up Schottenheimer’s offense quickly, he might be ready to enter the starting lineup during the 2006 season.

Clemens will be the only rookie quarterback at the camp, but two other players who played quarterback in college will attend the camp in an attempt to learn new positions. Fourth-round pick Brad Smith of Missouri was a four-year starter who finished his career with 8,799 passing yards, but it was his scrambling ability that led the Jets to draft him. He ran for 150 or more yards five times during his senior season, including a 28-carry, 246-yard performance against Nebraska that convinced NFL scouts who questioned his throwing arm that he has an NFL future. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Smith will play wide receiver.

After the draft, the Jets added a similar player when they signed Richmond quarterback Stacy Tutt to a free-agent contract. The Jets have told the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Tutt, who played mostly quarterback but also some wide receiver in college, that he’ll play halfback if he makes it to the NFL.

Like all undrafted players at NFL rookie camps, Tutt is a longshot to make the roster. But Mangini, who at 35 is closer in age to the rookies he’ll tutor this weekend than he is to the typical NFL head coach, knows he has a big rebuilding job in front of him. That means that finding even one player who can contribute would make this weekend’s camp a valuable exercise.