WEBVTT - Coach Rivera Talks Draft Preparation | Episode 4 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:05.439 Hello, and welcome to the Commanders Today Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:13.360 We are less than two weeks away from this year's 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.600 NFL Draft out in Las Vegas, Nevada. Head coach Ron 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.040 Rivera and company are hard at work preparing for the 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.720 team six picks, the first of which coming eleventh overall. 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:25.959 Washington has spent their previous two first round picks on 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.560 the defensive side of the ball. Will that be the 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.480 case again? This draft our logan Paulson sat down with 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.120 the head coach to learn more about the strategy behind 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.279 the draft process. Coach, last time, I got to talk 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:39.600 to us at the combine, and I think a lot 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:42.280 of fans think that's like the start of draft season, 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:44.240 which it is, but you guys work on it year round. 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.600 How is the post combine process for your Pro Day's 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.560 top thirty visits? What do those things give you that 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:52.519 maybe you don't get at the combine? Well, I think 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.680 probably the biggest thing that happens when you go to 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.800 the combine, you know, you do the speed dating thing 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:01.160 twenty minut to talk to a guy and can you 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.759 move on to the next player. Now, once you get 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.479 into this phase of it, there's an opportunity to really 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.920 get to know these guys, not just on tape, not 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.039 just on Washington and workout, or not just in that 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.120 twenty minute speed dating. Now as an opportunity that you 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.320 guys that you're really interested, guys that you're intrigued by, 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.200 our guys that you want to know more about. You 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.679 can go spend time with them and go watch them 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:25.240 work out. You can send coaches, you can send scouts 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:27.960 to dig a little bit more. And then we have 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.000 the thirty visits bring a number of the guys in 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:32.960 that you even want to get to know even more about, 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:34.600 or guys that you want to have a medical check 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.760 on with your own doctors. So this is an opportunity 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:39.679 for us to dive in as to who these guys 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.600 are as not just football players, not just as athletes, 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:45.640 but as young men as well. Yeah, as a player, 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.520 I'm not that familiar with the thirty visits. I didn't 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:49.960 go on one. What are you doing with them on 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:52.200 these days? Obviously? The combine you said, it's that speed dating, 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:53.760 you get film, you get all these different kind of 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.360 structured elements. What's different? I mean they're here all day. 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:57.640 What do you do right? Well, what they do is 0:01:57.640 --> 0:01:59.920 they'll come in the meet with different people as far 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.080 as we're concerned. They'll meet with position coaches, they'll meet 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.640 with um, the coordinators, they'll meet with me. Then they'll 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:09.880 also meet with our Strength and Condition and they'll meet 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.640 with our director Player Development, and they'll they'll meet with 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:16.680 our our our sports psychologists. Okay, just an opportunity for 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:18.960 them to just meet, mingle and mix with the different 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.160 groups of people as well. UM, They'll they'll they'll they'll 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.640 meet with some of our interns just because they're picking 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.240 them up or just because they're helping them with all 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.239 their travel needs and everything like that. So everybody that's 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.360 that's here in this building will or could have a 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:34.639 chance to help us get to know who these young 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:36.799 men are. And do you find that players are different 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:38.520 at the thirty visits than they are at the combine? 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.680 Are they more relaxed or like? Well, that's what you 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:43.640 try to do, is you try to create a positive 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.360 atmosphere for them to come in and really kind of 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.840 let their hair down, be very candid about about things 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.560 and and helps us to really understand even more so 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:56.960 than who they are. Right, And I've been on some 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:58.840 different teams over the course of my career, and some 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.640 people use these thirty for these top thirty visits as 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.120 a way to kind of mislead other teams. Is there 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:05.800 a little bit of games someship going on here or 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.079 is it? These are all just purely evaluations. Now these 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:13.960 are purely valuable. So again, um, you know, it is 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:15.720 hard because I do get some people say, oh, you 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:17.760 want to throw them off, but you know what, we 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.440 really want to get to know them because again, you're 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:23.520 about to make a serious investment, right and you have 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:25.760 to know the ins and outs of who these these 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.720 these young men are. And so that's something that I 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:29.799 think because you know, obviously teams do use these to 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.080 kind of throw people off the scent. How do you 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.880 establish pure draft value because obviously, like you have your evaluations, 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:38.640 but you have to know what other teams are valuing. 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:40.760 How do you work that out in this process where 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:42.800 everyone's trying to mislead everybody. It's no, it's a hack 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:44.760 of a question though, just because of the fact that 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.480 people do see things differently. Yeah, right, you know, it 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:49.240 goes back to that that old saying about you know, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.240 if you're gonna buy it, you're gonna buy a baseball card, 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.320 you know, and it says, well, I want ten dollars 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.440 a work ten dollars you know, right, Yes, if you're 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:57.560 only willing to spend five, then that's what it is. Well, 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:00.520 somebody may say, well he's not a first round right, 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.839 you may say he is. Well, who's right? Who's wrong? 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.720 The only time tells. I mean that's the truth, because 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.000 you don't know if you spend a draft pick on 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.720 a guy, if this guy's gonna be that guy. Yeah, okay, 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.440 so everything's everything's a gamble, everything's a crapshoot. I mean 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.640 because if if this, if if this was a perfect science, okay, 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.160 then everybody would pick properly. I played with with Richard Denny, 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.200 who was a twelfth round pick back in the day. Wow, 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.480 you know that's the thing you tell people is so 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.720 so everybody says, oh, you guys were smart for draft 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:39.160 to him. Yeah, we have been smart way to take 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:43.239 him in the right. So this is an inexact science. 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.200 And sometimes it's about fit because some guys may go 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.599 to a team and four years later he's gone, and 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:52.320 then he goes somewhere else and he prospers, and he 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.159 goes Oh, well, why is it? Well, because it's not 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.440 fit's a big thing. It is a real legitimate thing, 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.400 which you know, I mean, if you don't fit an offense, 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.080 you know, you're not gonna play a lot, You're not 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.760 gonna get opportunities Austin, you fit an offense. And guess 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:05.320 what they're doing. They're throwing the ball to the tight 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.440 instead of making them a blocker. Yeah right, that's not 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.880 that's not me, coach, that's not me. So are there 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:14.400 any things that you do to kind of mitigate that 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.640 the risk? You know what I mean? Is it the interview? 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:18.960 Is it the like? What is it? I think, Well, 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.200 we do a combination things. Obviously, our scouts, you know, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.000 they they go and they collect names for the future 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.159 as well, not just about the guys that are there, 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.599 but they're collecting names. They're trying to figure out who's 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.719 guys that they've got to watch, and they'll watch guys 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.160 for the next few years as well. So it's not 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.480 just about coming in and you know, it's it's it's 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.400 these twenty guys are possible draftable guys. It's also thinking 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.240 a little bit ahead off. So they start this process 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.640 and they'll have notes that they'll go back and they'll 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:49.120 refer to as they start watching guys. So we get 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.680 very in depth reports from this group. Um, we have 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.200 a group of our of our of our top guys 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.599 that are always out there, you know, starting with Marty 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.640 Hernie and starting with Eric Stokes, you know, and and 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.480 Gribbs and and and then our national scouts. I mean, 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.520 these guys are the ones that really dig and dive 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:11.120 even deeper than everybody else because you know, they're focusing 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:13.560 on the now, right, they're the ones that focus on 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.880 this year's draft more so than than than the area 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.240 scouts I see. Yeah, And so like for me, for example, 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.320 like if I watch a receiver, you know, and I 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.200 see a receiver that doesn't block, he slides down my 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:28.000 board because I question his ability, his passion, his love 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.120 of the game. Do you have anything that you look 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.279 at when you're watching film, Well, when I watch tape, 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:34.320 and receiver is a good place to start, because you know, 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.479 it's not just about catching them all. It's not just 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.320 about running routes. But it's, like you said, it's also 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.800 about how are you fitting into the offense. Because if 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.520 you're a guy that doesn't run his routes really hard 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:47.640 all the time. Yeah, okay, yeah, that's a little bit 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:49.360 of an indicator. Because if I'm off of safety, I'm 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.159 going back and all sudden I see that the X 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.800 receiver's kind of jogging off. It tells me, you know, 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.080 he's not involved, So I'm gonna look over here, I'm 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.880 gonna look away from him. Well that's not a plus, 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.320 that's a minus my book. Why because he's not playing 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.040 every play as if he's getting the ball. Because if 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.719 he released hard outside and went vertical, Nowlson, that's safety 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:10.400 gets pulled out of the middle of the safety gets 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.480 pulled out of the half. Guess what it's just done. 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.160 It's opened up a whole portion of the field. So 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.680 when I watch tape, I watch tape with a specific 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.400 thing in mind. There's certain positions that I'll watch during 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.240 two minute drills on Make sure to follow us on 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.320 all of our social media platforms and watch Washington Football 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.360 Today weeknights, five thirty ten pm on NBC Sports Washington. 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:30.600 Thanks for listening.