NEW JERSEY – Defensive tackle Tarow Barney, who played the 2012-13 seasons for Northwest and later at Penn State, has made it through the first week of organized team activities (OTAs) with the New York Jets.

Barney signed as an undrafted free agent with the Jets back on May 2 and is one of three former Rangers with NFL teams along with wide receiver Myles White (New York Giants) and offensive tackle Donald Hawkins (Carolina Panthers). Barney is wearing No. 60 during camp.

Jets OTAs continue May 31, June 1-2 and June 6-9. Mandatory minicamp is set for June 14-16. 

"I'm very excited for the opportunity the Jets are giving me and blessed that I was given a chance," Barney said. "I'm going to make the best of my opportunity and work hard every day. I had a great experience on and off the field at Penn State and they molded me into a better player, especially my defensive line coach Sean Spencer."

A native of Bainbridge, Ga., and Bainbridge High School, Barney (6-3/305) was rated a 4-star prospect by 247sports.com and the No. 3 DT in the 2014 class out of Northwest. He finished the 2013 season with 36 tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble and five quarterback hurries and had 20 tackles and four hurries as a freshman in 2012.

He continued his career at Penn State, choosing the Nittany Lions over offers from Kansas State, Arizona State, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa State and numerous others. He also received heavy interest from Alabama.

In 25 career games at PSU, Barney finished with 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks.

One of the strongest players on the team, Barney did 31 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press at Penn State's pro day. He also ran a 4.99 40-yard dash and had a broad jump of 9 feet 5 inches.

Photo courtesy of NewYorkJets.com.