Speaker 1: Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass podcast. It is Tuesday,
Speaker 1: April ninth. Today, the Ravens held their annual pre draft
Speaker 1: press conference with head coach John Harbaugh and general manager
Speaker 1: Eric to Costam. They talked about some of the moves
Speaker 1: of the offseason, their strategy going into this draft, and
Speaker 1: how they're building this roster to compete for a championship
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. There's a lot of good insight
Speaker 1: from them, So let's go ahead and jump into that press.
Speaker 2: All right, everyone, Well, thanks for coming. We are in
Speaker 2: the literally in the middle of draft meetings. We started
Speaker 2: yesterday with our coaches. We took an early break today
Speaker 2: so we can come down here and grace you out
Speaker 2: with our appearance and we'll get started back at one
Speaker 2: point fifteen. We'll probably finish our draft meetings sometime on
Speaker 2: Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, and at that point the
Speaker 2: board will be pretty much set. We'll have a few
Speaker 2: days the week of the draft to just kind of
Speaker 2: tweak things little bit based on workouts and some additional
Speaker 2: interviews that we conduct, but I think by the end
Speaker 2: of this week we'll be in very good shape to
Speaker 2: figure out who we're going to draft at pick thirty questions, Eric,
Speaker 2: with three.
Speaker 3: Starters calling on the offensive line, how much do you
Speaker 3: think the draft will be used to address some of
Speaker 3: those those horses.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I certainly think it's a big factor
Speaker 2: for us in terms of team building this year. I mean,
Speaker 2: we spent the entire day yesterday, just to give you
Speaker 2: an idea, all of yesterday, starting at nine o'clock in
Speaker 2: the morning to six o'clock at night, was spent on
Speaker 2: the offensive line. And that's not necessarily because it's a
Speaker 2: big priority for us as much as the volume of
Speaker 2: players at those positions this year took us a long
Speaker 2: time to cover through all those players and go through
Speaker 2: all the information and get them ranked. So it's a
Speaker 2: very deep pool of players. We see a lot of
Speaker 2: different opportunities in different rounds to get players to tackle, guard,
Speaker 2: and center, and we're excited about that.
Speaker 4: Okay, Eric, how pleased were you to be able to
Speaker 4: sign Kyle Vannoy last week? And you just look at
Speaker 4: the outside lineback position.
Speaker 5: You guys do have quite a few young guys first, second,
Speaker 5: third year.
Speaker 4: Where do you think you are just at that position
Speaker 4: as you as you.
Speaker 2: Get closer to the season, Well, first, we were very
Speaker 2: excited to bring Kyle back. You know, it was a
Speaker 2: great experience for us last year with Kyle, and I
Speaker 2: think Kyle would say the same. He's certainly a player
Speaker 2: that helped us quite a bit. Love his mentality, leadership,
Speaker 2: physicality that he brings, versatility as a player. I think
Speaker 2: it's great to have a veteran in the room. And
Speaker 2: we do have a lot of younger guys. We have
Speaker 2: a lot of younger guys that we think have a
Speaker 2: lot of potential, and we would expect those guys to
Speaker 2: resetir potential this year. We're very excited about really all
Speaker 2: those young players and we've seen some quality play. We've
Speaker 2: seen some flashes of quality play, and we're very excited
Speaker 2: and we can't wait to get started.
Speaker 6: Deepsiness Tramp as far as age rush goes, and how
Speaker 6: is it difficult to sort to see how you're the
Speaker 6: passers and skills in college translated nfl.
Speaker 2: Oh Man, Well, I think it's a it's an average draft.
Speaker 2: I would say, uh for edge pass rushers, certainly some
Speaker 2: guys at the top. For us, we've had success throughout
Speaker 2: the years and finding some guys in the mill rounds
Speaker 2: that have been good players for us, you know, and
Speaker 2: it just it really depends on what you're looking for.
Speaker 2: You've got your speed rushers, your power guys, guys that
Speaker 2: can do both, Guys that have to play a three
Speaker 2: point stance, guys that can plan two point two point stance.
Speaker 2: Uh So, a lot of it has to do with
Speaker 2: this your fit and what you're looking for. Our coaches
Speaker 2: play a big part in that in their evaluation. Chuck
Speaker 2: Smith does a really really good job evaluating pass rushers
Speaker 2: and has done a good job for us coaching those
Speaker 2: guys as well. So we'll get the board squared away,
Speaker 2: and certainly some guys at the top that probably won't
Speaker 2: be there when we pick. And so the challenge for
Speaker 2: us to be who's that next tier group of guys
Speaker 2: and that sweet spot between you know, the twenty fifth
Speaker 2: player to the forty fifth player that we have a
Speaker 2: chance to get either at thirty or at sixty two.
Speaker 7: Right now? Is that the number that you want to
Speaker 7: be it?
Speaker 2: And when to add that?
Speaker 1: And I guess as part of that, how much value
Speaker 1: you put on the fifth year option, you know, in
Speaker 1: the first for having to trade act that you use
Speaker 1: that as pastors in.
Speaker 2: The city, you know all altern of trade that, well,
Speaker 2: it's great to have additional picks, you certainly have to
Speaker 2: have players that you cover it and that you want
Speaker 2: a draft, and so that's always a factor with every draft.
Speaker 2: And you could have fifteen picks, and sometimes you're there
Speaker 2: and at the end of the draft and you're looking
Speaker 2: at the board and you have no idea who you
Speaker 2: want to pick. You just don't see anybody that you
Speaker 2: really cover it. So, you know, I always think about
Speaker 2: it as like what picks do you need to get
Speaker 2: the players that you want to take. So you can
Speaker 2: have some great picks, but if the board doesn't fall
Speaker 2: the right way and you're looking at much of players
Speaker 2: that aren't any better than the players you have in
Speaker 2: your roster, those picks really don't help you very much.
Speaker 2: So I like the idea have more picks, but I
Speaker 2: want to have more picks in a specific range I
Speaker 2: think in the draft. And if we can get that done,
Speaker 2: then I could see us, you know, be in a
Speaker 2: good position to really maximize our chances to find good players.
Speaker 2: As far as the fifth year goes, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 2: there is an advantage of having an extra year if
Speaker 2: you want that extra year. So all things being equal,
Speaker 2: if you trade out of the first round, I think
Speaker 2: that you should get a premium if you're gonna do
Speaker 2: that to give up that additional year or speaking of.
Speaker 8: The fifth year option. About a month away from the
Speaker 8: deadline from a shot dating and a dot, they always
Speaker 8: fift decision you anticipating and taking either of those up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're about a month away from that decision, right,
Speaker 2: So that's probably when we'll make that decision, I would think.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know, we'll have more to say about
Speaker 2: that probably after the draft.
Speaker 4: Eric, we've been here a year.
Speaker 9: After years, the two of the plus Joe brties, there's
Speaker 9: only two of you up here today.
Speaker 10: How has his absence effected that you.
Speaker 7: Think it's brave?
Speaker 2: Well, there's definitely more leg room up here, probably more
Speaker 2: comfortable because he was always kind of button into us.
Speaker 2: Now it's it's been a different it's been a change
Speaker 2: for me. Definitely. I missed Joe. I missed his personality.
Speaker 2: Joe's a great evaluator and so first and foremost for me,
Speaker 2: the comfort that I would have with Joe saying, hey, Joe,
Speaker 2: take a look at these guys and let me know
Speaker 2: what you think. Great instincts a great feel as an
Speaker 2: evaluator and saying that we've got other guys that are
Speaker 2: excel at that as well. You know, John is a
Speaker 2: great evaluator, Ozzie Knws was a Hall of Fame evaluator,
Speaker 2: George Cokenis, David Blackburn. Our coaches do a great job,
Speaker 2: so we definitely have guys who can pick up the slack.
Speaker 2: I was thinking about it today coming in. I think
Speaker 2: this is my twentieth year running the draft. I think
Speaker 2: my first year was two thousand and five, two thousand
Speaker 2: and five draft, the Mark Clayton Draft, and so it's
Speaker 2: crazy to think that you know everything that goes into
Speaker 2: it twenty years and Joe was with me for I
Speaker 2: think nineteen of those twenty years. So obviously it's a
Speaker 2: big change, but I think one that is exciting, and
Speaker 2: we have certainly have people who can step up and
Speaker 2: really get it done.
Speaker 11: Eric, what are the challenges that come with picking this
Speaker 11: late in the draft? You guys have the thirtieth pick,
Speaker 11: kind of have to let the board play itself out.
Speaker 2: And feels like, yeah, you know, I don't see any
Speaker 2: unique challenges picking early, picking late, It's really the same,
Speaker 2: you know, it's just having the players that you really
Speaker 2: want be there when you have to pick. And you know,
Speaker 2: if you have a typical draft, if you're picking tenth,
Speaker 2: you maybe have four or five guys you really want.
Speaker 2: You're picking twenty eighth or thirtieth, you might only have
Speaker 2: fifteen or twenty guys that you really want, And the
Speaker 2: way your brain works, you kind of like abscribe of
Speaker 2: value to players and you're hoping to get that value
Speaker 2: at that pick. You really want to get value, and
Speaker 2: so for us, it's just like you just hope and
Speaker 2: pray that you know, one of those, you know, top
Speaker 2: twenty guys might be there for us at thirty, so
Speaker 2: we have some additional value associated with that. But in
Speaker 2: the end, you just grade the players and you rank
Speaker 2: the players bad.
Speaker 12: What's it been like for you two in terms of
Speaker 12: collaborating on you know, and discussing with.
Speaker 13: Your staff about the fix, and in terms of also
Speaker 13: how the commonbine and the interviewing process has gone. Have
Speaker 13: you guys had different opinions and stuff of that age
Speaker 13: or about players that maybe go at it until.
Speaker 9: It's draft there.
Speaker 2: Well, that's just a part of it, you know, Jerry,
Speaker 2: I think one thing I learned from Ozzie and watching
Speaker 2: Ozzie over the years. With coach Marchibrod and coach Billock
Speaker 2: and then with coach arbaugh Is it's a partnership and
Speaker 2: you work together, you discuss you know. I love my
Speaker 2: day to day meetings with John and his coaches, talking
Speaker 2: about our players, talking about the draft, talking about strategies.
Speaker 2: That's one of the very biggest joys of this job
Speaker 2: for me day to day. And you know, we disagree
Speaker 2: sometimes John and I we disagree, but I think we
Speaker 2: appreciate each other's perspective on things. We trust each other
Speaker 2: and we both know that we're coming from the right place.
Speaker 2: And for me, that's one of the most rewarding aspects
Speaker 2: of being a general manager.
Speaker 9: John.
Speaker 14: There's so much attention of offensive line and who could
Speaker 14: you draft. I know you don't you like these who
Speaker 14: were comfortable, But are there internal young options now that
Speaker 14: on the russ are ready that you feel like are
Speaker 14: ready to step in and be starting offensive lineman.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, It's going to be competitive. There's going to be
Speaker 6: a competition for those spots. I mean, the best whoever
Speaker 6: plays the best. You always say who's the best player,
Speaker 6: it's the player who plays the best you know, and
Speaker 6: you could have been the best player five years ago,
Speaker 6: but you're not the best player now. So every day
Speaker 6: you go out to practice, every game you play, there's
Speaker 6: an accumulated, established aspect of it. But right now we're
Speaker 6: a little more open. So those guys that you're talking
Speaker 6: about are going to be competing with whoever comes in here,
Speaker 6: and we'll just see who does it. But I think
Speaker 6: those guys are ready to compete and do well, and
Speaker 6: they'll be in here Monday. Can't wait to see them.
Speaker 6: It's gonna be great to see those guys in here Monday,
Speaker 6: working hard. See what happens here.
Speaker 15: Hary, we kind of a.
Speaker 14: Related no air last year you jumped back and grabbed
Speaker 14: Andrew boardies.
Speaker 10: Could you go back to kind of recount how that
Speaker 10: came about.
Speaker 5: And with the year lay off where she had what
Speaker 5: can you realisms?
Speaker 2: But yeah, well I I did that just cause I
Speaker 2: knew all you guys want to go home, and so
Speaker 2: I was hoping to catch you guys as you were
Speaker 2: leaving the facility to so you'd all have to come
Speaker 2: back and cover the draft. But now, seriously, you know,
Speaker 2: Andrew was a guy that I had seen on tape,
Speaker 2: and I thought that he was a good player and
Speaker 2: that he would have a chance long term to be
Speaker 2: a player for us and be a starter force potentially
Speaker 2: a physical, tough guy that loves football. So, you know,
Speaker 2: we were just sitting there and we hadn't made a
Speaker 2: trade and he was still available, and I just had
Speaker 2: this idea that if we cause we cause we had
Speaker 2: already had our kind of end end of the day
Speaker 2: press conference, and I was watching and I thought I
Speaker 2: was gonna go upstairs and just call the uh ended
Speaker 2: up being Andrew Berry, which typically we wouldn't do a
Speaker 2: lot of trades with in divisional opponents, but he was
Speaker 2: happy to do it, and so it made all the
Speaker 2: sense and the will for us to do it. So
Speaker 2: it just seemed to me that we would get some
Speaker 2: value with him as a player that had he been
Speaker 2: in the draft and been healthy, he'd have been a
Speaker 2: higher pick. And I saw ability potentially for him to
Speaker 2: be a starter at guard in the league. So we'll see.
Speaker 2: He's done a fantastic job with rehab. He's very very
Speaker 2: strong and physical. If you guys have seen him, the
Speaker 2: strength coaches and the trainers and the doctors were all
Speaker 2: very excited about him, and so we'll see what he does.
Speaker 4: Eric, I think you've got twenty picks if you include
Speaker 4: the compis between this year's draft in next year's draft,
Speaker 4: somewhere in that neighborhood. Curious how important given sort of
Speaker 4: the financial constructor the roster now and I'm sure it
Speaker 4: was intentional, but just maybe the value of that from
Speaker 4: your perspective for.
Speaker 14: These this year and that.
Speaker 2: Right, So we you know, looking out last year, we
Speaker 2: felt like we could trade a couple draft picks. Last
Speaker 2: year we did that. We got Rokwan with the idea
Speaker 2: that we would have to start to build up again.
Speaker 2: You know, we've always been you guys have covered us
Speaker 2: for a long time. We've always been a team that's
Speaker 2: been built through the draft primarily. We've always had a
Speaker 2: lot of draft picks. I think we probably have had,
Speaker 2: if not the most draft picks in the last ten years.
Speaker 2: Definitely in the top you know, quarter of all the
Speaker 2: teams in the league. Probably near the top though, for sure,
Speaker 2: And that's by design. That's we feel that's the best
Speaker 2: way to build your team long term from a you know,
Speaker 2: a cost standpoint. Obviously cheaper players, but also young players
Speaker 2: that you know a lot about who can develop and
Speaker 2: become good players. And so we see this year, this
Speaker 2: year's draft, and we see next year's draft, there's real
Speaker 2: opportunities for us to begin to build that depth up again.
Speaker 2: You know, I think this this past year is we
Speaker 2: had tremendous depth, and the challenge now is for these
Speaker 2: younger players on the roster right now to be a
Speaker 2: part of that depth and for us to find additional
Speaker 2: players who can come in and compete to start and
Speaker 2: be good depth players for us moving forward.
Speaker 13: There's been a lot of talk about the offensive line
Speaker 13: class and the wide receiver class.
Speaker 4: We haven't talked a lot about the cornerback class.
Speaker 13: How do you view that year?
Speaker 2: You know, I think it's a solid class. Certainly, probably
Speaker 2: not at the level of the receiver and offensive line,
Speaker 2: you know, very cyclical, but definitely some players who can
Speaker 2: come in right away and probably compete to start for us.
Speaker 2: We would love to add a talented corner at some
Speaker 2: point in the draft, whether that's first round or second round,
Speaker 2: third round, whatever, that might be a talented player who
Speaker 2: can help us. That's a position, as you all know
Speaker 2: that you know, typically you never have enough due to
Speaker 2: injuries and different things. The guys will break down throughout
Speaker 2: the course of the season. I think a depth has
Speaker 2: always been tested in the secondary. This year was no exception,
Speaker 2: and we were blessed to have some guys like, for instance,
Speaker 2: Ronald Darby come in and really help us. And so, yeah,
Speaker 2: if we have a chance to draft the corner this year,
Speaker 2: you can you can count on us doing that.
Speaker 9: Eric, how relevant is it there with less SEUs You
Speaker 9: so like one position in the first round and wide
Speaker 9: received the three times in the recent pass. Does that
Speaker 9: enjoy in the conversation this year? Well, we've we've done
Speaker 9: that already three times in the last five years or whatever.
Speaker 9: Is that part of the conversation or just best player regardless?
Speaker 2: Well, I think it depends on you know, best player
Speaker 2: and also team need both. I mean, so you know,
Speaker 2: if there's a player that's there that we think is
Speaker 2: too good to pass up on, we're gonna take that player.
Speaker 2: We've proven that, We've shown that. That's started with Ozzie
Speaker 2: Newsome and that's gonna continue. Uh as far as I'm concerned,
Speaker 2: as long as I'm here, we're gonna take the best
Speaker 2: available player. So, now that being said, you know, if
Speaker 2: you're picking in the first round, you have an MVP
Speaker 2: quarterback and there's a quarterback that's the best available player.
Speaker 2: Chances are we're not gonna draft the quarterback, but all
Speaker 2: things being equal, we're gonna draft the best available player.
Speaker 6: When we're round o'clock, Eric, in terms of evaluate with
Speaker 6: this new kickoff rule, does that change how you value
Speaker 6: potential returns?
Speaker 10: Or the skill sets are what they are and that's
Speaker 10: the evaluation process won't change in all those players.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a good question, and I would say this,
Speaker 2: I've been blessed to have a head coach who's a
Speaker 2: special teams coach, and we've got excellent special teams coaches upstairs.
Speaker 2: Those guys are really invaluable to me whenever we discuss
Speaker 2: special teams and what these rule changes might mean, and
Speaker 2: the type of players that we're looking for and the
Speaker 2: skill sets that we're looking for. So, you know, we
Speaker 2: want athletes and we want playmakers. We want they have
Speaker 2: to catch the ball, they gotta be able to break tackles,
Speaker 2: they gotta be able to make guys miss, and so
Speaker 2: you know, I think we're in the process of addressing
Speaker 2: that in different ways. There's certainly some skilled guys in
Speaker 2: the draft, some excellent returners. We've talked about a few
Speaker 2: guys already and I think will be in good shape
Speaker 2: on on in September.
Speaker 12: John, when you get your roster, now, what part of
Speaker 12: it do.
Speaker 4: You think would be billed through the draft.
Speaker 13: And maybe that you're kind of a little bit with
Speaker 13: your opinions your basket.
Speaker 6: I feel like you're trying to get You're trying to
Speaker 6: get to Eric, the one he won't ask. You're trying
Speaker 6: to come through me on that. See if I'll give
Speaker 6: it up right, you know, maybe Harball or Chirp, you know,
Speaker 6: maybe he'll be the canary. I'm the canary.
Speaker 1: I guess.
Speaker 2: The best available player.
Speaker 6: What we said there's it depends again, it depends on
Speaker 6: We do have some needs and me I got I've
Speaker 6: got my depth chart, there's no doubt. And Eric and
Speaker 6: I talk about that all the time. Where that where
Speaker 6: the blocks are and what the roles are specifically for
Speaker 6: those guys. I mean, kind of what type of player
Speaker 6: do we need and what type of spot to build
Speaker 6: our team from the top to the bottom. There's a
Speaker 6: lot of a lot of thought that goes into that,
Speaker 6: a lot of conversation that goes into that. So it's
Speaker 6: not just the position. It's not just hey, an offensive lineman,
Speaker 6: a guard, attackle, a wide receiver or corner, a pass
Speaker 6: rusher or whatever, a tight end. It's what type of
Speaker 6: player do we need and what roles do we need filled,
Speaker 6: even right through from offense or defense, right down through
Speaker 6: special teams. It's just is these are all the jobs
Speaker 6: that need to be done, and who fills those jobs
Speaker 6: the best and in a way they can win for
Speaker 6: It's not just he can do that, it's who's going
Speaker 6: to excel at what And so that kind of is
Speaker 6: part of the team building process. And that goes with
Speaker 6: a scheme too, you know. So sometimes you get players
Speaker 6: that are a little bit different, so you want to
Speaker 6: move your scheme that way. Sometimes you have a way
Speaker 6: you want to play, you have needs on your roster,
Speaker 6: so you move your draft a little bit that way.
Speaker 6: Like that kind of all part of the art of
Speaker 6: the whole thing.
Speaker 4: One of those lines we talked about this a couple
Speaker 4: of weeks ago with Lar kind of providing his insight
Speaker 4: on receiver. We saw the last jobs you could day.
Speaker 4: What's that dialogue been like, is you guys get closer
Speaker 4: and what you know, we know that you guys have
Speaker 4: had some guys here for free draft visits and so
Speaker 4: forth that a position. You know, I guess either one
Speaker 4: of you that you guys are looking at and more
Speaker 4: sort of input there.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Man, we talked right at the beginning of the off season,
Speaker 6: right to the season about you know, the type of guy,
Speaker 6: type of role that that he felt would fit. And
Speaker 6: we were all on the same page with that part
Speaker 6: of it, you know, like in terms of our roster
Speaker 6: kind of what would be comfortable who were looking for
Speaker 6: style wise, But it doesn't always work out that way.
Speaker 6: So Lamar, you know, he's he's been he's been tasked
Speaker 6: over the text, you know world with a couple couple
Speaker 6: of assignments, right, So we'll see who he likes, you know,
Speaker 6: and he looks at guys on tape and and he's
Speaker 6: never been shy aboutet him his opinion on free agents
Speaker 6: or the or the draft. So uh, he hasn't he
Speaker 6: hasn't weighed in quite yet, but he will.
Speaker 15: Eric.
Speaker 11: He talked earlier about Andrew Vord. He's a guy you
Speaker 11: drafted last year hoping that he can make an impact
Speaker 11: this year. It seem like Chren Simpson is another one
Speaker 11: of those guys. How do you feel about that went
Speaker 11: on backer spot. Is that another one of those spots
Speaker 11: that maybe you can look with depth into this draft
Speaker 11: as well?
Speaker 2: Well. First, I think you know, Trenton is going to
Speaker 2: have a great season. He's great attitude. I think he
Speaker 2: grew as much as anybody this year. It's tough, you
Speaker 2: know for young players. He showed up on special teams,
Speaker 2: when he played on defense, he made some plays late
Speaker 2: in the year, got a lot of talent. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's as talented as any inside linebacker in this year's
Speaker 2: draft class for sure, So excited about him. I think
Speaker 2: we've got some other young players that you know can
Speaker 2: emerge as well that we're excited about at that position.
Speaker 2: The draft. We've looked at some guys, definitely some talent
Speaker 2: in this year's draft class. You know, I think it's
Speaker 2: a pretty good class. There's no lake top ten probably
Speaker 2: inside linebackers in this draft class. But there's a lot
Speaker 2: of depth in the second and third and fourth rounds,
Speaker 2: and so certainly a position we'll look at, particularly if
Speaker 2: they can play on special teams and help us that
Speaker 2: way too, which is a really important part of the
Speaker 2: inside linebacker position evaluation wise, But we like our young
Speaker 2: guys that we have excited about those guys and we'll
Speaker 2: see how the whole thing kind of plays out.
Speaker 5: Along those same lenes, running backs probably haven't been primary
Speaker 5: and a lot of the draft off this year. But
Speaker 5: I mean when you look at that for you see
Speaker 5: some players that maybe you could get on Day three,
Speaker 5: who could maybe come in.
Speaker 3: Right away and help.
Speaker 2: I think so, I mean, you know, I think it
Speaker 2: was an interesting dynamic this year in free agency. You
Speaker 2: saw whatever it was, maybe nine or ten guys get
Speaker 2: signed in the first day a free agency, and I
Speaker 2: think part of that was probably you know, how people
Speaker 2: looked at this running back class in the draft. There's
Speaker 2: no like top tier first round necessarily type talents this year.
Speaker 2: That being said, there's a lot of guys. If you're
Speaker 2: looking at the prospects in the second, third, and fourth round,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of those guys, particularly third, fourth, fifth
Speaker 2: round clumps. So we've looked at those guys very closely.
Speaker 2: We're excited about some of those players. You know, there's
Speaker 2: probably a pretty strong chance we will draft a running
Speaker 2: back at some point, you know, round obviously to be determined,
Speaker 2: but we do think there's a chance for us to
Speaker 2: get a good young player who can help us in
Speaker 2: different ways as a running back, in the passing game,
Speaker 2: and also on special teams.
Speaker 12: I think, Eric, and if you guys are one game
Speaker 12: away from the super Bowl, your made some acquisition, you
Speaker 12: retain some players. The prayers are going around in the
Speaker 12: NFL a lot all in, Ravens all in as far
Speaker 12: as twenty.
Speaker 2: Twenty four, Well, I'd like to think, Jay, we're always
Speaker 2: all in. You know, in this business, if you're not
Speaker 2: all in, then you're all out as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 2: So we're going to be in every single year. And
Speaker 2: I that's what John expects, That's what I expect, That's
Speaker 2: what Steve expects, and I think that's what our fans expect.
Speaker 2: So I think you know you should expect that too, Jerry.
Speaker 15: Eric.
Speaker 2: When you do lose, you know, it's a very type
Speaker 2: of players.
Speaker 3: That you lost in free agency, but it was about
Speaker 3: a dozen players in free agency.
Speaker 10: How do you view where this team though, is because
Speaker 10: you're here here in terms like retooling, you know, reloading
Speaker 10: where you know, as a guy that's building this team,
Speaker 10: where do you kind of feel what kind of description say.
Speaker 3: That the team is right there.
Speaker 2: Well, we're in the same place as we were last
Speaker 2: year at this time. I mean, go back and look
Speaker 2: at what some of you wrote last year and see
Speaker 2: how we ended up. Right, We have a lot of
Speaker 2: time to make moves. A lot of these players that
Speaker 2: we lost excellent players. A lot of these guys were
Speaker 2: quite in August, right, some of these guys were quite
Speaker 2: in September. So you know, we're still building and a
Speaker 2: big part of that is going to be through the draft,
Speaker 2: which is why we're all here today. But there's a
Speaker 2: lot of different opportunities along the way to add players.
Speaker 2: We've traded for players, We've drafted players, we signed guys
Speaker 2: unrestricted free agents, we signed guys street players who have
Speaker 2: made it. We've worked guys out. George Cokeenis and Mark
Speaker 2: Assevador do a phenomenal job bringing players in. Our coaches
Speaker 2: do a great job working guys out, giving us a
Speaker 2: chance to find guys like I mentioned them again, Ronald Darby,
Speaker 2: you know those type of players, Arthur Mollett, players like that.
Speaker 2: So I think we're just really getting started, you know,
Speaker 2: and a big part of that is certainly going to
Speaker 2: be the draft. But the destination is September, not May.
Speaker 11: To that point, Where does that philosophy kind of come
Speaker 11: from being able to kind of wait until Like you
Speaker 11: mentioned signing guys in all of these in the case
Speaker 11: of Anoid, that was after the season, and these guys,
Speaker 11: you know, a lot of these guys have panted out
Speaker 11: and some of them are at premium positioned. Where does
Speaker 11: I guess the patients and that philosophy come from to
Speaker 11: kind of wait until that time of the year.
Speaker 2: Well, Number one, I'm not a patient person. I've learned
Speaker 2: from Ozzie, who is extremely patient, to be more patient.
Speaker 2: But I don't think it's a philosophy necessarily as much
Speaker 2: as the opportunity. So I look at every single year
Speaker 2: as being different. Every opportunity is different, every situation might
Speaker 2: be different. But we've got to be able to pounce
Speaker 2: when there is an opportunity that we think is beneficial
Speaker 2: to the club. And so whether that's doing something in
Speaker 2: March or April or May, or September or November, we're
Speaker 2: going to do that given the parameters of the situation
Speaker 2: and where we are at as a team at that time.
Speaker 7: Not a lot of underclassmen in this year's draft pool.
Speaker 7: How is that kind of affecting how you looking Day
Speaker 7: three and you guys feel like you're do enough homework.
Speaker 7: Look at next year's draft pools. Maybe side we don't
Speaker 7: put the libra we are let's say sixth rounds. Maybe
Speaker 7: look at possibly into next year pool.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question. There are less juniors this year,
Speaker 2: you know, I think guys for whatever reason, I think
Speaker 2: because of COVID partly and because of NIL. You know,
Speaker 2: this whole draft landscape has changed. There's less players in
Speaker 2: the draft this year. There's less probably draftable players this
Speaker 2: year on our board, less juniors, less underclassmen, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it is. And we've talked about doing this.
Speaker 2: We haven't done it as much as maybe I'd like
Speaker 2: to do it. Potentially. We've talked about the idea as
Speaker 2: you get into the later rounds of the draft, if
Speaker 2: there's nobody there that you cover it potentially trading that
Speaker 2: pick for a better pick. You know, that's one of
Speaker 2: the nuances of the draft. And you trade a pick
Speaker 2: in a given round for next year's pick, you get
Speaker 2: the benefit of increased value. So if you trade a
Speaker 2: fifth round pick this year, you get a fourth round
Speaker 2: pick hypothetically next year. That discount is actually, if you
Speaker 2: think about it, it only makes sense because the picks
Speaker 2: a year away. But a pick is a pick, so
Speaker 2: it's hard to wrap your fingers around the idea that
Speaker 2: you get more for next year's pick. You would know
Speaker 2: the pick is worth whatever it's worth, so but there
Speaker 2: is an opportunity there, and some teams do it pretty well.
Speaker 2: We always tend to look at the board and see
Speaker 2: players that we like that we cover it, and we
Speaker 2: haven't done it quite as much. We've done it a
Speaker 2: couple of times, but that's always an interesting thing. I
Speaker 2: think Steve would love us to do that. He's excited
Speaker 2: about that. His idea would be not to give anything away.
Speaker 2: But he has what he calls the Bishatti Reign of terror,
Speaker 2: and that would basically be that you trade a seventh
Speaker 2: round pick and any given year for a sixth round
Speaker 2: pick next year, and then take that sixth round pick
Speaker 2: and trade for five, and then trade that five for four,
Speaker 2: and so like in seven or eight years you have
Speaker 2: a first round pick. And we've always talked about that,
Speaker 2: but we never get to that.
Speaker 15: Points have worked in that AFL history.
Speaker 2: That's why it's called the Bashatti Reign of Terror.
Speaker 15: It's unique if you anticipate any moves being made over
Speaker 15: the next couple of weeks that could impact your prominent
Speaker 15: needs heading.
Speaker 10: Into the draft.
Speaker 2: Oh man, you never know, Jeff, You just never know.
Speaker 2: I mean, just depends if the phone rings, maybe there
Speaker 2: is a move to be made. If there's a player
Speaker 2: that a coach comes in and says this guy's really good,
Speaker 2: or George comes in or whatever it might be, then
Speaker 2: we could make a move. I think in general, you know,
Speaker 2: Kyle was one of the last things on my checklist
Speaker 2: trying to get that done because I think he checked
Speaker 2: off a lot of different boxes for US veteran presence
Speaker 2: on defense, multiple roles on defense, you know, just a
Speaker 2: good solid player for US position where we could use
Speaker 2: some depth. So, uh, you know, I don't know that
Speaker 2: we'll do a lot in the next couple of weeks
Speaker 2: other than really kind of polished the board up and
Speaker 2: get ready for the process.
Speaker 4: Eric Analytics has become such a part of you know,
Speaker 4: not just the game, but this process and going back
Speaker 4: in a handful of years or so, but probably when
Speaker 4: it sort of started to blossom. Curious like how that's
Speaker 4: shaped your philosophy when it you know, when it comes
Speaker 4: to draft picks and so forth, and is there maybe
Speaker 4: examples where it's swayed you and a guy or a
Speaker 4: direction that sort of thing.
Speaker 2: Uh, you know, it's a tool. It's a tool that
Speaker 2: we use like anything else. It's a part of the process,
Speaker 2: evaluation process. We've got some really skilled people upstairs who
Speaker 2: help in a lot of different ways. I think we
Speaker 2: have so much information now that processing the information and
Speaker 2: organized the information I think is extremely important and critical
Speaker 2: in the end. In my opinion. Now I'm an old
Speaker 2: school guy, it still comes down to turning the TV
Speaker 2: on and watching the player over and over and over
Speaker 2: and over again until you know exactly what he is.
Speaker 2: And you know, I think that's a really important part
Speaker 2: of the scouting process and that will always remain a
Speaker 2: very important part of the scouting process.
Speaker 11: John I know you guys brought back to Charles Johnson
Speaker 11: to be the backup quarterback. You still have only cutting Ham.
Speaker 11: We saw him play a little wide receiver on the
Speaker 11: back end of the season. Is the plan still to
Speaker 11: develop him as a quarterback? Order is in a transition?
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a good question. I think it remains to
Speaker 6: be seen. You know, we're going to take a look
Speaker 6: at him and see how he does and just get
Speaker 6: to know him better and evaluate him. He's definitely developmental
Speaker 6: as a quarterback. He's developmental as a wide receiver too.
Speaker 6: But he's a good athlete. He's a good person, he's
Speaker 6: a competitive guy. He wants to do well. Kind of
Speaker 6: just I was just thinking listening to the questions back
Speaker 6: about the team and the parts and all that and
Speaker 6: the math of the whole thing, and I think it's
Speaker 6: really interesting and good to look at the parts, like
Speaker 6: you say, Okay, they lost this many guys, Yeah, I
Speaker 6: just made guys are not gonna be as good as
Speaker 6: a team, you know, and or how they're gonna fill
Speaker 6: these pieces. And that's kind of a math equation. But
Speaker 6: in the end, it's not just about the parts. It's
Speaker 6: about the sum of the parts, you know. It's this,
Speaker 6: can the some be greater than the parts? And it's
Speaker 6: how you put the parts together and how you piece
Speaker 6: them together. So the process is it's about getting the
Speaker 6: best players you can. And I do agree, you know,
Speaker 6: they say it's not about the ex's and no's, it's
Speaker 6: about the Jimmies and Joe's that's real clever and it rhymes.
Speaker 6: But it really is about more than just the Jimmies
Speaker 6: and the Joe's too. It's how the Jimmy's and the
Speaker 6: Joe's fit together, and how they're piece together, and how
Speaker 6: you build the schemes and how you build the whole machine.
Speaker 6: So we've got the parts, but we're also building the
Speaker 6: whole machine, you know, and we've done that in the
Speaker 6: last three months with our scheme. You do that with
Speaker 6: your culture, with your work ethic, with your character, type
Speaker 6: of people you bring into your program, what type of
Speaker 6: vision you have, what type of identity you're gonna have
Speaker 6: as a football team. All those things go into it,
Speaker 6: and it's not just a math equation. At the end
Speaker 6: of the year. Like Eric said, these same questions we're
Speaker 6: being asked last year, they were being asked a year before,
Speaker 6: and year before that, year before that, and year before that,
Speaker 6: all the way back. Every year it's the same questions,
Speaker 6: and it's kind of a rolling type of a thing.
Speaker 6: Some years you're gonna lose more free agents, but you're
Speaker 6: gonna pick up more compensatory picks than two years from now.
Speaker 6: You're gonna have more picks in the draft you're gonna
Speaker 6: get younger, and you're gonna have younger players you cost less,
Speaker 6: but you're gonna have to pay the guys that turn
Speaker 6: out to be great players that you want to keep
Speaker 6: as many as you can. So that ongoing process is
Speaker 6: part of this whole big picture, and the goal is
Speaker 6: to be in all in to the question every single
Speaker 6: year as best as you can be. You can't just be, oh,
Speaker 6: we're gonna we're gonna put all chips on the table
Speaker 6: this year. Next year we're gonna fold and not play
Speaker 6: any games. No, we're gonna try to win the championship
Speaker 6: every single year as many games as we can. And
Speaker 6: it's the sum of the parts that we put together
Speaker 6: and what we build around those guys and go out
Speaker 6: there and play on Sundays and lay it all out there,
Speaker 6: you know, and with a bunch of fans yelling and
Speaker 6: screaming in the background to support your football team. That's
Speaker 6: what we're all about. That's what football is. It's not
Speaker 6: just a math equation. It's more than that, and that's
Speaker 6: what makes it so exciting and so interesting. And we're
Speaker 6: gonna have a heck of a team next year. You wait,
Speaker 6: you watch, you wait, and see what we do.
Speaker 8: What positions in this draft do you fe'll have more
Speaker 8: value in depth for days two and three?
Speaker 2: I think offensive line is pretty stacked across the board
Speaker 2: in most rounds. I think receiver is a is a
Speaker 2: really deep draft this year. You know, those would be
Speaker 2: two I think, you know I mentioned running back. I
Speaker 2: think that you'll see a lot of running backs get drafted,
Speaker 2: probably starting in the third round. You know, through the
Speaker 2: seventh you'll see a lot of guys get picked. You know,
Speaker 2: those would beat positions that when I look at the
Speaker 2: assess the draft I think are pretty deep positions in
Speaker 2: the draft this year.
Speaker 9: Sharon, how do you like the new well the kick
Speaker 9: off and also the challenges of teaching tackling you when
Speaker 9: you posted to hit drop at it now?
Speaker 6: Any uh Yeah, as far as the new kickoff FRO,
Speaker 6: I love the the kickoff returns and be back in
Speaker 6: the game. You know, I'm kind of on records saying,
Speaker 6: you know, I wish they would have looked at a
Speaker 6: couple of other things before taking the line of scrimmage
Speaker 6: O of the kickoff kickoff for turn play, because you know,
Speaker 6: the onside kicks and all that are are still pretty cool.
Speaker 6: And they had already taken the wedges out and the
Speaker 6: double teams out. You know, if you create some space
Speaker 6: for the kickoff return team to operate, maybe that would
Speaker 6: have slowed the kickoff team down. That was a theory.
Speaker 6: But they went all in with this new rule, and
Speaker 6: I'd rather have this than what we had in the
Speaker 6: pass where they were going all in for fair catches.
Speaker 6: That was you know, we were never in favor of that.
Speaker 6: So I think Roger really wanted to kickoff for turn
Speaker 6: back in the game, and that's good. That's a good thing.
Speaker 6: As far as the hip drop tackle, the challenge of tackling,
Speaker 6: I don't I don't even understand the question. I mean,
Speaker 6: the hip drop tackle. When did you ever hear about
Speaker 6: the hip drop tackle until like two years ago, three
Speaker 6: years ago. Right, that's because it was discovered, probably in
Speaker 6: rugby and started being executed as a standalone technique. It's
Speaker 6: a three part movement. You've got to execute that play.
Speaker 6: You gotta be close enough to that ball carry to
Speaker 6: actually get him around the hip, all right, pull him
Speaker 6: close to yourself, swing your hips through and drop on
Speaker 6: the back of his legs. If you're that close, wrap
Speaker 6: him up and tackle him and take him to the
Speaker 6: ground like where you used to do and everybody did
Speaker 6: for one hundred years before that. But you're talking about
Speaker 6: a tackle that the ball carrier has no method of
Speaker 6: escape from. He can't escape, so when you drop down
Speaker 6: on the back of his legs, it's a mass and
Speaker 6: it's twenty five times more likely to have a serious injury.
Speaker 6: So it's really a bad play and it needed to
Speaker 6: be out And guys are gonna tackle just fine without
Speaker 6: the quote unquote hip drop tackle because they tackled just
Speaker 6: fine without it for one hundred years of football before
Speaker 6: that when you never saw it. Really, So that's my
Speaker 6: answer to that.
Speaker 7: Eric.
Speaker 3: With offensive liven, there's gonna be maybe a few offensive
Speaker 3: Lien prospects that could fall to the bottom first film
Speaker 3: because they don't have as much starting experience as some
Speaker 3: of the other guys that are taking around.
Speaker 10: How difficult and what's kind of the challenge to project,
Speaker 10: especially offensivelive and when they need not have as much
Speaker 10: game film game tape as some of the other guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's always a challenge at any position, you know,
Speaker 2: lack of production, whether that's catchers, tackles, interceptions, ball plays,
Speaker 2: stars As an offensive line, and that's always you know,
Speaker 2: in my opinion, those are one of the greatest challenges
Speaker 2: is that the other one might be you know, level
Speaker 2: of competition is a big challenge too, I think as
Speaker 2: an evaluator, so those are things you just fight through
Speaker 2: and you'll watch, you talk to people, you assess, you
Speaker 2: watch the workouts. I think in some cases, you know,
Speaker 2: positional workouts are very very important. You know, you go
Speaker 2: back and you'll watch as much tape as you can.
Speaker 2: Maybe that means you have to go back to other
Speaker 2: years and watch a guy play as well, talk to people,
Speaker 2: talk to coaches and things. But it's definitely a challenge Jamison,
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 4: Horrible.
Speaker 2: Eric.
Speaker 12: Last year at the draft you announced the Lamar Jackson
Speaker 12: contract extension.
Speaker 2: Does going into this year's draft feel a little bit
Speaker 2: lighter now that you don't have to drop any big
Speaker 2: news on drap by you feel a little bit more
Speaker 2: clear how to going into it? Well right now? Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean it's it's been great, you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: John and.
Speaker 6: I there's still plenty of time for stuff to happen.
Speaker 2: John and I were down the last week down and
Speaker 2: at the owner's meetings in the pool, hanging out. You know,
Speaker 2: drinking champagne cocktails, you know, getting some suns. So you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's been a good vibe so far. Obviously, it's
Speaker 2: always hard to see some of your favorite players go
Speaker 2: to other teams. I mean, that's that's been a challenge,
Speaker 2: But you know, I think in terms of just being
Speaker 2: in a good spot, the vibe has been good. We're
Speaker 2: building this team the right way. We're very excited to
Speaker 2: get started up next week with our players coming back,
Speaker 2: and we think the future is extremely bright.
Speaker 14: Eric, given the fact that there has been some depth
Speaker 14: that has left to building this offseason. Having more draft
Speaker 14: picks this year, could this rookie draft class be primed.
Speaker 7: For bigger roles.
Speaker 2: Oh, there's no question. I mean, opportunities what it's all about.
Speaker 2: And so we'll have some opportunities, for sure. There's gonna
Speaker 2: be some spots that can be filled, and I think
Speaker 2: it's the burden is on me to find those players
Speaker 2: who can fill it and fill it with winning football.
Speaker 2: And we've got the coaches and support staff to put
Speaker 2: them in position to succeed. But we've got to find
Speaker 2: the players that have the right makeup and the right
Speaker 2: ability to actually perform and do that.
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