WEBVTT - Draft Show: Inside the Draft with Will McClay 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:06.920 This is the Dallas Cowboys dot Com Draft Show. Cowboys 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:11.200 your war room for incenter news and draft analysis from 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.720 deep within the confines of Cowboys Headquarters at the Star 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:20.480 in Fresco, Dallas Cowboys Select Lad and now your hosts, 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.959 Dane Brugler, David Hellman and Brian brought us. Well, you 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:26.760 didn't think you could get rid of us that fast, 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:29.720 did you? After seventeen hours and twenty five minutes of 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.520 draft coverage all weekend, We're back for a one final 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.720 episode of the Draft Show for the season. It's Brian 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:42.280 brought us, Dane Brugler, and David Hellman with a special 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.040 guest here. Guys, we're very fortunate to have the vice president, 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:51.320 a player personnel I think, one of the great personnel 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.400 men in this league. You know, a guy that we 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.120 all have a lot of respect for. I know guys 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:57.880 around the league have a lot of respect for him 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.960 as well. And it's Will McClay and Will welcome to 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:05.880 the program. Um. Excited to have you for a number 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:10.920 of reasons. Because we we had an opportunity this past 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.360 draft with with no first round pick, there was a 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.520 lot I mean, we as a group, we were having 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.959 to discuss h the you know what direction could this 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.720 team go? Well, you know, without that pick, how do 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.520 you find a way to map out a road to 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:28.920 get to fifty eight and then to ninety and then 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.840 too the picks after that? When you were setting your 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:34.520 board and stuff like that and looking at your board, 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.680 you obviously you went through and said, okay, we're gonna 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.199 rate these guys from one to one fifty and play 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.120 it like a normal draft. But was there anything different 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.880 that you had to do when you're when you're making 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:48.680 that direction, There is there anything different you say, Okay, 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:50.200 I got to make sure that I got to cover 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:52.400 this or I got to cover this. Without the first 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.240 round pick, it was any different. No, we addressed it 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.040 the same as if we had a first round pick, 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.120 because first of all, you never know what's going to happen, 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.440 and then you have to look at every draft the 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.440 same what we try and do, and you know, we 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.320 talk about the Garret process, but we it's the same 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.320 thing that we have. It's a process that you go through, 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:10.560 you grade your players, you rate them from you know, 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.880 top to the bottom, right, and to have that consistency 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.160 within the process. Yeah, Well, we were sitting there because 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:20.600 we're trying to We're sitting there trying to map out, okay, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.680 how they're going to get to fifty eight, you know, 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.639 and then and we just kept throwing names and but 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.160 it is it so it's not a wider scope. It's 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.120 really you just say, Okay, we're focused in on these guys. 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.840 You know, it's it's the first round, guys, it's the 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.160 second round guys. There was really no deviation from that 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.360 at all. There's no deviation from it. The thing that 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.720 changed a little bit is, uh, you know, when you 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.800 have a pick in the first round, you're trying to 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.880 look to see where you're top guys or guys that 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.359 you targeted, they're gonna fall pay a little bit more 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:54.320 attention to the chatter around and whatnot. But uh, you 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.600 keep it the same. Uh. You know, it's when we 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.320 had the fourth pick with Zeke, well we're picking early, 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.359 you know, different level there. I think what we did 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.959 during the process we kind of changed our approach as 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.840 opposed to bringing in guys that we're going to be 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.799 drafted in the top fifteen, we felt like we kind 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.800 of scattered it around a little bit to you know, 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.400 the thirty visit guys to where the coaches were, you know, 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.760 who they were going to go see where we put 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.560 our resources, not essentially at the top fifteen to twenty guys, 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.320 but kind of filtered it through the draft at different levels. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.760 Is that a hard conversation to have trying to evaluate 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.800 you know, again, you don't pick till fifty eight, so 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.600 you're trying to evaluate, like, is this worth the resources. 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.280 Jonathan Abram comes to mind, a guy that y'all obviously 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.119 liked a lot, and you know, you're like, this guy 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:44.800 probably won't be there, but we still want to take 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:46.960 a look at him. I mean, yeah, just kind of 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.320 weighing those risks because as you see the draft, the 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:54.120 NFL draft has changed so much over the past five 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.200 to eight years, where you know, when the cap changed 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.920 and you don't pay rookies as much money and all that. Well, 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.600 you're also seeing the value of the trade chart and 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.800 that stuff. So a lot of that stuff is altered. 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.280 It's changed. It's not the way that it's not the 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:10.760 NFL that we grew up in, where people stood where 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.320 they were, they had their picks or so you don't 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:16.640 know where things are gonna go. So Abram was anywhere 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:20.160 in our minds from fifteen to in the second round, 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.159 depending upon what people were looking for. So that was 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.119 the calculated kind of risk that we took in looking 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.000 at guys and when we brought them in and who 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.680 we spent those resources on. What you thought about is 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:32.919 that maybe a trade up situation too? That if you 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.320 if you think Abram might be saying, okay, he said 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.640 top fifteen, but what if Abram got to forty, say, 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:40.760 I mean and you're sitting at fifty eight, do you 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.680 bring guys in thinking okay, maybe we're gonna have to 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.440 maybe trade up for this guy. So I need to 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.480 know that background information. Absolutely, you got to be prepared 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.120 for every situation. So again, those guys that you felt 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.360 like we're first to top a second round, when we're 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:55.960 down towards the bottom of the second let's look at 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.840 some of those guys at positions of need or players 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.120 we really liked and wanted to get in front of 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:04.159 and kind of look at it there. So when you 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.039 talk about the you know, potential of trading up, well, 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.479 we go through the exercise, we look at the points 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:11.440 and you know, what do you have to give up 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.760 and where we ad and the contracts in the future 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.640 and all those things kind of went into putting this 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.440 picture together. How much do you look at other teams 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.039 and who they bring in for thirty visits and interest? Like, 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.160 how does that work in terms of the process of 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.560 tracking all that information to understand Okay, well we need 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:30.760 to get in front of this guy if or this team, 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.200 if we want this player. How does that process work 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:35.599 for you? Yeah, we look at you know, the thirty visits. 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:37.360 I mean there's a number of different things at track 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:39.440 where we track our you know, on our own. It's 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:41.800 the guys that we bring in where they're going. Uh, 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.400 you know, there's some sources out there that tell you 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.000 who's bringing who in for visits and you kind of 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.320 you know now and analytics get involved in it too. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.920 We go through a number of different processes to go okay, 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.159 systems who guys have drafted da da da da da, 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.520 and say okay, here are the guys that you know 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.760 kind of we target based on doing all that research. 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.599 Let me ask you something about the Okay, you don't 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.640 have a first round pick, but can you walk us 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:11.080 through though the determination of coming about making the trade 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.200 for a Maury Cooper? I mean, at what point in 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.400 time do you know you start off the season, you're 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.080 three and four. It was it something that you saw 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:20.920 very early in the season. You said, man, I've got 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:22.800 to get these coaches some help here, and you know, 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.440 and then maybe your pro guys, you know, get involved, 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:27.040 and all of a sudden you're like, Okay, this is 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:28.880 this is how this is going to this is how 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:30.880 it's going to go down. Because I've been with Jerry 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.240 Jones when he didn't have first round picks two years 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.520 in a row. So whatever you did to make that work, 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:39.479 congratulations because that is like, again, Stephen talked about it, 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.800 you need an Act of Congress, and I've seen him 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.880 agonize in draft rooms without a first round pick. I'm 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.719 sure you've felt that too yourself. But talk about though 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.360 you made a big commitment to go and get a 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.360 Maury Cooper and to give up a first round pick, 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.760 When did you make that determination that you needed to 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.000 go do something. I think we're always evaluating our roster, 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.000 and so we went into last year receiver by committee. 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.359 We brought these guys in and you know, there was injuries, 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.360 there was you know that the plan didn't work right. 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.200 And if you put your head in the sand and say, okay, 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.880 we're gonna, you know, out some way rectify it. But 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.880 it's also about opportunity. So we're all, you know again, 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:20.000 just like right now, we're always looking for ways to 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.840 improve our roster. So when the situation came about and 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:26.320 they were talking about different receivers and trade deadline was 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.880 coming up, we had done our homework. We had guys 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.640 that were coming out of contract or people who were trying, 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:33.960 you know, looking at the trends they were moving guys 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:36.880 da da da da dah. And then you look at 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:38.920 it and then there was Amari Cooper and there's a 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.360 couple of other guys that names that were being thrown around, 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.880 and so we looked at how do you improve that position? 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.920 The Amar situation came up, So then we go and 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:51.160 we look at you know, our our our scouting grades 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:55.480 and what's coming and you know where we are there 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.920 and what's the right opportunity cost to make that pick. 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.480 So we make pick and then you know, we we 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.440 go to a string of success and we felt like 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.440 at the time when we were looking at it, is 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.720 there going to be a first round receiver to the 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.720 level of Amari Cooper. And then we went through everything else. 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:15.840 It's like, you know, if he's twenty eight or twenty 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.640 nine years old, is that something that's beneficial for the 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.480 long term of the team, you know, as opposed to 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.520 right now. And so we try and look at all 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.680 those things that way, and through the course of planning 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:28.400 with Stephen and Jerry, when we talked about it, we 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:29.840 sat there and we looked at it. Okay, what's the 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.400 opportunity cost and you know, hey, it could be if 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.120 we don't correct the ship, it could be a high 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.480 first round pick. Sure, you know, all of those things 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:38.480 kind of went into it, and you roll the dice 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:39.959 and you look at a twenty four year old guy 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.440 who's different, you know, and you go through this draft 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:47.360 and every draft and looking for those top ten players 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.319 that will be difference makers in your organization. So if 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.600 you have an opportunity to do that, you just received 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.840 the benefit of a first round pick earlier rather than later. Yeah, 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.000 and Dane came in. Dane evaluates about five hundred more 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.240 players for us and stuff like that, and I catch up. 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.559 Dane very early said no receivers, I don't see a 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:08.800 first round. This was very early in January. You know, 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:10.960 he's evaluating we're going to the Senior Bowl and going 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.319 into the combine and stuff in Dangels, I haven't seen 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.760 a first round receiver yet, and then Dane very astutely says, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.360 there's not a receiver on that board that's even close 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.520 to a Mary Cooper. So all of a sudden, now 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:23.840 you're sitting there now by what you just said, the 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.960 justification is we had to have a receiver. We weren't 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:28.960 going to get a receiver even if we had a 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.160 top ten pick. We're not going to get the right 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.120 receiver here. So so then you also look at the 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.439 impact of first round receivers when they come into the NFL. 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.200 There hasn't been a great deal of talk about they 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:42.560 have to learn the game, right, you know, guys with 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.600 all the ability, and you know, everybody goes to the 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.480 draft process and you got the draft nick saying oh, 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.080 this guy should go here and there and he's going 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:53.040 to be great. Yeah, that position is really hard to 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.080 impact the NFL, especially the way college football is being 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:00.000 played now. Yeah, there's no press coverage. They don't read coverage. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.640 There's a lot of RPOs. So the windows and the 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:06.240 landmarks and the ability to run the route tree, they're 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.280 not there. So there's that development in that process too, 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.679 So that's going to take two sometimes three years before 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:14.679 you see the benefit of that pick. Was there was 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.840 there some consideration, Scum, that was there some considerate consideration? 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.360 And I come from a program in Green Bay and 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.880 other places where you I always follow teams that had 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.520 new coaches, new general managers. And did you maybe take 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.320 a little bit of advantage of the Raiders situation with 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.280 Gruten being a new coach and you know, maybe some 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.719 flux the general manager that you said, okay, we can 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.000 I know, you give a first round pick, but they're 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.480 willingness to give up a player of that quality though. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.600 I mean, that's that's pretty significant on their part, no question. 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.720 But you gave up a premium pick. Yeah, so yeah, 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:47.760 we did. But that's but that's what we do. As 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.079 you look at like right now, you know, when we 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.400 were going into the free agency process, um, and we're 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.800 looking at after the draft. There's new regimes. They want 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:01.160 their people, right um. And and so you're aware of 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:05.400 those rosters and those positions of need and the personalities 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.560 of those people that are coaching or running those teams 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:09.840 and looking at their track record and everything else, and 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.040 know when to start up a conversation if it's worthy 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:16.560 of it. All that stuff, I totally lost my Oh no, 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.760 I remember now, no, no, less, You're good. Thank you 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.880 don't have that rights education and y'all, y'all have said 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.360 this a couple dozen times since you traded for Amari. 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:28.720 You know you looked at it. You know there's not 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.440 a first round receiver. There's not a guy that's on 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.800 his caliber. But maybe it's just me. I'm fascinated by 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.720 the actual mechanics of how that works. So you gotta 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:38.400 I mean, you got a million things going on all 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.040 the time. You're worried about your roster during the season. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.320 How does that work? I mean do you do you 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.360 get your scouts on the phone? Do you? I mean, 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.960 how do you go about gathering that information that you 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.600 know that when Stephen and Jerry ask you for that information? 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.440 It's you just plan ahead. I mean, you look ahead. 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.920 The process of building the football team is three six, 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.920 especially nowadays, and so you look at it, and you know, 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.840 the pro side, we grade every player on every team 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.080 during the season. We look at that. We have an 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.040 updated database and we make sure we know who's who. 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:14.360 We look at the depth, we look at who they drafted, 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.600 so we're prepared for that. So the situation comes about, Okay, 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:20.760 pro guys, was our last pro grade on him? You 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:22.480 know how much has he played this year? You look 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.280 at statistical things. We have our analytics that we look 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:28.679 at all that stuff. And so when the different situations 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:32.280 present themselves, now it's informant Jerry and Stephen as soon 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.040 as I possibly know something so that we can start 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.640 discussing and saying, Okay, how does this affect this? And 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.120 you know what's our game plan. So it's kind of 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.800 an ongoing thing. And I think my position here is 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.360 a little bit different than most where the general managers 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:48.160 out worried about the college and dada, da, da da, 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.680 and you don't know your team. The benefit of the 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.040 way that we're structured is I'm here most of the time. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.720 I know our team, our team, what we're looking for, 0:12:56.040 --> 0:13:00.760 you know the differences, and you know what's playing in 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:02.960 the league. Right. That's one of the hardest things for 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.920 people who our lifeblood is the college draft. But if 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:10.360 you don't know your team, or you're reliant upon the 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.240 coaches or whatever, there's a different way of looking at it. 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:15.360 The way that we're structured. Here, I'm looking at it 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.240 globally and I'm around and I can have those conversations 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.200 so that the communication can be better and we're ahead 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.559 of those opportunities or at least there when those opportunities 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.640 come up. Yeah, I've always found the guys, the general 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:30.400 managers that have the pro backgrounds because college. Sometimes these 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:32.679 college general managers and nothing against these guys that are 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.280 college guys and become general managers. They don't know who's 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:37.280 playing in the league right, they don't know who the 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.320 nickel corners with the Atlanta Falcons. They don't know who 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.840 the backup right tackles at Minnesota. And sometimes though, when 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.120 you're building your team, all you're thinking about is the draft, 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:47.719 and give me more picks, Give me more picks, give 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:49.679 me more picks, and stays saying, wait a minute, I've 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.600 got to find a way to compete with my division now, 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:53.480 and then I've got to find a way to compete 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:55.360 with some of the other teams around the league. So 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.760 to me, the guys that have the pro backgrounds are better. 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.240 And I shouldn't say this, I think are better general 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:06.040 managers because they're better prepared to handle the situations, not 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.120 because no, no, no, no, no, because I here's a 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.040 guy that was on the pro side of things. I 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.080 started Green bayd in college and with the pro. But 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:15.600 I always respected the guys that were and again some 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:19.160 of my best friends, you know, Thomas Demitrof, John Snyder, 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.640 those guys, we're all college. Snyder was a pro guy 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.000 at one time and he knew the league, and I 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.800 think that helps you as you trying to build your 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.080 team and answer those questions. This is why you're able 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.080 to make a trade, I think for a first round guy, 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.320 a wide receiver, because you know him at Oakland. Okay, 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.320 I've got the college reports, but now I know, wait, 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.960 I've seen in the league. Yeah, I've seen this guy 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.160 and what he's done. And okay, the fact he's a 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.720 twenty four year old guy makes a lot of sense. 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.080 And the college. In the college side of it, you 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:51.520 are always projecting. I think the key is having a 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:55.680 sense of what you're projecting that player into as opposed 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.600 to his upside. But you've got to project them into something. 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:02.800 You know, it's easy to say that this guy is 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:04.560 a great receiver and he belongs here. Well, if it 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.200 doesn't fit the system, or if the personality doesn't fit 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.320 with who you're putting him into or whatever. I feel 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.120 like all of those things have to go into because 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:15.920 we're taking people from one situation putting them into another, 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.520 so you better be aware of what you're putting them into. Well, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.200 let me ask you this. So it just about a 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:21.800 mare though, and again I'm gonna get into some of 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.280 these other draft picks as well that you made. But 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.880 as far as a mare, you know, I remember my 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:29.280 experience of working with the Cowboys is that Jerry and 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.360 Stephen really relied on opinions from outside and I know 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:35.000 we still hear that. You know, oh, we talked to 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:36.760 this guy, or we talked to this guy, we talked 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.680 to coach Sabin and all that has that change over 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.200 the year. Is it really more about your opinion? And 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.600 again I'm not trying to short change your opinion. I'm 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:46.880 trying to say that, is it more about watching the 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:51.040 tape and hav an opinion within, whether it's Alex Loomis, yourself, whoever. 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:53.680 Is that kind of way that Joneses are now operating more. 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:56.960 I think we're getting getting better that they trust us. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.120 And what I tell our group is so I don't 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.600 know if they trusted me. That's probably why I'm doing 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.360 radio right now. No, it's it's it's evolved into uh, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.800 the you know, I keep saying the process right, the 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:12.000 way that we do things, and not trying to slant 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.640 one way or the other. I want to know. We're 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.640 the lawyers. We're presenting the case, and my objective in 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.320 being that lawyer is I'm presenting all the facts, good, bad, 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.800 or indifferent, right, and they make the decision based off 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.200 of all the information as to what's best for the organization. 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.160 That's them. You know, the job that we're tasked with. 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.120 So the guys go out. We have a specific way 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.120 of doing things, and as long as we do it 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.840 that way, you know, the information that's coming in as 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.640 a certain way, you know that we've checked all the 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.800 boxes that we can. That they're getting information that is pure, 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:48.120 it's raw and uncut, and now you make the decision 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.040 based off of that. You TALKO, Go ahead, Dan, I'm sorry, Well, No, 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:52.600 I was going to kind of swing it to this 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.600 draft class and with Tristan Hill, that's what it's about 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.720 to coach. You know, it's He's really interesting because you know, 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.640 on our end, we can watch it we can see 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.720 what he does, what maybe he needs to work on 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.320 things like that. But you know, one of the most 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.320 fascinating parts is a player's journey, and you know everything 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.240 goes through and with Tristan Hill, part of his journey 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.840 is only starting one game last year. And you know, 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:17.520 football character, personal character, that's something that is a big 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:21.680 part of every evaluation. And so how handicap there right exactly? 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:23.800 And that's something from the outside looking in. We only 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.880 have so much information and so it makes it difficult 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.760 on our end. But how does that work? From you? 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.399 Is it just trusting your scouts that they're doing thorough 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.520 enough information when they're on campus, and trusting your coaches 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.719 when they go and work out at a pro day 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:39.399 and they're talking to the right people. How does the 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:43.800 character conversation? How does that work within the building? It's 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.000 it's everything. It's to try and find out as much 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.000 as we can about the player, especially if we you know, 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:51.840 you can turn on the tape and you can watch 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:53.480 it and see all the traits that you like, but 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.879 now you you want to dig into who it is 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:59.360 and we talk about football character, and so our scouts 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.000 go and they're ask all the questions that everybody else asks. 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.640 And you know, each scout is in an area, they 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.359 have their sources that they draw from, and you know, 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.240 the coaches are going to talk to the coaches and 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:13.000 people that they're familiar with. Again, it's about gathering all 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.280 that information and then being aware that you know the 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.840 people that you talk to. We tend to go talk 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.600 to people that are like us, that we're comfortable with. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.200 So I know that that's upset of information I get 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:27.160 from this guy. He probably talked to somebody that's like him. 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:29.040 The coach is going to talk to a coach that's 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.600 like him that sees it differently. I'm going to talk 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:33.560 to somebody else. And then you pull all that together 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.080 and then you bring the kid in and if you 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.400 like him, and you start to figure out who he 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:42.000 is for your own sake, you know, now we make 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:46.080 an organizational evaluation of who the guy is. Who do 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.040 you know, do we want him? What's he all about? 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.639 And take into account. Okay, twenty years old, twenty one 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:55.320