WEBVTT - Hangin' with the 'Boys: Inside the War Room 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.320 The following He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:21.400 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Out of the backfield, 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:27.320 exploding down the sidelines. He's hanging with the Boys, broadcasting 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:31.680 live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the Star in Frisco. 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:38.880 Now your host Nate Newton, Kurt Daniels, and Shannon Gross. Boy, 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.559 have we got a treat for the listeners today? Normally 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:45.720 I would check in to see how you guys were doing, 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:47.880 what you thought about the draft? But we have such 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.480 a special guest that is he probably doesn't have much 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:53.320 free time these days, or maybe he does have a 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.960 lot of free time now that a big chunk of 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.560 his job has been put to bed. Let's welcome to 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:05.960 the show. Chris Hall, Assistant director of College Scouting. How 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.400 are you, Chris good? How are you guys doing? Great? Man? 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:09.880 You've been on the show. What this will be your 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.400 third time? I think I think so. Yeah. Talk a 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:16.280 little rock music, talk a little football, But today we 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:18.160 want to talk about a little thing that happened over 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:20.520 the weekend. Because you're in the big room with the 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.559 with the with the big boys. It's like Jones family 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.600 will lay Chris Hall, Yeah, not the Battle of winter Fell. 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.680 Did you watch it? Of course, Nate did you? Did 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:34.240 you side at last night Game of Thrones? Don't spoil it? 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:44.640 I got a lot. Okay, Hey, by the way, Nate 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.720 doesn't watch the show, but he knows everything that goes 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.960 on the show. Yeah. So, so Chris, tell everybody if 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.760 they haven't listened to us while you're on the show before, 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:58.640 tell us what you do on on actual draft day, 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:00.880 and then tell us what do that leads up to 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.960 draft you. So I'm the assistant director of college Scouting, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.000 and my main role is really just trying to keep 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:12.040 everything organized our college scouting as we get through through 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.120 through the whole process of the draft, which which for 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.200 us will start in a couple of weeks within a 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.520 new meeting at the end of May to get next 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.720 year's prospects. But I kind of manage all that information, 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.000 manage our scouting staff, do a little bit of scouting myself, 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.440 and then as we get into the spring, coordinate the 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.920 pro days, the combine the All star games, make sure 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.240 we're getting our coverage right at all that, and then 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:39.520 just kind of help run and organize our meetings as 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.120 we build our draft board and put everything together in there. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.400 I just I mean, we've got the greatest director in 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.639 the world and Will that does an amazing job of 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.919 facilitating everything. We've got a fantastic scouting staff that does 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.960 an unbelievable job and puts in untold hours on the road, 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.880 at home, in front of in front of TV screens, 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.480 watching tape, watching practice that helps build this whole process. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.320 And there's a lot of unsung heroes in that room 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:09.440 that that put together a great package of information that 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.040 allows our ownership to make great decisions when we get 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.520 to the weekend like we did this weekend. When when 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.560 was your draft board set? When is that? Were you 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:21.720 ready to go? We're ready to go. I mean, the 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.160 draft board is kind of a work in process progress 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.240 for us as we build it. We probably do it 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.360 differently than other teams. I don't know how other teams 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.079 do it. I've only been one place my whole career. 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.239 I've been super fortunate. But we kind of work through 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.200 our board and get it right at the end. Really, 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:40.200 we actually set the final board just a couple of 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:44.320 days before the actual draft, but we know where players fit, 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:46.840 we know their value. We build that all the way 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.320 up through the fall through the spring as we get 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:51.400 to it, but we make a lot of final decisions 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.320 really in the last couple of weeks as we get 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:55.720 up to the draft. We bring our whole scouting staff in. 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.200 Our coaching staff is very involved in it. It's it's 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.640 truly an operation where we work together and we try 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.520 and find the right guys that we feel are going 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:06.120 to be fits for the Cowboys and that can come 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:08.560 in here and compete and not just compete to make jobs, 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:10.520 but to make other guys better too. So, I mean, 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.960 we believe competition is the best way to improve this 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:14.760 football team. We think we got a great group of 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.880 guys to come help do that right now. Number one, 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.360 can we ask how many players y'all haveing on y'all 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.080 board on an average per year? You know what it's 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:27.960 it's changed a little bit over the years. When Parcels 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.400 was around, we had a really skinny draft board and 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.719 we've we've added a few more players to it each year. 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:36.560 And I don't want to get into the exact numbers 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.280 of it and everything, but we've added more guys in there. 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:42.240 And you know, we've talked about that a little bit too. 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.760 But as Will likes to say, Hey, if they've earned 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:46.960 a spot on the board, we're not going to limit 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:48.760 it too. We can only have one hundred and fifty 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:50.320 three guys on the boarder, we can only have two 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:52.400 hundred and ten guys on the board. If a guy 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:54.279 has earned a spot on the draft board, we're gonna 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.160 put him up there and consider him to you know, 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.159 at some point when the value is right to be 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.440 a selection for the boys. Okay, walk us through the 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.200 process of Tristan Hill, because you told us before he's 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.240 a junior, right, so you don't get a quick glimpse 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:09.680 at him as though you were as he was a 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:14.560 senior exactly. So, yes, so we have you know, there 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:17.800 were a ton of juniors that came out again this year. 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:20.000 I can't remember if it was the highest number last year. 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:21.440 It was a big number as well, And it's a 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.760 big trend in college football that you know. That's a 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:27.200 whole other discussion on how that works. You can ask 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.279 Nick Saban how that went over when he had his 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:34.080 comments about that. But so with Tristan's case, you know, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.160 we kind of knew who he was throughout the fall. 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:37.960 You're keeping an eye on that. You know, he's a 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:40.240 good football player at a team that you have several 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.120 scouts into. But then when he declares, that's when you 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.880 really dive back in and you're you're finding out more 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.719 about him in the character and who he is, and 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.240 you can see how he plays. Anybody can cut the 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:53.600 tape on and have an opinion on whether a guy's 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:55.599 a good football player, what he does well, what he 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:57.919 struggles with, but you got to get to know the 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.920 person too. And you know, we're allowed to have thirty 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.760 visitors throughout the spring, and Tristan was one of those guys, 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.000 and we worked him out. We spent a lot of 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.000 time with him, just like we did with a lot 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.719 of other players, and you know, he checked off the 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.160 boxes that we needed him too, and we're really excited 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.000 to have him in here. As as as the first 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.960 guy we took over the weekend as a sophomore freshman, 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.040 a sophomore Wadow he played. He started thirteen games, then 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.280 he kind of they changed the system and then they 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.320 say he kind of ran into some difficulties. I know, 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.680 you men can't get into the difficulties. But he didn't 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.320 start as many, is right, and you know he started 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.320 his first two years and then they had a coaching 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.760 change down there, and anytime there's a coaching change, you know, 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.760 young college kids they can get you know a little bit, Hey, 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.000 it's different. You know, something news coming in, there's a 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.559 new set of rules, there's a new sheriff in town. 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:52.040 And you know he tested the patience of the new 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.160 sheriff here and there and they you know, part of 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.200 what happened to him was that they didn't start him 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.279 this year right right right if you watched the tape, 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.240 he was playing when they needed you know, you might 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:05.000 not start for certain reasons, but when it's time to 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:07.120 make sure somebody's playing, he was on the field floor. 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.559 Your research, you really had to deal with two different 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:12.320 coaching staff there didn't because you talked a lot to 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.680 them very much. So you know, you had the Josh 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.160 Hypel group this year that you kind of got a 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:18.840 little bit of one story and you had the Scott 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.840 Scott Frost group that you got a different story recruited him, 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.640 and you know, that's part of what our guys do 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.040 when they're out on the road, is they're building relationships 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.880 with coaching staffs and who they can trust with information. 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.280 They have to protect that information that guys share with 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:38.240 them too. So it's about building relationships and getting to 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:42.360 know coaches on staffs all over the country that you 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:44.960 trust the information that they're given to you about a player, 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:47.400 and then taking care of that information as you get 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.600 it too. So it's a two way street. And you 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.240 know the biggest thing that, like I said, anybody can 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.520 put on the tape and be a scout and offer 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:59.120 their opinion, but it's I think we get beat up 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.160 a little bit sometime because we didn't take a player 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.160 people like or they like somebody better. But there's a 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:06.400 lot of other reasons why we might not have taken 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.600 a player, be it medical, be it off the field things, 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:13.440 be it scheme, fit, all different kinds of things. And 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.440 sometimes the highlight packages look great when you're watching ESPN 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.680 and Fox and all that stuff, But there's there's more 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:21.520 to the story than just what you're seeing on that. 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:27.240 When we coach Marinelli over the years have just went 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.360 past guys that like Vita Vale last year, I mean, 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.200 he made him fall to us, whatever the reason, man, 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:36.439 But you see guys that have had these abilities, what 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.320 really because we saw him like talk up for this kid, 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.439 Don't you know what I'm saying? What is it about 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.960 this Tristani Hill kid before we go to conom government. Yeah, well, Tristan, 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:52.040 Tristan has all the tools and the traits, traits the 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.720 big buzzword now that you're are in scouting um to 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.520 play the undertackle in our scheme and you know are 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:03.000 the way Rod coaches in the way our defense is built. 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:07.160 It's based on penetration and getting upfield and being disruptive. 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:09.800 And when you can find a bigger man that can 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.720 do that, that that can play with the quickness of 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.839 a smaller man. Man, you're you're hitting, You're hitting the 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:17.679 jackpot there. If you've got a big guy that can 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.320 get in there and be disruptive, that's what you want. Man. 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:22.760 You get bigger, helps you against the run, but you 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:24.480 don't lose any of that quickness to get in there 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.480 and help other guys make play. That's what we see 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.320 in Tristan. I did have a question about that. I 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.080 had one too, and you cut me off on the 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:34.840 you know, they had the war room cam up and 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.520 it looked like there was a lot of discussion going 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.240 down right to the wire on that Firt would be here. 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:41.440 I don't know how much you can tell us, but 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:43.720 was there a lot of debate going on about Hi 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:45.600 was the right pick? I know safety was kind of 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:51.880 in play, and um, not really, no, it was. You 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.360 know it, there's a lot of we always are talking 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.040 everything out right down to when they tell me to 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.560 tell Robert Black turn the card in. And you know, 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:06.400 it's more just the more times you positively answer the 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.400 same question and the room feels the same way about it, 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.000 you as a whole group feel great about the pick, 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.719 and there's validation from the scouting staff, there's validation from 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:19.880 the coaching staff. There's the ownership wants to understand that, hey, 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.079 we're all in on this guy. Everybody's got a good 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.400 vibe about him. And when you've got that, you feel 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.760 great about it, and you know, hopefully two years, three 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.360 years from now, we've made a great pick and we're 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.120 winning championships and he's a part of it. You know. Yeah, 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.320 that's kind of my question too, was to be a 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.960 fly on the wall when those conversations, because we watch 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.640 the war room cam. Sure, you know, we're watching we 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:42.679 have the NFL network up, we're watching the draft. We 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.240 watch the war room cam on Dallas Cowboys dot com 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.000 and we see if it's offensive coaches that come in 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.480 or defensive coaches. So then we're like, okay, so we 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:52.839 know that there's probably about ten guys that could fall 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.560 in the spot. So yep, here's what talk us through. 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:58.880 What those conversations And you don't, I know, you can't 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.199 pull the curtain fletely back, but like when when Mayor 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.600 and Nelly and you know, Richard come in there are 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:06.400 what are they what are they coming in there? What 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.240 are they saying? And what are those conversations? Like a 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:10.800 lot of that comes down to, Okay, let's go over 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:13.920 this one more time. How does he fit? Who's who's 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.720 he going to compete with? Um? How does he make 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:19.360 us better? Is he the right? Right kind of guy? 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.160 Is just it's it's checking your pulse. It's making sure 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.199 everybody is completely on board with the player, whether it's 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.959 Tristan Hill or whether it's Mike Weber in the seventh round. 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.199 You know, that's you want to make sure that everybody's 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.360 on board with the player. And you know there's always 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.720 going to be a scout that likes a player better 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:39.800 than the one guy we took, or a coach that 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.960 would have rather had another guy, but he went off 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.400 the board and things like that, But you just want 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.800 to validate that you're you're taking a guy that can 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.439 come in and compete to earn a job, and you 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.040 have so few resources in draft picks, and you don't 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:57.559 ever want to waste one on a guy that maybe 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.680 not everybody's on board with, or yeah, he might be 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.679 the best looking player at the moment, but he might 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:05.880 have a hard time making our team or competing with 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:09.080 what we've already got. So a lot of it is just, hey, 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:10.920 let's go over one more time. How does this guy 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.000 fit into what we've got right now? And who is 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.600 he going to compete with? And Kenny went a job. 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.000 That's a good point, not only talking about the player 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.439 and what they have, but also coming in who's around 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.559 him and who's he trying to beat out for a job. 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.120 And you know, if there's no if you know, this 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.200 guy's locked in for the next three years and he's 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.000 not going anywhere, this guy can't compete with that guy. 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:35.120 And you just brought up another great point that I 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.959 didn't mention. You got to look at the contracts of 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.120 the players that you have on your roster right now too. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.000 If we all of a sudden no, that we're going 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.480 to be losing three or four players at a certain 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.400 position within the next two years. Maybe that's a pretty 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.720 good spot to start adding some death too, because you 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.400 can't keep them all. And we've got some really good 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.040 football players that are going to continue to cost us 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.200 more and more money each year, and we're gonna have 0:12:58.240 --> 0:12:59.880 some hard choices to make in the next couple of 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.120 years on where to allocate our salary cap dollars, so 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.400 which kind of may lead us into our second pick. 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.360 Come on, you get you've done. You've done this radio thing, 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:19.679 so just keep talking about Connor. You already a little bit. 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.000 But like I said, that was kind of looking towards well, 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:24.200 and honestly it probably surprised us a little bit too. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.560 I mean, you know, he wasn't a quote unquote targeted 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:30.960 player of ours, but he was high up on our 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.720 draft board. He's a he's a really really good, versatile 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.160 football player that already plays the way we want our 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:40.280 guys to play. I mean, he's cut out of the 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:44.040 Colombo cloth look at, which is fantastic. He's a big man, 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:49.160 six man that's a load, and you know, he gives 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.360 us some versatility along our line. And you know, as 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:54.040 I was saying, you can't keep everybody out. I mean, 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:55.880 I hope we can find a way to keep Elsie 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.679 and here next year after he plays one more year 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.120 at his contract. But don't know how that's gonna work 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.920 out with our stuff. But he was too good of 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.839 a player to not take at that point the way 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.160 our board said. You know, we've done a great job 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:12.920 of kind of following that draft board. And when I 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:14.719 think we made the common a couple of times, when 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:16.880 the guy's up there and it's a blinking light and 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.200 he's kind of by himself and he's a round or 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.760 two ahead of where where the discussion is at the time, 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:26.720 go ahead and take that. They usually turn out pretty good. Yeah. 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.760 You know, as Confucius said, you're drafting to your strength. 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:32.680 Because you're drafting to your strength, y'all even catch that, 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:38.960 y'all to catch that is mister Jones. Yeah what he's 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.720 saying that I almost died, And everybody's like, wait, what, Well, 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.800 but I'm gonna tell you when when when you went 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:49.120 kind and like you said, you see the highlights, and 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:52.440 when they were showing his highlights, you know what impressed 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.720 me was he's built the role. You know. I know 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.720 he's gonna smash up against Temple and anybody like that, sure, 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.200 but he's built the role of what we like when 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.360 I feel exactly, And so I knew he's got the 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.440 heart and determination if because if Colombo has anything to 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.200 do with it, I knew it's gonna be right. Oh, 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:12.120 let me tell you, he was the happiest guy in 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.520 the room. I mean, he wasn't expecting to get a 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.960 second round draft picked. His basket of wealth he's got 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:20.520 over there or and you know, you couldn't wipe the 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:22.880 grin off his face when we added another high pick. 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.200 And I mean, the guy's gonna he's gonna play, and 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.000 he's gonna play well for us. You know, at some 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.120 point in the future. Might not be this year right 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.080 out of the bat, because we've got damn good one 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.080 right now. But we're gonna let him compete, right sure, 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:37.600 because to me, a natural guard in center, he's a 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.680 natural guard. So you got that left guard with a 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:43.960 lot of a lot of young talent, and plus Looney 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.360 gets a shot at it too, so that thing is 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:48.240 wide open. Oh that's one of the things I said 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.800 when we came in here, this, this, this group is 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.000 going to compete with what we've got and the cream's 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:55.840 gonna rise to the top and we're gonna be a 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:57.960 better team for it. Yeah, it seemed like this year, 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:01.400 more than in recent history, that you guys were set 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.360 up to where you had some some needs but nothing 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:07.560 really glaring where you had to go get somebody and 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:10.600 it and it's, hey, if a guy's there and like 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.280 like this pick. That's what we got right here with 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:16.600 with with Connor. I mean, we weren't dialed in on 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.840 taking a guard center type guy. But when the guy's 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:24.720 sitting there at least caliber B Lincoln Lights said, it's 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.320 it's hard to pass that up. And but with the 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.400 moves that we've made in the off season, with our 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:33.080 with our pro free agency, you know, it's we've shored 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:35.400 up some things with some good depth players who are 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.760 going to compete as well, and that gives you the 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.760 opportunity not to have to lock in on, oh my god, 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.480 if we don't get a safety, we can't go play 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.560 football in September, right, which I think a lot of 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.800 people feel that way. But you know a story, Tony Pollard, 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:55.280 give me, because we've all sat here and we we 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:59.080 we've all believed that if we get a running back, 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.000 we wouldn't have been mad. This group here, we wouldn't 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.600 be mad because we're not saying rod Smith can't be 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.440 be explosive. But I feel like this that a guy 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.359 at running back, that when Zeke walks off the field 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:15.320 for those ten to fifteen plays, that backup running back 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:18.360 should have that ability to at least be explosive two 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:21.080 or three times out of them fifteen plays. Is any 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.320 one of these guys Tony Pollard one of the guys 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:28.000 you got lad or Mike Weber, you know, they both 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.919 of them have great traits. There's a word again, traits. 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.159 You know, Tony's Tony's probably a little bit more of 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:40.000 a space player than Mike is. But Tony, what we 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.600 love about him is just the versatility of him. I mean, 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.760 if you go back and look at his his career 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.120 arc at Memphis, I mean he's got seven kickoff touchdowns, 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.439 you know, returns, you know, and now I know kickoff 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:53.480 return isn't as big as in the NFL game, but 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.600 it's still nice to have a guy back there that, 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.280 you know, hey, if there's a kick an opportunity there 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.000 This guy's got a chance to take it to the house. 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.679 He played as a wide receiver, in the slot, he 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.320 played as a running back. Now, Memphis had three really 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:09.679 good running backs this year with u with to go 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:11.359 along with Tony in there. And then one of them 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.160 stayed in school and Tony and I'm losing his name. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.960 The Henderson Daryl Henderson was the other guy. Um. Three 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:22.560 really good backs, so there's only one football and you know, 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:25.760 now he does so many different things well. And the 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:27.600 other thing that really kind of took us over the 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.600 edge for him was he got a chance to play 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:31.520 in the Senior Bowl. And if you go back and 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.680 watch that Senior Bowl, he ran inside in between the tackles, 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:36.240 which I hear a lot of people saying, Oh, he 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.280 can't do that, why they take him. We'll go watch 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.119 the Senior Bowl and see how he did between the 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.280 tackles when they fed him the ball in a pro 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.840 style environment with it he did pretty good. Good size 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.200 for a running back and yeah, I mean he's he's 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.000 six foot two hundred five ten pounds and he can run. 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:52.960 Is he going to be in the mix for punt 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:57.880 returns to or just kiss Um? Maybe eventually he's more 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.720 of an established kickoff guy then he was a punk guy. Um, 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:03.840 but I'm sure he'll get the opportunity to work at that, 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:05.879 I would imagine. And you know, you go back to 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.760 Mike Webber, he's a guy that another Ohio state back 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.000 that you know, those guys have played, they have a 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:13.560 track record, they run the football there. Mike's a really 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:18.040 good running back as well. And again it's it's great competition. Um. 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:20.600 You know, it saved us from having to go out 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.080 there and maybe find a veteran guy to to plug 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:25.760 into the mix there like we've done without you know, 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.720 Morris in the past or or other guys like that. 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:32.440 You know, you don't have to go get um, who's 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:34.200 the guy we had a couple of years ago too, 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:40.359 Rain dead right now? Yeah. Yeah, the drafts when you've 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:47.680 been working was kind of I was not like it 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.760 was kind of a surprise though. He took two running backs. 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:53.280 I think people were, you know, obviously Paulard was a 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:55.480 fourth round the expect big thing. But to come back 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.679 with Webber later, I think maybe that again, that's just 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.200