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- The Dude
[rp3]http://icestream.dev-cms.com:8000/stl/2012/04/04302012123106.mp3[/rp3]
http://www.101espn.com/templates/audio_ ... 319&type=s
Starts at 4:40 in. These are broad-stroke notes - did the best I could. You might want to just listen. Pretty good interview.
(On improving the athleticism)
One of the goals was, we were okay with trading back. We made that decision early. We always had to get another second round player. When you look at it, you get athleticism at speed twice at wide receiver, same at corner, and same at RB. With that first pick, we always said, "Let's take BPA no matter where we pick." By getting that player, we made the UNIT stronger.
(On drafting red flag guys)
I look at this as any player you take is an investment. Some have more risk than others. We have to understand how to build, develop and coach a football team to thrive. We knew a lot about these kids. We went to their home towns. We went to Cali, FLA, Alabama, all in the last two weeks. So you do extensive research. You get the background to tell you if you want to make the investment, and the background tells you how to develop them as kids. With the money comes responsibility, and it's our job to develop them. That's our goal.
(On Janoris Jenkins. What is it about him that gives you confidence he's a changed man?)
Changed man. You're never guaranteed a man is changed. That's on him to make the right decisions. Here's what we banked on. We took Julio Jones at ATL, and it was between him and A.J. Green. Jenkins shut them both down. None of the people we interviewed about him told us to stay away. I went to N. Alabama and this kid's life (getting kicked from FLA)... he was practicing GUNNER on special teams at N. Alabama and loving it. At that moment, I knew he had a passion for the game, and a passion for life. I knew I was going to go back to ATL at the time and do more research on him.
(how hard is it to evaluate wide receivers?)
When you play WR in college, it's a lot different when you come to our league. The biggest transition is the complicated coverages and schemes. It takes them a little while to go from thinking to actually acting and reacting. In college, nobody goes up and challenges them because they're scared of them. That doesn't happen in the NFL. To make it simple though, you need to be able to separate and catch the ball. With Quick, he's 6'3, very long arms, he can separate when he's covered, and that's ala Vincent Jackson. He's one of the best in the NFL. For a really large man, he can make great cuts in and out of his break. Like anything else, your first day on the job is going to be harder than your 10th day on the job, 5th year on the job, 10th year on the job, etc.
(Those top guys you drafted, are you locking them in to start them right away?)
I don't think you just give reps to anyone. I think they should have to go out and compete and earn that right. They may have a faster "in" than others, but there are other players on this roster. In ATL for instance, they just Franchised Grimes, but that guy wasn't even signed as a college FA. We just brought him in for a try-out. Interesting story. He missed the first 3 practices because of a heart murmur, and then the last practice he has 3 picks in his first 4 plays. Next thing you know, he's on our team and now he's franchised. Like that, we have players on our team who want to play and succeed. Our rookies are going to have to earn it.
(on Fisher developing players)
They're in great hands. Jeff, from top to bottom, has a very confident staff in what they do. Not cocky at all, but just confident. Authentic. They have a lot of experience. When we took over, we needed to get younger, and we needed to build. Trust me. We wanna turn this around fast. We don't want to take 4 years, but it's going to take some time. We want it done fast though. We have to get ready to battle every week though. You have to have a coaching staff willing to do that. I think it'll pay dividends sometime next year - into the next year and the next year.
(on the 4th and 5th round picks - Givens and Watkins)
Givens. We were surprised he was there in the 4th round, and we were very excited. Ran in the 4.3s at the combines and he PLAYS in the 4.3s. If you take him out of Wake Forest's offense, and they're nil. Even at the very least next year, you have to - there has to be a safety deep to guard against his speed. On Watkins, a lot of times in college, your best OL goes to left tackle. Maybe he's not equipped for LT. 6'5, 330 lbs, 35 inch arms, Now you move him inside, play him at RT, you have to project whether his pass protection is better at guard or even right tackle verses out on an island at left tackle.
(On Zuerlein)
We'll put that money saved on Brown to good use. We'll exhaust every avenue to improve this team. Brown's a great human being, and he's been a good kicker. We're a young team, and he's going into a contract year, and we felt like this was the best kicker coming out. When he was sitting there, we took a little step forward earlier rather than later. We didn't sign him just to save money. In ATL last year we drafted a punter, and he was going to have to hold and kickoff. When you make an investment in a K or P in a draft choice, you have to say "we're going to raise this kid, and he's going to fall off his bike." When he falls off, we're not going to put him in the dumpster. He may shank a kickoff, or a kick he misses, so Monday is not the day to come in and kick him to the bath. We're going to raise him, develop him, and hold on through some of the bad times. Our guy last year (in ATL) shanked the punt, they got the ball on the 13, and boom - they got 7. But you can't throw him to the bath water. He became one of the league's better punters.
(on Brockers)
Obviously we had to scout the RB from Alabama (Richardson), and they (LSU) played Alabama twice. Alabama has a very good offensive line. You couldn't help but notice big #90 and the damage he was doing. [changes it up to talking about draft grades]. [hil]Draft grades are like being in College. Your last exam. You can make an A, B, C, D, etc, but what really count is, when you walk out, you have your diploma, so it's what you do with your life afterwards. And that's kind of how I look at the draft. At the end of the day, they got their final grade, they got their diploma, now it's what they do in life. Because professional football is now their life. The A or B really means nothing at this point.[/hil]
http://www.101espn.com/templates/audio_ ... 319&type=s
Starts at 4:40 in. These are broad-stroke notes - did the best I could. You might want to just listen. Pretty good interview.
(On improving the athleticism)
One of the goals was, we were okay with trading back. We made that decision early. We always had to get another second round player. When you look at it, you get athleticism at speed twice at wide receiver, same at corner, and same at RB. With that first pick, we always said, "Let's take BPA no matter where we pick." By getting that player, we made the UNIT stronger.
(On drafting red flag guys)
I look at this as any player you take is an investment. Some have more risk than others. We have to understand how to build, develop and coach a football team to thrive. We knew a lot about these kids. We went to their home towns. We went to Cali, FLA, Alabama, all in the last two weeks. So you do extensive research. You get the background to tell you if you want to make the investment, and the background tells you how to develop them as kids. With the money comes responsibility, and it's our job to develop them. That's our goal.
(On Janoris Jenkins. What is it about him that gives you confidence he's a changed man?)
Changed man. You're never guaranteed a man is changed. That's on him to make the right decisions. Here's what we banked on. We took Julio Jones at ATL, and it was between him and A.J. Green. Jenkins shut them both down. None of the people we interviewed about him told us to stay away. I went to N. Alabama and this kid's life (getting kicked from FLA)... he was practicing GUNNER on special teams at N. Alabama and loving it. At that moment, I knew he had a passion for the game, and a passion for life. I knew I was going to go back to ATL at the time and do more research on him.
(how hard is it to evaluate wide receivers?)
When you play WR in college, it's a lot different when you come to our league. The biggest transition is the complicated coverages and schemes. It takes them a little while to go from thinking to actually acting and reacting. In college, nobody goes up and challenges them because they're scared of them. That doesn't happen in the NFL. To make it simple though, you need to be able to separate and catch the ball. With Quick, he's 6'3, very long arms, he can separate when he's covered, and that's ala Vincent Jackson. He's one of the best in the NFL. For a really large man, he can make great cuts in and out of his break. Like anything else, your first day on the job is going to be harder than your 10th day on the job, 5th year on the job, 10th year on the job, etc.
(Those top guys you drafted, are you locking them in to start them right away?)
I don't think you just give reps to anyone. I think they should have to go out and compete and earn that right. They may have a faster "in" than others, but there are other players on this roster. In ATL for instance, they just Franchised Grimes, but that guy wasn't even signed as a college FA. We just brought him in for a try-out. Interesting story. He missed the first 3 practices because of a heart murmur, and then the last practice he has 3 picks in his first 4 plays. Next thing you know, he's on our team and now he's franchised. Like that, we have players on our team who want to play and succeed. Our rookies are going to have to earn it.
(on Fisher developing players)
They're in great hands. Jeff, from top to bottom, has a very confident staff in what they do. Not cocky at all, but just confident. Authentic. They have a lot of experience. When we took over, we needed to get younger, and we needed to build. Trust me. We wanna turn this around fast. We don't want to take 4 years, but it's going to take some time. We want it done fast though. We have to get ready to battle every week though. You have to have a coaching staff willing to do that. I think it'll pay dividends sometime next year - into the next year and the next year.
(on the 4th and 5th round picks - Givens and Watkins)
Givens. We were surprised he was there in the 4th round, and we were very excited. Ran in the 4.3s at the combines and he PLAYS in the 4.3s. If you take him out of Wake Forest's offense, and they're nil. Even at the very least next year, you have to - there has to be a safety deep to guard against his speed. On Watkins, a lot of times in college, your best OL goes to left tackle. Maybe he's not equipped for LT. 6'5, 330 lbs, 35 inch arms, Now you move him inside, play him at RT, you have to project whether his pass protection is better at guard or even right tackle verses out on an island at left tackle.
(On Zuerlein)
We'll put that money saved on Brown to good use. We'll exhaust every avenue to improve this team. Brown's a great human being, and he's been a good kicker. We're a young team, and he's going into a contract year, and we felt like this was the best kicker coming out. When he was sitting there, we took a little step forward earlier rather than later. We didn't sign him just to save money. In ATL last year we drafted a punter, and he was going to have to hold and kickoff. When you make an investment in a K or P in a draft choice, you have to say "we're going to raise this kid, and he's going to fall off his bike." When he falls off, we're not going to put him in the dumpster. He may shank a kickoff, or a kick he misses, so Monday is not the day to come in and kick him to the bath. We're going to raise him, develop him, and hold on through some of the bad times. Our guy last year (in ATL) shanked the punt, they got the ball on the 13, and boom - they got 7. But you can't throw him to the bath water. He became one of the league's better punters.
(on Brockers)
Obviously we had to scout the RB from Alabama (Richardson), and they (LSU) played Alabama twice. Alabama has a very good offensive line. You couldn't help but notice big #90 and the damage he was doing. [changes it up to talking about draft grades]. [hil]Draft grades are like being in College. Your last exam. You can make an A, B, C, D, etc, but what really count is, when you walk out, you have your diploma, so it's what you do with your life afterwards. And that's kind of how I look at the draft. At the end of the day, they got their final grade, they got their diploma, now it's what they do in life. Because professional football is now their life. The A or B really means nothing at this point.[/hil]
