Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Official Jets Podcast powered
Speaker 1: by Amazon Web Services. Ethan Greenberg Eric Allen talking about
Speaker 1: the Reese's Senior Ball. You're gonna hear from assistant GM
Speaker 1: rex Hogan, Senior Advisor Phil Savage, and Director of College
Speaker 1: Scouting John Carr. They all three of those guys were
Speaker 1: a part of the ten person contingency down in Mobile
Speaker 1: restricted rules throughout the course of the NFL throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the week in Mobile, Alabama, but still an
Speaker 1: extremely beneficial one and an important one in the draft process.
Speaker 1: So it seems e a Ethan, can I just start
Speaker 1: here by saying that it is Groundhog Day in the
Speaker 1: Groundhog in fact see his shadow. So we got what
Speaker 1: six more weeks of winter, and it does feel like
Speaker 1: Groundhog Day here in Floria Park because we got blitzed
Speaker 1: with snow. I grew up in Buffalo, New York. I
Speaker 1: thought I was seeing Lake effects snow again coming a
Speaker 1: couple of feet out here in Floria Parks. So the guys,
Speaker 1: the Jets contingent who went down to Mobile, Alabama last weekend, Uh,
Speaker 1: they came back and they had a lot of white
Speaker 1: stuff in store for yeah, and down in Mobile I
Speaker 1: we know from our experiences there that the weather is
Speaker 1: very unpredictable, like you could wake up it could be
Speaker 1: thirty degrees and then by the time practice comes around
Speaker 1: it could be And I believe it was Rex Hogan
Speaker 1: that said to you, like, hopefully it's a little warmer
Speaker 1: when he comes back up. Well, sorry to say, Rex,
Speaker 1: it did not get warmer, and in fact got a
Speaker 1: lot colder and you got downs with snow. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was very interesting, like we're living in odd times or
Speaker 1: very unique times, I should say. We interviewed Phil Savage
Speaker 1: and he took the interview from his car, whereas opposed
Speaker 1: to you've been going to Mobile, Alabama for us the
Speaker 1: past couple of years. I know I started, I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit after two thousand and ten, probably
Speaker 1: an eleven twelve range where we decided we were going
Speaker 1: to go down there, and it was a good opportunity
Speaker 1: to not only yeah, of course you want to speak
Speaker 1: to the prospects, but you want to speak to the
Speaker 1: Jets contingent and really dive in on the scouting process
Speaker 1: because the calendar changes right right around the time of
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl and between the conference championship games and
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. You have the Senior Bowl every year,
Speaker 1: and what was different this year is each NFL team
Speaker 1: was only allowed to bring ten representatives, and of course
Speaker 1: we weren't down there with our cameras and we weren't
Speaker 1: interviewing people, but we took advantage of the virtual space again, Uh,
Speaker 1: catching up with Phil Savage, Rex Hogan, John carr Um
Speaker 1: and those guys were tremendous with their time. But like
Speaker 1: you said, UH, very interesting because in the past you'd
Speaker 1: always find out about in four normal interviews what teams
Speaker 1: were talking to prospects and you would see it out
Speaker 1: in front of you. Now everything was formal where I
Speaker 1: believe the Jets in every NFL team, and an opportunity
Speaker 1: to speak to a hundred thirty two prospects, you know,
Speaker 1: at least a hundred and thirty up to a hundred
Speaker 1: forty prospects, but it was in a formal setting. And
Speaker 1: in between plexis plexiglass. You had four Jets representatives on
Speaker 1: one side, four on the other, and two prospects simultaneously.
Speaker 1: Then we're taking place at the same time. The layout
Speaker 1: of the interview space is crazy to me. And what's
Speaker 1: even crazier is that this could be. I think it
Speaker 1: might be the only time that NFL teams will be
Speaker 1: able to interview prospects face to face, because if you
Speaker 1: think about the combine, those rules have changed. Those interviews
Speaker 1: will be virtual. Typically the combine is like speed dating,
Speaker 1: like for the course for the course of the week,
Speaker 1: where you're you're ripping in, players are coming in, you
Speaker 1: throw them on the board, you have you have a plan.
Speaker 1: Now this is all gonna be virtual. But I think
Speaker 1: the benefit in all this maybe not the benefit, but
Speaker 1: the positive news is that each NFL team has experienced
Speaker 1: doing this because of last season. Obviously there was a
Speaker 1: combine last year and then things turned virtual. But at
Speaker 1: least now you can game plan for a virtual process
Speaker 1: and the only other in person exposure, it seems, will
Speaker 1: be pro days for the prospects. Yeah, well it really
Speaker 1: changed was going back to the fall. You'd have scouts
Speaker 1: on the road, and the typical of fall, you would
Speaker 1: have scouts who leave their houses on maybe a Sunday
Speaker 1: night and and and then they go to various colleges
Speaker 1: and who whatever region they covered until maybe a Thursday,
Speaker 1: and then sometimes they'd stay for a game and go
Speaker 1: to a game on the week and well, there was
Speaker 1: no on site visits at the colleges and the universities
Speaker 1: this year. The scouts got an opportunity to see some games,
Speaker 1: but as far as actually being in attendance for games,
Speaker 1: that was down. But on site visits during the week
Speaker 1: there was none of that this year, and that was
Speaker 1: an advantage I think of the Senior Bowl is that
Speaker 1: the guys had an opportunity to watch practice in front
Speaker 1: of them. Miami Dolphins and the Carolina Panthers staff handled that.
Speaker 1: The coaching chores Donomobile Alabama this week, but then they
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to actually sit down with the young
Speaker 1: prospect and look in their rise and talk to them
Speaker 1: about different things and then about systems, about skill sets,
Speaker 1: about various maybe red flags that they've seen on reports
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. So it's always different, and you
Speaker 1: get that chance to talk to somebody in person, and
Speaker 1: then you're all together too. If you really think about it,
Speaker 1: when's the last time the Jet scouting staff was together. Well,
Speaker 1: at least he had eight eight to ten guys down
Speaker 1: their Jets representatives who UH took in practice together, didn't
Speaker 1: interviews and then probably hit and UH that chance to
Speaker 1: catch up as well. I'm sure that this was Phil
Speaker 1: Savage said this in your interview. He said that this
Speaker 1: was the most prospects that he's interviewed in his course
Speaker 1: of being with the Jets, at the Senior Bowl, being
Speaker 1: with any team, and then of course he was the
Speaker 1: executive director of the Senior Bowl. And what he said
Speaker 1: I found very fascinating that teams typically had about like
Speaker 1: fifteen to twenty guys that they in a typical year
Speaker 1: would be like, you know what, I don't need to
Speaker 1: interview them, They're not really on our radar. But because
Speaker 1: this could be the first and the only exposure in person,
Speaker 1: at least in an interview setting to the players, they say,
Speaker 1: you know what, let bring them on down. Let's interview
Speaker 1: them all, just so we have a little something on
Speaker 1: each individual player, because this could be the first and
Speaker 1: the only time for certain scouts to evaluate players in
Speaker 1: person throughout the course of the college football season and
Speaker 1: the pre draft process. Which is crazy. What is the
Speaker 1: last practices in the last game of the college season.
Speaker 1: The college season is now officially it has its period,
Speaker 1: and the next up for these guys is going to
Speaker 1: be pro days, because like you just mentioned, no combine
Speaker 1: and for us from a contact perspective, everything has been
Speaker 1: so different. Um. You know, like I mentioned before, I
Speaker 1: want you to paint the scene of what the primary
Speaker 1: hotel in Alabama, Mobile, Alabama looks like a Senior Bowl week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is the who's who of the NFL. You walk
Speaker 1: into the Renaissance Hotel. There's an escalator directly to your
Speaker 1: left when you walk in, and then you go up.
Speaker 1: As you go up the escalator, you start to see
Speaker 1: what looks to be like a just like a meeting,
Speaker 1: like a huge meeting, And there's players, agents, media just
Speaker 1: walking around. You have your check in desk if you're
Speaker 1: if you want to get your credential or if you
Speaker 1: want to get your Reese the Senior Bowl notepad. And um,
Speaker 1: I would guess probably somewhere between two to three hundred
Speaker 1: people at any given point are on that floor just
Speaker 1: conversing and you know, maybe maybe sharing rumors, sharing gossip,
Speaker 1: or trying to get to know each other, putting, planting
Speaker 1: the seed for different teams in their ears. I mean,
Speaker 1: it is really a fascinating site to see all the
Speaker 1: different aspects of football congregate and operate. Yeah, and these
Speaker 1: guys this year we're talking to Rex, Phil and John
Speaker 1: about this. They were tested every day, so talk about
Speaker 1: a changing dynamic. You get a COVID test in the morning,
Speaker 1: you're wearing the masks and stuff like that. So there's
Speaker 1: no oh two d people around each other on the
Speaker 1: floor anymore. It's that interview process. I think what they
Speaker 1: said in between around six at night and eleven thirty,
Speaker 1: where they would talk to those prospects and you would
Speaker 1: have the dual interview was going on at the same time. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, for us, this has totally changed because I
Speaker 1: don't know how many years in a row I've been
Speaker 1: going to the combine. While that certainly is changing this
Speaker 1: year and you know it. It just even in your
Speaker 1: time here, Ethan, it's changed so much. The media presence.
Speaker 1: I mean, there are thousands of people who are typically
Speaker 1: credential for the Indianapolis Combine and now that will no
Speaker 1: longer be. I guess n c A tournaments taking taking
Speaker 1: place in Indianapolis this year, but I think, uh, the
Speaker 1: NFL is going to have various sites where you still
Speaker 1: can do the medical testing. Um, but the Combine as
Speaker 1: we know it for two thoe no longer. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: let's hear from Rex Hogan, Phil Savage, and John Carr
Speaker 1: about the Reese's Senior Bowl and what lives have had
Speaker 1: for this scouting department. Rex. Just how different has the
Speaker 1: scouting process been this year? UM? From the combines, not
Speaker 1: even from the combined perspective or the Senior Bowl, but
Speaker 1: just moving through the whole aspect of the of the
Speaker 1: fall has been you know, significant challenge for all of us.
Speaker 1: UM without having access to the campus has been you know,
Speaker 1: some of the games are not able to attend. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, our scouts haven't been able to get on
Speaker 1: campuses and get in front of the coaching staffs and
Speaker 1: support staff. So it's been a huge huge change for us.
Speaker 1: But our guys have done a really good job in
Speaker 1: terms of adapting to that. A lot of virtual calls
Speaker 1: for all of us that we have availability and each
Speaker 1: one of the schools and colleges and programs, so you
Speaker 1: know that that's been an opportunity for us to to
Speaker 1: really get more in depth information that way. UM, but
Speaker 1: you know we're definitely missing out and not being able
Speaker 1: to be on campus and seeing practices and getting that
Speaker 1: much exposure compared to just what the games are. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that is typically all over the country throughout the year.
Speaker 1: How many of those visits were eliminated and how many
Speaker 1: games would you estimate that these guys were actually able
Speaker 1: to go out to and be there on site? Man,
Speaker 1: I can't give you the exact number off the top
Speaker 1: of my head, e A. But I know it's significantly
Speaker 1: less than than what we've done in the past. Just
Speaker 1: because of the travel aspect, guys weren't is able to
Speaker 1: get on many flights and make the trip or make
Speaker 1: the commute to be able to go see the games.
Speaker 1: So you know, there was nothing in the week to
Speaker 1: really set it up where they could go to make
Speaker 1: a couple of school of visits and then go to
Speaker 1: see a game. So significant reduction in terms of that
Speaker 1: and exposure. And I know I'll probably use that word frequently,
Speaker 1: but there's you know, we've had a lot of reduced
Speaker 1: number of exposure to two players in terms of the
Speaker 1: practices and games, and then face to face interaction with
Speaker 1: coaching staffs. You have a close knit staff there at
Speaker 1: the Jets. How have the guys responded to all these
Speaker 1: changes in terms of the preparation leading up to what
Speaker 1: could be the second virtual draft in NFL history. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've they've been great. And we always talk about adapting,
Speaker 1: adjusting and improvising on the move. That's what we have
Speaker 1: to do in scouting and player personnel in general. You know,
Speaker 1: thinks things happen, we have to adjust to that and
Speaker 1: make the best of the situation. And you know, our
Speaker 1: college scouts have done done a tremendous job with that
Speaker 1: and just being flexible and giving us, you know, the
Speaker 1: options to be able to make different or try to
Speaker 1: find different you know, routes, to be able to communicate
Speaker 1: with with coaches or people on on the staff on
Speaker 1: the staffs around the country. So, yeah, it's been it's
Speaker 1: been good. Guys are great with that. The pro guys
Speaker 1: that have done a really good job in terms of
Speaker 1: being able to do advances um without you know a
Speaker 1: lot of exposure other than the tape from what they've seen.
Speaker 1: So all right, you might rex listen, you've been going
Speaker 1: to a lot of senior balls. How different was this
Speaker 1: week compared to what you would previously previously experienced? The
Speaker 1: biggest change of all of them, this is number eighteen
Speaker 1: for me, and this is the most unique because of
Speaker 1: there's no opportunity to have informal interviews with players, So
Speaker 1: there's been minimal time we have the formal interviews or
Speaker 1: a whole new different you know, set up in system
Speaker 1: and how things have been done previously. So though you know,
Speaker 1: the lack of face to face interaction with these guys
Speaker 1: and the ability to to talk to him and get
Speaker 1: to know him better has has been significantly reduced. Again,
Speaker 1: so um, we're adapting with it. We're just doing what
Speaker 1: we can in terms of the format of the week.
Speaker 1: But you know, senior ROWL staff has done a great
Speaker 1: job of having everything logistically set up for us, um
Speaker 1: from from getting no swabs and COVID tested early in
Speaker 1: the morning here and just for the whole operation because
Speaker 1: anybody who's attended the game, yeah to attendant practices from
Speaker 1: the NFL has to get tested. So it's a huge
Speaker 1: ordeal and process. But you know, just the reduction in
Speaker 1: the in the number of informal interviews that you can
Speaker 1: have has been significant. But every night we we go
Speaker 1: and we interview from six five until eleven thirty, and
Speaker 1: you'll get two players at the same time. You get
Speaker 1: thirty two guys throughout each night. Then you get coverage
Speaker 1: or of every guy he gets at least fifteen minutes
Speaker 1: face to face with them. So if you're interviewing thirty
Speaker 1: two guys each night, how many are you able to
Speaker 1: actually talk to throughout this week? And let me ask
Speaker 1: you too, well, what is that setting like, because we've
Speaker 1: heard your interview and guys actually through plexi glass plexiglass. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's exactly right, so you know they're there's thirty two
Speaker 1: like I said, and you get two guys at each time.
Speaker 1: So it's a forty ft area. That's two tables are
Speaker 1: spread out. There's two eight at tables with a three
Speaker 1: ft tall plexiglass that divides the table, so there there's
Speaker 1: four of us on on each side spread out, and
Speaker 1: then twenty ft away is another table that both these
Speaker 1: guys these interviews are going simultaneously. So our group is
Speaker 1: split up four and four to interview each each one
Speaker 1: of the prospects simultaneously. So that that's unique because you've
Speaker 1: got some guys who who speak very loudly and some
Speaker 1: guys who are extremely quiet. So I had to stand
Speaker 1: up and talk over the plexiglass a few times just
Speaker 1: to be able to hear guys, and had the challenges
Speaker 1: of having to wear the masks while it's going on,
Speaker 1: and it can be a little frustrated to because you
Speaker 1: can't hear guys and or can't even read lips and
Speaker 1: responses to impact you, guys, with some players opting out
Speaker 1: of the season and some teams unfortunately having your schedule
Speaker 1: greatly reduced because of well, I think for the players
Speaker 1: that opted out, you know, during before the season or
Speaker 1: even during the season. You know, we we had graded
Speaker 1: them last summer ahead of the season anyway, for our
Speaker 1: spring grades, and so we had information on virtually every
Speaker 1: player that did opt out. For some of the opt
Speaker 1: outs to show up here in mobile and and practice.
Speaker 1: You know, we interviewed one young man whose entire season
Speaker 1: was canceled. He opted out and decided not to go
Speaker 1: back for one. But this event was the first time
Speaker 1: he's had on full pads in thirteen months. So you know,
Speaker 1: you've got a temper a little bit what you see here,
Speaker 1: because these guys are just kind of working themselves back
Speaker 1: into football mode. And it's been a challenge for some
Speaker 1: of these players who did not play at all of
Speaker 1: this season, whether they opted out or their school canceled
Speaker 1: their season or what have you. So that is a
Speaker 1: little bit of of something from a from a scout
Speaker 1: side that you've got to manage in terms of your
Speaker 1: expectations for a Tuesday practice when a when a player
Speaker 1: hadn't even been on the field, and over a year
Speaker 1: you you've really got to take that into account. This
Speaker 1: week is complete. What are the next steps in the
Speaker 1: college scouting process, because typically we'd be targeting the combine.
Speaker 1: Now it seems like the focus is going to shift
Speaker 1: the produce. Yeah, I think Eric really in the in
Speaker 1: the immediacy after the Senior Bowl, of course, we'll go
Speaker 1: back and watch all the take from these practices and
Speaker 1: filling the blanks of things that you couldn't see live.
Speaker 1: And then of course, the the junior list is now available.
Speaker 1: We know who all the juniors are that are entering
Speaker 1: the draft, so that'll be uh some catch up on
Speaker 1: juniors that declared that maybe we didn't expect or don't
Speaker 1: have a grade on yet. So we'll be doing that
Speaker 1: here over the next few weeks. And then of course
Speaker 1: we have our first major round of meetings in the
Speaker 1: month of February ahead of what will be a you know,
Speaker 1: a compromised combine in terms of evaluations. The on the
Speaker 1: field testing and all there will be medicals of some kind,
Speaker 1: which is always the most important aspect of the combine.
Speaker 1: And then really after that, I would say probably from March,
Speaker 1: for March one going forward, everyone will be building out
Speaker 1: the schedules for these pro days, and you know, we
Speaker 1: don't know yet if there's going to be some limitations
Speaker 1: in terms of which pro days we can go to.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, how many NFL people can attend those
Speaker 1: pro days, So that's gonna be another work in progress
Speaker 1: over the month of March, and of course for for
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas and our coaching staff, trying to integrate them into,
Speaker 1: uh some of the college evaluations so that we can
Speaker 1: merge those two tracks between scouting and coaching by the
Speaker 1: time we really get to early April ahead of the draft.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of work to be done. I
Speaker 1: think that our guys and our staff have done a
Speaker 1: ton of work. I know it's been totally different working
Speaker 1: from home in many many respects, but at the same time,
Speaker 1: the volume of work has still been relatively the same
Speaker 1: because we've all continued to watch the tapes and do
Speaker 1: the zoom call and those sorts of things. We just
Speaker 1: haven't been able to do them on campus. What does
Speaker 1: it mean to you, Phil and the rest of the
Speaker 1: scouts when you see the coaching staff changes. Robert Sala
Speaker 1: taken over a new offensive coordinator, Mike la Fleur. He's
Speaker 1: gonna implement a new system. Solis talked about uh handling
Speaker 1: uh handing the defense over to Jeff Albright, but uh
Speaker 1: more traditional four three fronts. So can you talk about
Speaker 1: the system changes that are on the horizon for this
Speaker 1: team and how it impacts the Scouty's death. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would say that that all of us over the next
Speaker 1: few weeks ahead of those first meetings in the middle
Speaker 1: of February, we'll have to go back and maybe tweak
Speaker 1: some of our evaluations from the fall. Now, because of
Speaker 1: the experience I've had and and being part of a
Speaker 1: three four team and a four three team, I've typically
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of things, tried to kind of
Speaker 1: talk about a player fitting either or system because, unfortunately
Speaker 1: the NFL, there are enough coaching changes that you know,
Speaker 1: this happens unfortunately on a regular basis. So I think
Speaker 1: you have to scout each individual defensive player for both
Speaker 1: schemes and in many ways, whether you start in a
Speaker 1: three four or a four three. Ultimately everybody ends up
Speaker 1: in a in a four man front with two linebackers
Speaker 1: and five defensive backs, so that won't be as much
Speaker 1: of a change. I do think, though, that the definition
Speaker 1: of what Robert Sali and Jeff Albrick will bring to
Speaker 1: the table from a defensive standpoint will really help our
Speaker 1: scouting staff. I've always felt like it was an easier
Speaker 1: projection to make from college to pro when you are
Speaker 1: running a four three, because most of the schools in
Speaker 1: college run four man fronts. They have a couple of
Speaker 1: off the line linebackers, and they have five defensive backs
Speaker 1: on the field. Because the college game is a spread game,
Speaker 1: that's the style of dfense that's being played, and so
Speaker 1: I think the transition is just a little bit. It's
Speaker 1: not as much of a guess as it is in
Speaker 1: the three four and the three four you almost have
Speaker 1: to project every single player. He is he a nose?
Speaker 1: Is he a defensive end? Is he an outside backer?
Speaker 1: Is an off the line linebacker? Uh, it can get
Speaker 1: more complicated. I think I'm not gonna say it simplifies,
Speaker 1: but I think it gives us more of a clear
Speaker 1: vision of what we really need in this four three defense.
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm really looking forward to it. I think
Speaker 1: our scouts are gonna thrive and having some specific definitions
Speaker 1: in terms of what they're really looking for, uh in
Speaker 1: players on the defensive side of the ball. And then
Speaker 1: you know, offensively, last year we had made somewhat of
Speaker 1: a shift to the wide zone run game, so I
Speaker 1: think everybody is comfortable with that, and then you know
Speaker 1: that the next step is, you know, running backs, wide receivers,
Speaker 1: what's the what's the flavor that this coaching staff is
Speaker 1: look and for because as we know, successful runners, successful
Speaker 1: receivers come in all shapes and sizes, sizes, it's just
Speaker 1: a matter of you like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, what's your flavor?
Speaker 1: And that's really what we're gonna have to figure out
Speaker 1: here over these next couple of months. You go into
Speaker 1: the two thousand twenty one season. Yeah, it was very
Speaker 1: tough for the scouts not being able to come to
Speaker 1: Flooring Park for training camp. That's extremely hard because a
Speaker 1: lot of guys their used to structure in their life
Speaker 1: and being able to set a schedule and now you
Speaker 1: have to change that. Where we couldn't see our team
Speaker 1: in person. And then when you know, the college decided that,
Speaker 1: you know, when the NFL n C double A decide
Speaker 1: that we cannot take visits on the school, you know,
Speaker 1: it changes things because now that is when you have
Speaker 1: to you know, the world of Zoom and Team Microsoft
Speaker 1: calls became a part of our life and so you
Speaker 1: gather all the information with schools setting up Zoom calls
Speaker 1: where they have you know, either their pro liaison and
Speaker 1: support staff talk about the players and um, you know
Speaker 1: then and then allowing us to go to the games
Speaker 1: was huge because now we can at least, you know,
Speaker 1: go to as many games if if you feel comfortable,
Speaker 1: and that was something we gave our scouts. If you
Speaker 1: feel comfortable attending the game, then go to the game
Speaker 1: to get the body types on the players. But but
Speaker 1: you really have to rely on the years that you've
Speaker 1: spent in the scouting world as far as developing relationships
Speaker 1: within schools where you can call certain people to get
Speaker 1: critical information that you know, Joe and uh Robert's gonna
Speaker 1: need as we make the decision on the type of
Speaker 1: player we're gonna draft, do you sense more of an
Speaker 1: urgency from the group of players who are down there
Speaker 1: this year knowing that there is no formal combine this year,
Speaker 1: it will be a little bit different. And then all
Speaker 1: they have remaining after this is really Pro days. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I mean these young men, they will say that practices
Speaker 1: were very competitive. Guys got after it because they know that, yeah,
Speaker 1: there won't be a buying And then you also have
Speaker 1: to wonder if the pro days will go through. Uh
Speaker 1: there's there's you know, depending on the states, you know,
Speaker 1: they might not allow them to have a Pro Day.
Speaker 1: And so yes, this was critical for a lot of
Speaker 1: young men that were here, not only at this All
Speaker 1: Star Game, but the the other three All Star games
Speaker 1: of Tropical Bowl, College Greadiron Showcase, and the Hula Bow
Speaker 1: that took place this week as well. Uh, this is
Speaker 1: very critical for them to go out and and and
Speaker 1: you know, get verified measurements, get a chance to speak
Speaker 1: with the other teams in the league, and and um,
Speaker 1: you know, also show what they can do on the
Speaker 1: football field. You got a new head coach and Robert
Speaker 1: Sala and a couple of new coordinators that means new systems.
Speaker 1: Jeff All defensive signal caller for the Jets coming up,
Speaker 1: and Mike Lafleur comes over from San Francisco. What does
Speaker 1: that mean to you guys as scouts, as you get
Speaker 1: acclimated with the new staff and the systems they run, well,
Speaker 1: the most important thing is that you know the vision
Speaker 1: that Joe Douglas has for us is the type of
Speaker 1: players that we're looking for as far as you know,
Speaker 1: tough athletic guys that love the game, that will impose
Speaker 1: their will on you each and every week. We're still
Speaker 1: looking for those type of guys that that are smart,
Speaker 1: that that are willing they want to win. We're gonna
Speaker 1: look for those critical factors that we we rate each
Speaker 1: and every week that we we go through each school
Speaker 1: that we visit again through Zoom or Team Microsoft. So
Speaker 1: that's that's important. But at the same time, as as
Speaker 1: we go through this process, we'll get a chance to
Speaker 1: meet with the coaching staff and from a player description standpoint,
Speaker 1: you know what they're looking for, what style of defense
Speaker 1: they're going to run, what style of offense they're going
Speaker 1: to run. Uh, we'll have that time to meet with them,
Speaker 1: especially with there being no combine, We'll have plenty of
Speaker 1: time maybe in February or in March to visit once
Speaker 1: Robert completes his coaching staff as to you know, the
Speaker 1: type of players that they're looking for. What's the next
Speaker 1: stup for you guys after you leave Mobile Alabama Because
Speaker 1: talking to Phil Savage and Rex talking about it, you
Speaker 1: will have meetings again like you typically would, but again
Speaker 1: it will be in the virtual reality. Yes that's true.
Speaker 1: So right now that this next step is, you know,
Speaker 1: scouts now are allowed to to make phone calls to
Speaker 1: especially underclassmen, and so right now what the scouts are
Speaker 1: doing is they're they're getting on the phones with some
Speaker 1: of these young men to uh do further interviews on
Speaker 1: these guys. If it's through the phone call or if
Speaker 1: we set it up through a zoom call. We obviously
Speaker 1: have to make sure that we're reporting this to the
Speaker 1: to the league office and to what we're doing because
Speaker 1: there are restrictions there. But we're doing that now. And
Speaker 1: then mid February we will have the scouts set up
Speaker 1: a team Microsoft where we'll just kind of really start
Speaker 1: introducing the draft class to to Joe. I mean, I
Speaker 1: know he's been really heavy into the pro side right now,
Speaker 1: and uh now he's gonna start hearing about the college Slayers.
Speaker 1: I'm curious to know maybe after the process, and you know,
Speaker 1: without giving away state secrets, is how do you evaluate
Speaker 1: properly certain players and do you have to determine like
Speaker 1: this guy is a little more of a projection than
Speaker 1: this guy and therefore, you know, with with the Jets
Speaker 1: draft capital, we either feel comfortable taking a guy like
Speaker 1: this or on the other side, it's like, well, we
Speaker 1: know who this guy is because he played, we saw
Speaker 1: the progression. Therefore we'd like to take that player. So
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be interesting to see what happens
Speaker 1: between now early February and late April and the NFL Draft,
Speaker 1: and we'll have you covered throughout the off season. And
Speaker 1: of course free agency splits the difference here, so we'll
Speaker 1: be covering free agency. We'll be covering everything here on
Speaker 1: the official Jets Pot real quickly. Free agency schedules start
Speaker 1: a March seventeen Stychastrics Day. Um, I wanted you to
Speaker 1: talk briefly about the raft coverage we started here and
Speaker 1: that you're working on with Damee Brugler the Athletics. Dane
Speaker 1: Brugler wonderfully talented dude who happens to be a great guy,
Speaker 1: by the way, and also, um, what's coming up on
Speaker 1: the site this week because we're talking process right now,
Speaker 1: but what happens to the Senior Bowl this week? That
Speaker 1: caught Dane's I give us a couple of crumbs, and
Speaker 1: then we'll go to New York Jets dot com and
Speaker 1: and a separate podcast for the big meal. So to
Speaker 1: your point, each week on New York Jets dot com
Speaker 1: between now and the draft, there's a about a six
Speaker 1: minute video piece where Dane Brugler of the Athletic breaks
Speaker 1: down this week it's a Senior Bowl. And then you know,
Speaker 1: we'll go position by position, and there's a couple of
Speaker 1: different things like whenever he puts out a mock draft,
Speaker 1: will go into detail on why he picked who he picked,
Speaker 1: and you know, we'll take Twitter questions as well. And
Speaker 1: then there's a podcast form of it, which is a
Speaker 1: longer form of just the video piece, so it covers
Speaker 1: a little bit more depth than what you would just
Speaker 1: see on New York Jets dot com. And then for
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl in particular, I mean the one big
Speaker 1: guy that I think and I'm saying big because that's
Speaker 1: a that's kind of foreshadowing here Wisconsin Whitewater guard slash
Speaker 1: center Quinn Miners, and what Dane said, and you can
Speaker 1: read the article that he put on The Athletic and
Speaker 1: he talks about it on the podcast, is that for
Speaker 1: Quinn Miners was originally not someone that was going to
Speaker 1: be a part of the Senior Bowl. Then Landon Dickerson,
Speaker 1: the Alabama center who used to play at Florida State
Speaker 1: towards a c L and that opened the door for
Speaker 1: Quinn Miners. And we've talked about this in the past.
Speaker 1: Players use or can use the Senior Bowl as a
Speaker 1: launching pad for their draft stock, and that's exactly what
Speaker 1: Miners did. We think about a small school guy Wisconsin Whitewater.
Speaker 1: Last year, Dane said that he had about a grade
Speaker 1: somewhere between a six round pick a seven brown pick,
Speaker 1: and some teams had him as priority free agents undrafted
Speaker 1: free agents. And then after that we saw Quinn Miners
Speaker 1: dominate this year or this week in the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1: And now Dane said he's potentially a top one pick.
Speaker 1: So he basically took advantage of the opportunity and now
Speaker 1: he's gone. He's made himself some money, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: And that's just one of the guys that really showed
Speaker 1: out in Mobile. So yeah, well I'm excited for the
Speaker 1: podcast and also read about Dane's winners from the week,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned Alabama before I heard the quarterback from
Speaker 1: Alabama had a pretty good week as well. So Mac
Speaker 1: Jones is Dane didn't talk about Mac Jones on the podcast,
Speaker 1: but Mac Jones I think was Dane was saying that
Speaker 1: or writing about how Mac Jones was interested to see
Speaker 1: what he looks like without having his weapons on the outside.
Speaker 1: Davante Smith. DeVante Smith wasn't Mobile, but he didn't participate
Speaker 1: in practice or the game, so without him, without Jalen Waddle,
Speaker 1: and what would he look like? And I think all
Speaker 1: signs showed that, you know, it looks like a pretty
Speaker 1: good quarterback. So I mean today, before we started recording,
Speaker 1: I saw a Twitter clip where Matt Jones was on
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football and he was asked about potentially what
Speaker 1: his thoughts were going fift over all of the Patriots
Speaker 1: because Nick Saban and Bill Belichick are friends. So I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that's gonna happen, but I think there's some
Speaker 1: some steam there. I know Jim Naggy, the executive director
Speaker 1: was saying to Mac Jones, like, this is your opportunity
Speaker 1: to put yourself in the conversation or at least leap
Speaker 1: frog some of the guys after Trevor Lawrence, because none
Speaker 1: of those guys are seniors. So this is your opportunity
Speaker 1: to perform live in front of scouts. And I think
Speaker 1: that he all all signs showed that he did a
Speaker 1: good job. Well, yeah, for plenty more on that, get
Speaker 1: over to Ethan the Dame. But yeah, I just get back.
Speaker 1: I love it that the player of the week in Mobile,
Speaker 1: Alabama is a kid from Wisconsin, Whitewater, and he's a center,
Speaker 1: an interior player with a crop top two. You see
Speaker 1: you see the crop top photos. Oh yeah, it takes
Speaker 1: me back a few years ago too. Not that much
Speaker 1: of a small school because Pittsburgh is an a C
Speaker 1: C school, But Aaron Donald. There was some buzz about
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald and Mobile Alabama. I don't know if anybody
Speaker 1: could have predicted that he'd become the most dominant defensive
Speaker 1: player in football. But sometimes, yeah, yeah, sometimes that that
Speaker 1: the smoke really starts coming out in Mobile and you
Speaker 1: find out more about the players. There's just one step
Speaker 1: in the process. Dane did compare Quinn Miners to a
Speaker 1: current NFL center. Small school guy went to the Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl and then since was a mid to late round pick.
Speaker 1: Since turned into one of the NFL's best centers. And
Speaker 1: if you want to hear the answer, you gotta tune
Speaker 1: back in on Thursday. And that's all we happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a little plug, A little plug, that's all we have
Speaker 1: here on this edition of the Official Jets Podcast powered
Speaker 1: by Amazon Web Services. We'll be back next week. Like
Speaker 1: we said, e A and I break down all things
Speaker 1: off season for the Jets, and of course this week
Speaker 1: we heard from Rex Hogan, John Carr, and Phil Savage
Speaker 1: from Mobile