February 15, 2012 - WordPress.com · NFL.com’s New ‘Combine Tracker’ Provides Immediate 40-Yard Dash Times The following is the transcript of the media conference call on Wednesday,

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NFL Network Combine Conf Call Transcript

with Mike Mayock - 02 15 12.docx

NFL Network Features More Than 50 Hours of Exclusive “2012 NFL Scouting Combine

Presented by Under Armour” Programming Starting Thursday, Feb. 23 with Live Coverage of the Workouts Beginning Saturday, Feb. 25 at

9:00 AM ET

NFL Draft Analyst Mike Mayock Leads NFL Network and NFL.com’s 22-Person Roster

Featuring Hall of Famers, Top Talent Evaluators, Former Coaches & Reporters

NFL.com’s New ‘Combine Tracker’ Provides

Immediate 40-Yard Dash Times The following is the transcript of the media conference call on Wednesday, Feb. 15 with NFL Network Draft Expert:

MIKE MAYOCK

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us today for NFL Network and NFL.com's Scouting Combine conference call. Before I get to Mike Mayock, here's a run down of NFL Media’s combine coverage this year. For the first time NFL.com's new “Combine Tracker” will provide immediate 40-yard dash times of the players. The Combine Tracker and new “Score Strip” will also have results from the bench press, broad jump, and vertical jump this season. NFL.com's Emmy nominated “NFL.com LIVE” will have complimentary coverage of the combine with additional video feeds of the workouts, and I encourage you to check out NFL.com/combine and you can see videos right now of Mike explaining the workouts. NFL Network for the eighth year has exclusive live coverage of the combine including more than 50 hours of programming starting next Thursday with the press conferences, followed by the workouts beginning on Saturday, February 25th at 9:00 Eastern time. New this year, we'll have our Hall of Fame analysts such as Deion Sanders, Marshal Faulk,

Michael Irvin, and others demonstrating the drills on the field and what it takes to be successful at the combine to raise your draft status. We have an unmatched roster of 22 on-air talents from draft experts to Hall of Famers, to player personnel, experts, former coaches and reporters to cover all the news and stories from Indy. We sent out our press release with more details, please let us (NFL Media PR) know if you didn't get it. This year should be a compelling NFL Draft. We feel we have the best draft analysts in the business, Mike Mayock. Mike had an extremely successful first year on Thursday Night Football games, we look forward to the additional games that Mike and Brad Nessler will call in 2012 on NFL Network. However, now is the time that we are getting ready for the 2012 primetime NFL Draft, and the combine is a major event in the evaluation process, and we are excited that Mike will once again be leading our team covering it. Mike, can you give us a brief opening comment and we'll get to your questions. MIKE MAYOCK: Hi, everybody, it's Mike Mayock. Very briefly, looking forward to the Combine. Positions of strength, I think defensive tackle is really, really deep this year. Conversely, not big on the defensive ends. Lot of question marks after the first four wide receivers, and an awful lot of big wide receivers that are going to have to run well at the combine to help their status. And kind of very similar to the corner situation this year also. There are three corners. Everybody kind of thinks they're first round corners, then after that, it's kind of pick your flavor. So I have a feeling we'll talk a lot about quarterbacks and about a lot of picks in the Top 10, so let's get it going. Q. I'm curious what you see from Whitney Mercilus. Obviously, he had a big year, but do you think he projects staying in the four-three and the three-four linebacker? What does he have to kind of show teams to get in the first round where a lot of people think

February 15, 2012


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he might be? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, he's a fairly gifted kid. He's got some natural pass-rush ability. Because he's an underclassmen, we have no official measurements of him, that's number one. So we need to see how big the kid is when you talk three-four versus four-three and what positions. What's he weigh? How long is he? What's his arm length? All those things we'll find out next week. As far as what I've seen on tape, he's a little bit of a one-year wonder. People are going to want to know where he was before this past year again, natural pass-rusher. I don't think he's stout at the point of attack. I'm anxious to see what he weighs. I think he's one of those borderline, late 1 to mid 2 type guys. I think where he will be helped though is that there aren't a whole lot of real strong defensive ends and outside linebackers in this draft. So that could push him up a little bit. Q. I was wondering about the Patriots. What do you see are their biggest one or two needs? And did anything that happened in the Super Bowl as far as the game itself make you lean one way or the other as far as what they need? MIKE MAYOCK: I'm less of a snapshot guy than I am a composite guy. They've got two picks in the first round, what a surprise. Bill is a master of letting the board come to him. So I don't think Bill will know until that last week prior to the draft what specific players he's interested in. But the way I look at it, it's got to be all about defense. You're sitting there with two picks with the ability to move up, down, or stay at 27 and 31. And I think you've got in a league where it's a pass-first league -- and I was kind of happy to see the return of defense in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but let's be honest about it. There are a lot of teams including the Patriots that want a track meet every week, which means you've got to rush the quarterback and defend on the back end. I think those are the two areas of need that kind of cry out for some help in the draft for the Patriots. Q. Are you seeing more corner or safety? MIKE MAYOCK: The way I see it is who are the best players at those slots? Because you need help everywhere. Q. Replacing Ray Lewis is a priority eventually and also Matt Birk. Which one of those is more urgent at this point right now? Which way do you see the Ravens going?

MIKE MAYOCK: It's interesting, because when you talk about your interior offensive line, you could have some free agency issues there also. So I think one of the best classes here is the interior offensive linemen in this draft. If you assume, David DeCastro from Stanford may be gone by that point, and he might not. I mean, you're looking at Baltimore 29, I believe. But DeCastro to me is a first round interior offensive lineman. Peter Konz, the center from Wisconsin is a late one to mid two. I think Zeitler from Wisconsin is also in that same range, and you might be able to get a guy like Ben Jones from Georgia late in the second round. I think, depending on how it plays out, I think there is a lot of flexibility with that interior offensive lineman draft. I think for the first three rounds, you can get a lot of quality at center or either guard. As far as the inside linebacker position is concerned, I really think that Luke Kuechly will be gone by the time you get there. I think a guy like Dont'a Hightower could be available in the first round, but there are positives and negatives about him. But he's a big, strong, downhill inside linebacker. Q. Can you give me your impressions of where you think the Lions are right now as an organization and maybe some of the things that they need to be targeting in this year's draft? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I think they've done a great job. I think the marriage at head coach and general manager has been phenomenal. Offensively you could probably make the case that they're not too dissimilar from the New Orleans Saints at the skill positions. Their quarterback is very good. Their wide receivers that they have match-up with the New Orleans wide receivers. They've got a tight end, actually, two tight ends that can play. Maybe not one of them as good as Jimmy Graham. But they've got a couple different tight ends that can play. The running back situation is one where it's a little different than New Orleans, but hopefully with the return of injured players like Michael Leshore and Jahvid Best, that should be accomplishable also. But I think what you're looking for is a left tackle. Backus is older. You have to protect your quarterback, and if you talk offense, that's where you need to start. However, what they need to do is continue to get better on defense. I would be


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looking at corner and linebacker, because you have to feel pretty good, especially if you can re-sign Cliff Avril about your front four. Q. Any names you can throw out there as far as guys that maybe they should be targeting or selecting from that position in the first round? MIKE MAYOCK: I think if you're talking about corners, Claiborne will probably be gone. I think Dre' Kirkpatrick from Alabama could be gone at that point. So you're looking at Janoris Jenkins from North Alabama who is one of the ultimate boom or bust guys in this draft. He's got great ability, but has slid a little bit because of off the field. I think he's a logical guy. I think Ronnell Lewis from Oklahoma, who is kind of a late one to early two, an outside linebacker would be a logical guy. Q. I know you talked about the Patriots defensively a couple questions ago. But if they were to go offense, where do you see the biggest need for them? MIKE MAYOCK: Probably at wide receiver. Welker's had two career years, and those tight ends have changed the way people look at offense in this league. You have to give Bill and his coaching staff a lot of credit for crafting what they've crafted with that offense. However, having said that, they're based between Welker and the tight ends. They're based middle of the field more than they are vertically. I think a vertical wide receiver could really help them. Q. Would you comment, please, on the wisdom of Cleveland signing Matt Flynn versus going after Robert Griffin? MIKE MAYOCK: Well, boy, is that an interesting question. The whole Matt Flynn thing is interesting to me because when you look at the history of quarterbacks that have been kind of back-up guys that have played a few games and then moved on and been paid a lot of money, the latest one is Kevin Kolb, of course. There are mixed results there. On one side is Matt Hasselbeck who has gone on to be a very good quarterback. You could probably even throw Brett Favre in there way back. But bottom line to me, is the league has minimal amount of tape on Matt Flynn, and the league didn't think that highly of him when he came out of college. So what is the answer? Is he the guy that we've seen in those couple of starts that he's had

where he's lit it up and been phenomenal? Or is it the residue of wonderful wide receivers and a functioning offense where he's one more component in there? My question would be over a period of time, eight, ten, 12, 14 games where the league has a chance to get tape on Matt Flynn at that point, how effective is he? So that's kind of one side of the coin. You've got a little NFL tape that you can hang your hat on. The other side of the coin is you're bringing up one of the most gifted kids in the last several years in this draft in Robert Griffin. Is there some down side to Robert Griffin? Yes, there is. However, you probably have the opportunity to move up and get him if you want him. To me, that is a pretty exciting proposition to build your young franchise around maybe the most exciting young player in this year's draft. So I think there are positives and negatives because there is some downside to Griffin also, some risk involved on both sides. I think as an organization, you say to yourself, what do you want to be? You're probably a little bit more -- with Flynn you're probably a little bit more saying we think we know what we're getting there, and it's a more conventional style NFL attack. Versus with Griffin, grab ahold of the seat of your pants and we're going for a ride. It might be really special. On the other hand, it might not. I think it's intriguing. Q. Going to hit you with the quarterback question here. If I put the GM hat on you, how would you rate Matt Ryan, Sam Bradford, Matt Stafford, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck? Those five guys, how would you take them right now if you're starting a new team? MIKE MAYOCK: Boy, you've got to tell me what my basis is? Is my basis them coming out of college or is my basis what I know about them right now? Q. No, what you know right now. MIKE MAYOCK: What I know today? Q. Yep. MIKE MAYOCK: So you're asking me if I would take Matt Ryan after four years in the league versus Andrew Luck going into his first year? Q. Yeah, pretty much. MIKE MAYOCK: Are we playing fantasy


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football here? Q. Well, everyone tells us Andrew Luck is a once in a generation guy. We've got tape on Matt Ryan, I know you love him though there are questions about him. Cam Newton has kind of become this wonder, can do it all guy, but a different player than Luck. And we saw what Matt Stafford can do this year. So what direction would you go given the choice of those guys. MIKE MAYOCK: If I could have any one of those guys this year where they stand right now? Is that what you're saying? Q. Yeah, yeah. MIKE MAYOCK: It would be hard to put Andrew Luck up there because he's a college kid. I think it's biased against Andrew Luck the way the question is, is I guess what I'm saying. I'm going to go with the known commodities and know what I'm getting as opposed to somebody who has never taken a snap in the NFL. If you want me to compare them to those guys when they came out, that's one thing. But Matthew Stafford is turning into a Pro Bowl quarterback if he can stay healthy, that's his problem. Matt Ryan needs to take the next step. To do that, I think he needs offensive line help. But Matt Ryan is at a point now where he needs to make that next step to win some playoff games and become that next level quarterback. Cam Newton had a year that was mind boggling to me. They will continue to build around him. The question is how well will NFL defenses adapt to what Carolina did a year ago? Will Cam Newton continue to work as hard as he needs to to stay ahead of that curve is this who is the other quarterback? Q. You could throw Bradford out, unless you wanted to. MIKE MAYOCK: Bradford to me is in there with Stafford. All pro ability, have already shown the ability to play at that level. It's just about the injuries. So those two are about injuries. Matt Ryan needs to step it up to another level. When you throw Andrew Luck into that grouping, I think he falls from an intellect with passion for the game of football, somewhere in that kind of Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan mold. That's how much the kid loves it. As far as ability, I don't think he's quite in the Peyton Manning mold, but I think he's close. I think he's got a little more ability than Matt Ryan did when he came out. But I don't put him up there

as a once-in-a-lifetime guy. I've never said that about him. I think he's in that same category with a Bradford and that kind of guy that came out as a top pick. But I'm not sitting here trying to tell I think he's going to beat Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Q. Would you take him over Cam? MIKE MAYOCK: I would probably take him over Cam, yes. Q. What would constitute a successful combine for him? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't know if he's going to throw the ball. It's really been interesting, the last five or six years since we've been televising this thing. I think all the participation is up everywhere at every position. But the quarterback thing, most of the agents are still able to convince the top level quarterbacks why should you throw the football to wide receivers you don't know who might break it off at 8 instead of 10. Sleep in your own bed. Be comfortable. Throw your wide receivers in a scripted workout. That's why I gave Cam Newton credit last year. He came out and threw the football erratically and still became the first pick in the draft. He showed people he wasn't afraid to throw the football in the combine. That's a long way to saying what I think we're probably going to get from Andrew Luck, he probably won't throw the football. What we will see is a really athletic kid that runs a decent 40, probably in the 4.7 range, has good foot work. And more than anything, and this is where we won't see him on television, more than anything, he's going to win the battle in the board rooms. He's going to sit down with teams and get up on the boards and draw what he knows about the game of football. He'll process and assimilate information from those teams and spit it back at them. All of those top teams will go away going, wow, I want that guy. Q. The popular belief is that after Luck and Griffin, it will be hard to find a pro quarterback. Do you agree with that? MIKE MAYOCK: It's kind of interesting, after last year we had Ponder and Locker, go in the first 12 picks and I think we were all surprised. I think the same thing could happen with Tannehill this year, the kid from Texas A&M. He's coming off a foot injury and will not throw at the combine. I


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think he's going to throw at his pro day late in March. He's got everything you want. He's got size, arm strength. He's a really good athlete. All you have to do is look at his tape as a wide receiver a year ago. He's a big, strong, fast kid with a really good arm. What I don't like about him is he waits for routes to develop before he throws the football. In other words, he lacks anticipation, and because of that he throws late in the coverage and makes mistakes. Now, that's not atypical for a lot of young quarterbacks in college football, especially ones that only have a year and a half of starting under their belt. So he hasn't started as many games as I'd like to see from a typical first round NFL quarterback. You'd typically like to see at least 25 minimum starting assignments in college. But I think he's going to be a first round guy. Then after that, people will start to evaluate Brandon Weeden from Oklahoma State. When you look at Weeden, there are two negatives. One is his age. Everybody knows he's 28 years old. You have to decide as a franchise how much of a negative that is. The other thing is I think he struggles when he has to reset in the pocket. He's got to quicken up all the process in the pocket, feet, arms, decision making, everything. He's 28 years old, and you have to ask yourself at what point is he going to be our starting quarterback? If the answer is immediately, somebody might take him late one. But I think he's more like a second round pick. Q. If the Rams don't trade out of that number two pick. It could come down to Blackmon versus Kalil. Just wondered what you thought of both of those guys strengths ask weaknesses? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, they're the two logical guys. You probably could throw a corner in there also. The Claiborne kid from LSU. But I think Blackmon and Kalil are the most two logical. Kalil is a wonderfully gifted left tackle. He's got great feet, long arms, and he fits the bill for the athleticism look in an all pro left tackle. What he doesn't have yet is the core strength that you're going to look for that will happen two or three years from now. And every once in a while he gets bull rushed. Every once in a while at the point of attack, he's going to struggle. But he does what the NFL demands from their left tackles, which is he ultimately will be an exceptional pass protector.

As far as Blackmon is concerned, I think you have to look at him like Larry Fitzgerald a few years ago, which is I don't think he's going to run a great 40. I think he's going to run a 4.5, or a 4.52 somewhere in there, and I think you have to say that's okay. He's big, he's physical, he's got tremendous body control and tremendous ball skills. I don't think you're going to see a guy that wows you with vertical speed, but his body control, hands and ability to catch the football are exceptional. Q. Saying that, do you think it's important for Blackmon to run a 40 at the combine? MIKE MAYOCK: I think guys are crazy not to. Not because I work for the NFL, but I look at it like a former player. You get two shots at the apple if you run at the combine. I'll bring up Joe Hayden as an example a few years ago. Joe Hayden ran a poor time at the combine. Ran back to his pro day and ran a great time and ended up being the 7th pick in the draft. He didn't get dinged for the bad time he ran in the combine. People just want to see him run. That's what I would say to Blackmon. Blackmon comes out there and runs 4.48, he doesn't even have to worry about running at his pro day. He can just concentrate on running routes and getting ready to catch a football. If I was playing today and I was a positional player, I would train my tail off to get ready for the 40 at the combine so I could get rid of the 40 and the cone drills and all those non-football drills I'd love to get off my plate so I could just concentrate on football for my pro day. Q. Lot of people have linked the Eagles with Luke Kuechly. Most people link linebackers where he needs to go. Can you talk about what it is that he does well that's got him rated so highly? And if he's not there, what his options are at middle linebacker at that point? MIKE MAYOCK: I think he's the best inside linebacker in this draft by far. He's a natural three-year junior. He's got more production than you could imagine. He's never been hurt. He's got no significant injuries. He's clean off the field, intelligent. He's got great instincts, and he's a better athlete than people think. People think he's an inside linebacker from Boston College, so he can't run. Well, he can run. I've put on -- I'm going to say, five or six tapes at


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least of this kid -- every once in a while he's going to get enveloped by a big body. But his instincts are so good and his ability to move under or over a block are so good, and his play making and instincts are so good. Think about Sean Lee. That is the best comparison. Sean Lee went in the second round to Dallas, but has become a Pro Bowl inside linebacker. And I think this kid is very similar and has none of the knee issues that Sean had, and is a slightly better athlete. So if he's not there, I think you've got a little bit of a problem inside. Dont'a Hightower could be there. I don't think Dont'a Hightower from Alabama is worthy of the fifth pick in the draft. And I don't think there are any other inside linebackers worthy of that pick. So from my perspective, if it's not Kuechly at 15 and you're looking inside, I don't see an inside linebacker. Some people like Vontaze Burfict from Arizona State, I'm not a fan at all. So I think he'd be better off dropping down into the second or third round at that point. Q. Speaking of Vontaze Burfict, do you see any way, given the liabilities that come with him, he gets taken in the first round and in that, assess maybe how badly he hurt himself with his final year at Arizona State? MIKE MAYOCK: I think some of the attention throughout the media with all the penalties and all those issues, I think they're a little bit too much. I just watched a bunch of his tape the other day, and I said forget the penalties and all is that stuff that surrounds him. What kind of football player is he? And I came away unimpressed. From my perspective, if he gets a chance at a blow-up hit where he can just knock somebody into the next century, he's going to take it and it's going to look really good. That's where he's impressive. When he sees something and comes downhill and blows it up, it's really good. However, the other major percentage of the time is his instincts aren't good. He gets enveloped by big bodies. He runs around end blocks. For a big, strong guy, he's nowhere near as good at the point of attack as I thought he would be. So that's even before you factor in all the other elements. So from my perspective, I don't see first round at all. Q. Can you evaluate how the Bengals have done in the last couple of drafts and

where can they help themselves at 17 and 21 in this first round? MIKE MAYOCK: At 17 and 21. It's interesting. Having done their playoff game and being around them a little bit, I think sometimes we all ding them a little bit too much because of the history of the draft and some of the kid that's they've drafted have been buffed, whatever. Then you go to the Pro Bowl and realize they have four players under age 25 in the Pro Bowl, and you go that's pretty good. That's impressive. There are some really good young players to build around in that defense. Mike Zimmer does a good job of moving those components around in his scheme. I think with the loss of Jonathan Joseph and what you ended up having to play with in that secondary at the end of the year, I think from my perspective, I'd love to see a corner get in there and compete from day one. Q. What other position do you think, I know it might be a little bit sketchy at 17. They might have to reach -- are there any other positions that might be good there? MIKE MAYOCK: It depends what you want to do at your running back position. I don't think Richardson's going to be there at that point. If he's not there, I don't see a first round running back. That's my opinion. Other people think there are some first round running backs. I look at that offensive line of yours and think they've done a nice job with it, but it still has to continue to be upgraded. The nice thing about where they are now is I don't think they have to reach as far position wise as they used to. If they have one guy and they want to go get him, that's fine. But what I like with those two picks is you're in the middle of the first round, and you have an opportunity to say who is the best football player there? Not necessarily reach because you need a position so badly. Q. You mentioned Ronnell Lewis earlier, the defensive end and linebacker prospect from Oklahoma. Can you expand on him? He had kind of an up-and-down college career, but he has freakish athletic ability. He's got lingering injury concerns maybe? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I think he's kind of an intriguing prospect because I didn't know much about him until I put the tape on. I want to see what his size is also. He's a little bit of a tweener guy sizewise also. But what you can't deny are his movement skills.


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In today's NFL world, if you've got exceptional movement skills and the ability to rushed quarterback, you're going to make a living and you may get drafted fairly high. So there are no doubts that there are concerns about durability. He'll often play out of position at Oklahoma. You put the Baylor tape on, and he's playing the five technique, which is the defensive end and a three-four, but he's still getting pressure on the quarterback against that tackle. I think he's probably going to have to stand up so I'm anxious to see him do those conversion drills at the combine where the defensive ends stand up and play outside linebacker. He's listed as a defensive end for the combine purposes, but I think most people think he's going to end up as an outside linebacker. I'm intrigued enough about the kid to think that if he performs well at the combine, if his size checks out and his injuries check out, I've got him as a solid second round pick. His ability might even be higher than that. Q. I wanted to ask you really quick about two of the kids out of Virginia. Wilson out of Virginia Tech and Chase Minnifield out of Virginia. They seem to be the highest ranked kids. I was wondering what your opinion is and where they project in the draft? MIKE MAYOCK: I like Minnifield. Good blood line, athletic kid, smart kid, plays well. I've got a second round grade on him right now. Who was the other one? I didn't hear you. Q. Dave Wilson, the running back out of Tech. MIKE MAYOCK: Oh, yeah. He's interesting. There are some people that think he could be a first round pick. I probably did four games of his last week. I think he's really quick with great feet and balance. I think he's kind of a downhill one-cut guy, which is atypical for his size. He doesn't have quite as much shake and bake and make you miss. But his feet are so good, and his quickness in short areas is so good. He makes you miss anyway. What I like about him is his burst, acceleration, and balance. I have him as a second round guy. Q. Does he compare to anybody that might be in the league now? MIKE MAYOCK: Interestingly enough, in my notes, the guy I compared him to is the junior from Miami this year, Lamar Miller. I think they're both very similarly sized, and I think they both

down hill, one cut, make you miss that way as opposed to having too much shake and bake. I've got them really closely grouped early in the second round. I think they're really good football players. Q. Asking you from the Redskins context, what questions remain outstanding about Robert Griffin III? And are those questions he can answer at the combine? MIKE MAYOCK: I'm a big believer that this whole thing's a process. I don't think anybody's answering all the questions at The Senior Bowl or the combine or the pro day. I think it's all part of the process. First of all, we go to the quarterback question, will he even throw the football? We don't know if he's going to throw. If I was him, I'd throw it with that arm to be honest with you. So the reality with this kid is all I see on tape is he doesn't -- I love everything. I love everything about the kid. The question I have is he doesn't throw with anticipation. Mostly because he doesn't have to. In that offense, there is minimal foot work, and they spread it out so wide. He's got some talented, gifted receivers, and he's got great touch and accuracy, medium and deep. He's got arm strength. He's got athletic ability. He's tough. He takes hits. But he doesn't anticipate throws. He waits until they develop and then throws them. Similar to what I said about Tannehill earlier, similar thing. Lot of college kids have it. My only question for him is will he develop that? You won't find that at the combine. I think where you're going to find it is throughout the process when teams meet with this kid and they sit down and put the tape on and break the tape down, they talk football and ask him what he sees or doesn't see. I think that's part of the process of learning how much a quarterback knows today, and how quickly he picks up what you're trying to teach him. Q. Is his vision down the field good? You like the way he stands in the pocket and sees down field? MIKE MAYOCK: I do. I didn't expect to see that to be honest with you when I put the tape on. He'll stay in and take hits. We know he can run also, and he will run. But he initially looks to get the football down the field. I like that. His eyes are down the field. He's conscious of the fact that he can make big plays with his eyes and his arms as opposed to his leg. So, yeah, I think he already has that.


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Q. Where does Alshon Jeffery fit into that group of four wide receivers that you mentioned, or does he? How much does his weight have to do with what ends up happening with him? MIKE MAYOCK: That's a good one. He's not in my Top 5. I've got him at No. 5 right now. My four are Blackmon, Kendall Wright, Michael Floyd, and Reuben Randle. Now he was listed at what, 6'4", 229. I don't know what he actually played at. I've heard recently, and I know there were all those rumors out there that he put weight on. I don't really care what he weighs in at. If he's smart and his agent is smart, he'll come in at 220, in the best shape of his life, ready to run a 40. Because just like Mohamed Sanu, just like a bunch of other big bodied wide receivers in this particular draft, Fuller from A&M, there are a bunch of the big body guys. What they run is going to be important Alshon Jeffrey does not separate. He struggles getting off the line of scrimmage against quality press corners. Same with Mohamed Sanu. So what those guys run is important. To me he ought to come in no higher than 220. He needs to run somewhere in those mid 4.5. Worst case scenario, you see the mid 4.5, 4.6, it's going to be a problem. Q. If he comes in at a 235 or 240, is that a big red flag or something that he can erase if he turns it around by pro day? MIKE MAYOCK: Big and fast is good. Big and slow is bad. So, if he comes in for 235 and runs well, nobody's going to say a word. But the bottom line is either at the combine or the pro day, he has got to run well. Q. If Matt Barkley had decided to enter this draft, where would he have fit in? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't really -- I've watched enough of his tape to answer that. But it's not fair to the kids in the draft. He's not in the draft, and I haven't studied him as a draft pick. I only studied him to get ready for the Notre Dame game. So we'll have to wait till next year for that one. Q. My other question is about Nick Perry. You're asking about the defensive end, linebacker types. Maybe a super strong year for that. Where does he fit in to that equation? MIKE MAYOCK: I've got him as my number five defensive end in this draft. I think he was up-and-down this year as a USC player. I

think he's going to test extremely well. I think he's going to be one of those guys that the combine helps and the pro day helps because he's a little bit of an athletic freak. So there were games this year where I thought, wow, this kid could be a first round pick. There were games where I thought he was a second or third round pick. So I think the lack of consistency will hurt him a little bit. But I think he'll test extremely well. He looks good in a pair of shorts. He moves well. He's got some natural pass-rush ability. Q. You just talked Alshon Jeffrey and Mohamed Sinu, would you put Reuben Randle into that same category? I'm curious about receivers who are going to be available to the 49ers at pick number 30? MIKE MAYOCK: I think Reuben Randle is going to run. I don't think there is a question about what he's going to run. I think he's going to run well. When I say a big bodied wide receiver he's listed at 6'4", 209, I believe. I think he's going to run just fine. I've got a first round grade on him. I have Blackmon, Kendall Wright, Michael Floyd, and Reuben Randle with first round grades. I think they're the four wideouts that should go in the first round. From my perspective, Randle should go in the second half of the first round, somewhere in that 20 to 30 range. If he comes into the combine and runs 4.38 at 208 pounds, that might change some things. He might go higher. But he's extremely well thought of. He's a guy that could fit for the 49ers depending on how this process plays out. Q. If he did go earlier and had that time. What do you think of Sinu? He needs to show that he can get separation? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't have Alshon Jeffrey or Mohamed Sinu with first round grades. On tape for me, neither of them separate. They struggle getting off press coverage, and by the way, Sinu had 114 catches this year. Some of them were of the sick variety. Just really impressive, one handed, beautiful catches. So he's a guy I want to like and believe in, but he's not sudden. He doesn't have great acceleration, and in the NFL, everything's going to be contested. That's where you get nervous with some of those big bodied guys. If they can't get open, is everything throw going to be contested?


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Q. I wanted to ask you about Devon Still and where you have him ranked, how you feel about him, strengths, weaknesses? Does the combine typically matter for defensive tackle as far as improving or not improving their stock? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, the combine does matter because it's a great opportunity to see the dancing bears without their pads on. What kind of shape they're in and especially their ability to bend and their initial quickness. Remember, we're worried about explosion and quickness with defensive linemen. Some of those cone drills and the football drills they do are exceptionally good for me to watch offensive and defensive linemen. Yeah, I do think they're important. I think as far as he's concerned, he's in the deepest position in this year's draft. Prior to the juniors coming out, I had him as the number one defensive tackle in this draft. When I got a look at Brockers and Jerel Worthy, and Dontari Poe, I said oh, oh, wow. So I have those three juniors ahead of Still. I've got first round grades on anywhere from five to seven defensive tackles. Now they're not all going. But my point is depending on who you like and what scheme you play in, Fletcher Cox from Mississippi State, Kendall Reyes from UCONN, Brandon Thompson from Clemson, plus the guys I already mentioned all seven of those guys are in the mix. Probably four or five will go in the first round. Devon Still has a great body, a great skill set. He helped himself this year but there is a consistency or lack of consistency factor that he's got to work on when he's talking to scouts and coaches about his ability to show up on every snap. Q. Does he pass rush or run stop? MIKE MAYOCK: I think he can do both. He's a gifted kid. When you're talking about these kind of players in the first round they better be able to do both or be so exceptional at one of them that it pushes them into the first round. Q. In all the tape you watched, the All-Star Games you've covered and all of that, can you give us maybe five to ten kids off the top of your head who need the combine to up their stock more than most? MIKE MAYOCK: I think a guy like LaMichael James from Oregon, an underclassmen who we've seen in one style of offense. Love to see him come out and what kind of movement

skills he has. Not only in the 40, which I expect him to be exceptional at, but also in the cone drills and football drills. It's a change of pace. I think he's a guy that could come in here and people go, wow, that's pretty good. We've already talked about two or three wide receivers. For instance, Michael Floyd at Notre Dame he cleaned himself up on and off the field. Exceptional year. Didn't play in the Senior Bowl, which was a disappointment to me. He needs to run well. He needs to catch a football. I hope he does everything. I hope he doesn't put everything just on his pro day at Notre Dame. From the wide receiver category, Alshon Jeffrey, and Mohamed Sinu for sure all need big combines. The other one Jeff Fuller from Texas A&M had a poor year and another one of those big body guys that struggles to separate. All of those tight ends, I don't have a first round tight end. They're all kind of the build up speed guys. The quick, Hernandez type people where they're not in line blockers. So there is not a lot you can do at the combine if you're a tight end except run fast. Then you get on the defensive side, I mentioned Luke Kuechly from Boston College. If he runs 4.7 in that range, he's a top 15 pick. If he runs 4.8 or worse, there is going to be a problem. So it's important for him. Then you get to the defensive backs where, again, the combine is all about speed and quickness. A guy like Leonard Johnson from Iowa State, I think he plays better than he will time. If he times poorly, he could be a fourth round pick instead of a second round pick. Trumaine Johnson from Montana, he's a long, physical corner. Is he a corner or a safety? He might be Malcolm Jenkins. Harrison Smith from Notre Dame, lot of people think he's not going to run well. I think he's going to surprise people. He's a really good football player. I've got a second round grade on him. So off the top of my head, there are probably six or eight guys that this is an important week for. Q. Just wanted to get back to the Lions for a quick second. You mentioned offensive tackle. Can you compare a couple? I don't know if the possibility at 23 or not, Jonathan Martin, Mike Adams. Do you see those guys as a left tackle? What are the chances they'd be there for the Lions at 23? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I think you hit on the two correct ones. I think Kalil and Reiff will be gone, and I think Martin and Adams are the two


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logical ones. Detroit is where, 23 or 24? Jonathan Martin to me, prototypical left tackle. Gifted athletically. Needs to get stronger, lot of things I said about Kalil, you could say about him. Needs to get stronger but will protect the quarterback. Mike Adams has had some off the field issues. I spoke with his offensive line coach the other day. He really helped himself at The Senior Bowl. I think he will continue to help himself at the combine. Most people had second round grades on Hill, but he's moving up. So I think he's a really logical guy for you to keep your eye on as we get closer to that 23rd pick this year. Q. Are there any offensive guards in that range too, I guess, assuming DeCastro is gone by that time? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't know. DeCastro's a logical guy. After him, Zeitler from Wisconsin is the next guard. But I think some team could take him in the first round, but he's a late one to mid two, and then after that, you don't have anyone you would say could be a first round player, no. Q. Is DeCastro a better prospect than Martin and Adams? MIKE MAYOCK: I think DeCastro's pretty sure. You can plug him in and play him day one. I think Adams is a little bit iffy just because of his past. I think Jonathan Martin's a pretty solid left tackle prospect. Q. I was curious about the other Ohio State guys like Posey and Herron. Do you think that scandal is any big deal in the NFL or do you think it's just more that they didn't play very much? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I don't think the scandal has much to do with it. When you're talking about what they did, it hurt Ohio State a lot and it hurt the individual players a little bit. But from an NFL perspective, it wasn't -- I mean, there are always two major things when you talk about off the field issues. One of them is drug use and the other one is violence, especially against women. You start getting away from those things and those are the hot button items. I don't think this is a big deal at all. I think the bigger thing is what kind of football player are they? We just got done talking about your left tackle. Your center had a decent Senior Bowl, and he's a mid to late round draft pick as an offensive center or maybe even a guard. That's what he played in high school.

DeVier Posey is a mid round wide receiver, decent size, pretty good. He does everything pretty well, nothing elite. Boom Herron, good player. Again, similar comment. He does a lot of things pretty well, but nothing elite. Nothing where you say he's a three-do you want back. But he's a good, solid player, so I think he's another mid round guy. Q. As to running backs and as to Richardson, is he a plug-in right away? 120 yards, 4.2 a carry as a rookie? MIKE MAYOCK: I believe he is, and I don't say that very often about running backs. I think the last guy where you bang the table this hard was Peterson when he came out of Oklahoma and was the seventh pick of Minnesota. So, yeah. I think his height, width, speed, toughness, all constitutes a pretty solid pick. Q. Is he a good fit for the Browns would you surmise? MIKE MAYOCK: I would surmise, absolutely. Part of it depends on what you're trying to do at the quarterback position. If you're going to stand pat with Colt McCoy, you better play great defense, special teams and run the football. If you're going to try to move up and get a Robert Griffin, then I think we're changing the conversation a little bit. Q. I have a question about Riley Rieff from Iowa. You had him initially first and now he's second among your tackles. Did you look at the tape? Is that part of the reason why he slipped is this what do you see out of him and where do you think he could go? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, it's a good question. When the juniors come out, plus or minus January 15th, I have not seen any tape on them. Basically I have to put my first Top 5 list out there the week we do the East-West game, which is in that timeframe. So I'm scrambling to watch tape of juniors at that point. But I've only probably seen a game or two on any of them. So I put the list out there, and over the last month, I've had an opportunity to watch more tape. I still like Riley Reiff a lot. I still think he's a starting left tackle in the NFL. I just don't think his upside is as high as Matt Kalil who is also an underclassman. However, when you start looking at the top ends of this draft, from a talent perspective, I don't think Riley Reiff should be a Top 10 pick, but I think he might be when it's all said and done. He's


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a really, solid, good technician. When they come out of Iowa, they're always well coached, especially the offensive linemen. You can plug him in day one. I think he's a better player right now than Bulaga was when he came out. And Bulaga started right away in Green Bay at right tackle. To me, his talent would dictate getting drafted somewhere plus or minus 20. But because of the value of the position and where we are in this draft, it wouldn't surprise me if he was a Top 10 pick. Q. I was just curious, a lot of people are talking about the Rams possibly auctioning off that second pick. What do you think would be a legitimate starting point for those discussions? What do you think that could ultimately bring back for the Rams? MIKE MAYOCK: I think the most logical one, and the one that everybody's talking about is the Browns need a quarterback moving up two slots and they happen to have 4 and 22. If I was the Rams, I'd be ecstatic with that deal. Q. Would that be enough to get the deal done or would you expect more? MIKE MAYOCK: If you're moving down two slots and picking up the 22nd pick in the draft, I'd be happy with that. Now the Rams might be asking for more, and I wouldn't blame them. But I would ultimately be very happy with that deal. Bottom line, if you look at it, two quarterbacks would be gone at that point. So if you move down the four, you're going to get the wide receiver or the left tackle. So you'll get one of the two guys you would have taken anyway, plus you get 22. Q. Is this draft set-up well for the Steelers and what need they have? Also, is Pitt's Lucas Nix be among the guard that's might be in the first three rounds or worthy of being taken in the first three rounds? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I like him, as a matter of fact. I've got about a mid to late third round grade on him. He's in that mix with a very talented group of interior offensive linemen. I kind of mix my centers and guards together when I evaluate them and call them all interior offensive linemen. But he's in that mix in the third round. As far as the Steelers are concerned, to me, offensive line, nose tackle and corner, probably depending on what's there when you start at number 24, but from an offensive line

perspective, we've already talked about some of those guys that I think are going to be there. I think the Steelers offensive line coach has done a phenomenal job the last come years kind of mixing and matching with all those injuries they've had. But they've got to continue to get younger and more athletic. They've got to protect their quarterback. That is first and foremost. Then I think the nose tackle position is important from that defense. Always has been. At the defensive tackle this year, you can go two or three rounds deep and get a really good football player. So whether you get them at 24 or get them further down, I think you can get a good football player. I also believe they've got to continue to replenish in the defensive back field both at corner and at safety. You could talk about Polamalu and Ryan Clark being all pro, but they're both older. You've got to continue to look at that. So those are the areas that are of need immediately. The defensive tackle position is deep. The interior offensive line position is deep. The safety position is not very good. Q. I'd like to go deeper into the quarterback pool, if I could. Your early projections or rankings, had you Russell Wilson listened as they figured them out. Can you expand on what that process is? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I was intrigued by Russell Wilson and Kellen Moore. I called them both figure 'em out. They don't look, smell or taste like what those first round quarterbacks are supposed to look like. They're not 6'4, 230 with rocket arms, et cetera. But I look at Russell Wilson, and I saw him play as a freshman at N.C. State in person at North Carolina. I saw him personally beat a pretty good football team without a whole lot of help. I remember thinking, wow, this kid really gets it. He gets the game of football. No matter how small he was, he scrambled, but he wasn't just a scrambler. His eyes stayed down the field, he drew people up, threw it over them, and he had a better arm than people think he has. I'm intrigued by the kid. I'm anxious to watch the process develop as we get closer to April because he went to the Senior Bowl. He won a whole lot of games. His numbers were huge this year at Wisconsin, goes to the Senior Bowl. I talked to some of the coaches there that work with him. I watched him every day. His arm strength is


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better than people think. He's under 6-feet tall, which is the first red flag. I think he's much more comfortable as he moves around the pocket than he is if he just sits there. But he's one of those guys where you've got to figure them out and say, okay, is he a starting quarterback? Do we think he can be a starting quarterback? If so, we put one value on him. If not, we put another value on him. He's the kind of guy that I would love to have as a back-up. He's smart, instinctive. If your starter got hurt, he could leave you for three, four, five games and he's a kid I really like and want to continue to try to figure out. Q. Is it too early to determine whether he could develop into a starter, or is that something you won't know until you get him? MIKE MAYOCK: Well, I think with the limitations physically, you'll probably look at him and say is there upside? You have to look at the upside. But we have to see what we have first. So I think that's going to limit where he gets drafted. I don't think he'll be a first, second round guy. Typically if you're not, you're not looked at as a starting quarterback in this league. However, again, I keep going back to the intangibles. The fact that he's got a better arm than people. He's smart, he's tough, he's a winner, and he's got a better arm than people think. So let's figure out if this kid can be a starter. Q. If you were the Browns, would you jump at the chance to move up to number two to get RG3? Would they have to move up to number two to get him? And when you said you would strap in to go for that right, you said it might be fun but maybe not. I wanted you to expound on that too. MIKE MAYOCK: If it's me, I'm looking at that real hard. I want to go get RG3. I'm going to examine the free agent prospects also, but if you're talking purely draft, I'm looking to move up to two as opposed to three. If I move to three, what if the Redskins come up to two? Obviously I'd like to give less. I'd rather not give up number 22 also. But I think that's short sighted when you're talking about trying to secure your future at the most important position in all of sports. So I think they have to look to upgrade. As much as I like Colt McCoy, I think they have to look to upgrade that position. They have to do whatever it takes to get there. That is the first thing.

The second thing, I think it will be a hell of a ride. The more tape on put on of this kid, the more fun I have watching him. I was pleasantly surprised by, as I said earlier, his pocket awareness, his eyes down the field, and his physical toughness is outstanding. He takes a lot of hits and it doesn't bother him. So all of those things mean a lot to me. Again, the one thing where I said, well, let's go along for a ride, however. The however piece of it is he's going to have to learn to anticipate and get the ball out of his hands more quickly so he doesn't continue to take those kind of hits. The bottom line for me is that he's a play maker. Bottom line, he's a play maker. That's what this league is all about at that position. Q. What do you see for the Falcons there in the second round of tight ends from Stanford that a lot of people are talking about him. Another guy that fixed the line probably can't do that in the draft. What are you seeing around for them? And these two Georgia receivers, the tight end Charles and Steven, the kid at Georgia Tech, what do you see from those two kids? MIKE MAYOCK: Sure. Let's see. First, as far as plus or minus number 50 in the second round, to me offensive line defensive line have to be the priorities. I get the tight end thing. I don't have any tight ends in the first round. So, how quickly they come off the board, and I think they're going to come off the board in the second round, will be kind of interesting. So I think Charles, Orson Charles will be gone by 50. Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen are the next two. And both of them are logical. The problem with all three of them are none of them are in-line blockers. So to me, the biggest problem Atlanta has right now is they've got to do a better job of protecting Matt Ryan. They went all in on Julio last year. They're more explosive from a skill position perspective. But I think they've got to do a much better job of protecting Matt Ryan, and they have to run the football. Having said all those things, you're looking for an Orson Charles. I think he's a second round pick that goes somewhere between 43 and 45. The kid from Georgia Tech, the wide receiver, I've got him as a fourth round grade right now. Interested to see how fast he is. He's a big kid listed at 6'4", 205. I'm interested to see where he runs and that will help determine where he goes.


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Q. Pretty clear the Panthers need help defensively at 8 or 9 spot, that will be the priority. Just trying to figure out if they ought to look at corner or defensive tackle there ask where they can get the most bang for their buck? MIKE MAYOCK: Again, it depends who is off the board at that point. I kind of feel like the most solid, believe it or not, the first seven or eight picks are pretty solid. Then after that, there are some questions. They're right on the cusp of that with that coin flip. If you assume that Morris Claiborne the corner from LSU is gone. You start looking at, I've got Michael Brockers from LSU, the defensive tackle is a potential Top 10 pick, and I think he's a logical guy that could play even outside if you needed him to. He's a really explosive, 6'5", 300-pound defensive tackle. I think Brockers is really logical for them right there. The question is if you don't like Brockers, to me the only concern there is he's a one-year guy. But if you're not going to go Brockers at defensive tackle and you want to go corner, you're going to get the number two or three corner. That's probably Dre' Kirkpatrick from Alabama. He's big and he's long. I'm not sure what he's going to run. Some people might even think he could convert to safety down the road. But he's a kid I like a lot. But is that too high for him is the question? Sitting there at eight or nine, you've got to get the best football player on the board. Q. A while ago you were talking about the Eagles and your view that Kuechly isn't there at 15, that there isn't another inside linebacker that you would take that high. I guess I'm wondering what would you do -- it sounds like there is going to be good defensive tackles there. Even if Kuechly were there, do you get better value out of a defensive tackle in this draft at 15 maybe than you do in a linebacker? MIKE MAYOCK: Typically the answer is yes. Typically the answer is if both players are approximately equally ranked, then you'd probably want to go defensive tackle first. You and I both know the Eagles have struggled at that inside linebacker position for a long time now. I think Kuechly is a special player, and I think Kuechly can help solidify what's happening on that defense. He's going to get everybody lined up in the right place. He's going to play well. I

think he starts day one, and he helps really solidify what's going on upfront there. Now, having said that, at 15, there could be two or three explosive defensive tackles sitting there. Jerel Worthy from Michigan State. I thought he threw around the Wisconsin offensive linemen. Those Wisconsin offensive linemen can play. And I thought he dominated the front of that game. He doesn't play as often as I like, but he's got special abilities. This Donteri Poe from Memphis is 350 pounds. He's got a physical skill set that reminds me of Haloti Ngata. Don't think he's Haloti Ngata. He's that big and he's got those kind of movement skills. But he's so raw, it's scary. He might not make a tackle year one. You know what I mean? He's one of those guys. If I'm the Eagles and Kuechly's there, that might be a slam dunk for me. I know what I'm getting and I'm plugging a huge hole. Q. I know you talked about Brandon Weeden earlier on. Just want a sense from you how ready he is to play right away or at least compete for a job. Whether you think the Chiefs might make some sense for him in the second round? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I think you probably have him tracked in the right place, right there in that second round. I like him. I saw him throw the football in gym shorts last summer at the Manning Academy. He's really accurate when he sets his feet. He's one of those guys that I call a timing rhythmic guy. His accuracy is tied into those things. He's got to be on time in a good rhythm, and when that happens, he's really, really good. However, when he has to hurry and hasten the process, when he has to reset his feet, he loses some of that great accuracy. He's not nifty in the pocket. The conundrum here, to me that means you have a guy that you have to develop a little bit. He's got to speed process up, he's got to make decisions more quickly, and he's 28 years old. That's kind of the problem here. I'm of the opinion having gotten to know him a little bit and watching his work ethic, I think he's the kind of guy that you had to throw him in there, he could play this year. He would take a beating a little bit, but he would develop. Q. Is there a guy he reminds you of? A guy of recent NFL era or he's playing right now that you watch him and say, hey, this guy has the same skills? MIKE MAYOCK: Off the top of my head, a lot of times I write down comps when I'm watching


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a kid. The one guy I wouldn't say no to is Chris Weinke. Everybody else wants to put him into that Chris Weinke category because of his age. I think he's much more developed than that and a better quarterback than that. But off the top of my head, probably not. No, sorry. Q. You're Houston in that eight-nine area. Your two needs are right tackle and a hand in the dirt four-three pass rusher, which of those positions gives you better value in the second round? MIKE MAYOCK: I find it hard to take a right tackle at number eight or nine. If it happens that way, that's okay. But I think you're looking for a left tackle in that slot. As far as the tackles are concerned, Riley Reiff is a guy that would make sense, because he can play on either side. Can he start on the right and kick to the left ultimately. He can start at left tackle. I think Riley Reiff is a guy that if you're talking about the eight-nine slot and talking about a tackle, that would be it, because Kalil will be gone. That would be the only guy I would bang the table for. If you dropped into the second round and Cordy Glenn from Georgia was there, he might be that right tackle you're talking about. Bobby Massey from Ole Miss could be that tackle. So there are some second round tackles that are interesting. As far as a four-three defensive end? Q. Yeah, a hand in the dirt pass rusher. MIKE MAYOCK: You might have heard me say at the beginning of the call, I don't like the defensive ends in this year's draft. I'm not a Quinton Coples guy. Most people think he's a Top 10 pick. He's a logical guy in that slot. People are going to place him there in a lot of mock drafts, and he looks the part. He's pretty. He's got all kinds of ability and he's going to remind a lot of people of Julius Peppers. That all sounds pretty good, but I'd be scared to death there. He did not play well or hard as a senior. It's probably a little high from Melvin Ingram or anybody else as a hand in the dirt defensive end. But Melvin Ingram would be the guy I would say, okay, if had you to push are there, I'd say him because I can move him all around. Defensive end, I can kick him inside on nickel sub-situations. I'd stand him up. He's a guy like Justin Tuck where you could have some fun with him.

Q. Does D end have good depth in the second round? MIKE MAYOCK: I like Vinny Curry from Marshall. I like him a lot. Maybe Chandler Jones from Syracuse. There is a guy from virginia in Cam Johnson that is a talented guy, but did not play well as a senior. I'm not a big fan of this year's four-three guys. Q. The Cowboys went with a safe solid pick in the round with Tyron Smith. Do you see them doing the same this year with DeCastro, or would they be better off targeting secondary help? MIKE MAYOCK: I've been a big believer that the secondary is what's kept them out of any potential Super Bowls the last eight or ten years, whether it was safety or corner, I think they need to upgrade back there. For me, it could be either one of those positions. They've got some former high round picks back there. One corner is getting back up there in age. The safety position has been the single -- if you look at their front seven, it's a Super Bowl defense. That's the way to put it. Their front seven to me can win a Super Bowl. Their back end can't hold up. So for me, you've got to have help on the back end. I think they have to continue to get younger and more athletic on the offensive line, and they started it last year. Not only did they have tie ran Smith, but they had that seventh round kid Nagy from Wisconsin who started until he got hurt. They had the free agent center. So they're getting younger and more athletic. But they have to continue the process. Q. Could you give a quick assessment of Mike Martin from Michigan. Is he just a three-four nose or is there something else there? Also relevant to the Lions, you're talking about depth at defensive tackle. Mike, there is not a way that they're going to draft a defensive tackle at 23 because it's the best available player, are they? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I'd be a little surprised if they went there. But you never know. They used to like to draft wide receivers up top, didn't they? Q. Right. MIKE MAYOCK: Different regime and different results, I guess. I would doubt they'd go defensive tackle with the first two first round


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tackles they have right now and how well they can play. As far as Mike Martin is concerned. He's active. I don't think he's just a three-four guy. I think can he play the three technique. He's quick enough to do that. He's in a good positional class of defensive tackle. I think he's a middle round defensive tackle that is in shape, plays hard, plays with leverage, and he's going to be a tough guy to get rid of. He's going to be in the rotation for somebody in the next couple of years? Q. I was wondering about the draft status of Darius Fleming at Notre Dame. I was wondering if his tape at Notre Dame helps him or hurts him? And how important is the combine for a wildcard like him? MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, he's an interesting guy. Because I do those games, I've had a close look at him. I'm surprised he's be not higher rated. The interesting comments I've gotten back from NFL people is he doesn't have a high rating. But once teams put the tape on him, they come back and say, wow, there is something here. Part of the problem is he's a tweener from a size perspective. Where do you play him and how do you play him? He's not long enough or big enough to be a four-three defensive end. He's been a three-four outside linebacker, not real long again. Can he stand up and play inside in the three-four? There are all kinds of questions surrounding him, but I think that's good for him, because they're asking those questions. They're trying to find a spot for him. This is what I do know: He has natural pass-rush ability. So no matter where you line him up, hand in the dirt or standing up, there will be value to NFL teams. To me, he's a draftable defensive end/outside linebacker/special teams player, and I think he'll probably look better than people think at the combine. I think he's going to surprise some people as we get closer to the draft. Q. You talked about Justin Blackmon a few minutes ago. But if he doesn't go at number two, where do you see him fitting in in the first ten picks or so? MIKE MAYOCK: If he doesn't go at number two, he could go at number three. He could go number four. If the Browns don't trade up. I mean, look at the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers really probably need a speed guy, because they've got a couple good, solid, young, possession receivers.

But you can go right down the Top 10 and pretty much say what about the Jaguars? I don't think the Jaguars would let him get past number 7. I think that would be the floor for him. As long as he runs a 4.50 plus or minus, I don't see anyway he can get past number 7. Does that make sense? Q. Two Boise State players if I could ask you about. Defensive end Tyrone Crawford who evidently impressed at the East Shrine workouts. Also, if you could speak to the positives and negatives of Kellen Moore? MIKE MAYOCK: The Crawford kid I liked a lot. He kind of opened my eyes at the east-west. What I think he is from a body perspective is what they call a five technique, which is the defensive end and the three-four. He's long enough. He's strong enough. He can lineup right across from the tackle and smack them in the mouth. The three-four teams love to find these kind of guys. I think he's a natural mid round pick. One thing I'll say about the Boise State guys, if you go watch them -- as far as the quarterback Kellen Moore. He's the other one we've got to figure out. He looks like he's 11 years old. He's a baby faced assassin. What I think he does better than any other quarterback in the entire draft is he anticipates and throws receivers open. And that's something that a lot of quarterbacks don't get until their fourth or fifth year in the NFL. Part of it is because he doesn't have a big arm. He's had to adapt probably since grade school in learning how to throw people open. He's tremendous. Q. Kurt Cousins did a nice job in practice. But how did he perform on his senior tape? MIKE MAYOCK: He performed well. What I like about him is you can put the tape on and see the skills translate at the next level. He's under center and he's in the gun. He's got good feet. He's a good athlete. I like his delivery and posture. He's got a good arm, not a great arm. Some of my notes over four or five games showed that I thought he had some trouble either moving to his left or throwing to his left. Unlocking that hip and having the same kind of delivery and accuracy back to his left side. But he's one of those guys that I think does everything pretty well, but he doesn't have any one elite skill. He's a natural, back-up quarterback whose upside could be down the road three or four years. He could be a T.J. Yates or


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better. Q. How high do you have him going? What kind of grade are you giving him? MIKE MAYOCK: I've got a fourth round grade on him. Q. I'm curious about the process in the film room and the combine. How important do you think that really is? Especially for a guy like Griffin who is playing in a different style of offense in college? MIKE MAYOCK: I think at the quarterback position, after you evaluate him as an athlete with arm strength and footwork and all the rest, I think the meetings are critical. It's not only the meetings at the combine. It's the meetings at the pro day, they come down to your school and spend a whole day with you. When you are talking about a potential top ten pick at the quarterback position, get done all the measurables, get done all that stuff, what's most important to me is the kid has to have a passion for the game of football. He's got to have a football IQ, and he's got to have an unbelievable work ethic. Those are the three most important things after you've evaluated all the measurables. You need to find that out about Robert Griffin. You need to find out how much he loves the games. Is he going to be the first one in the morning, the last one to leave, what is his aptitude to learn, put the tape on, can he learn? This is what we call this route and how it reads. Then you put the tape on and say this is what we do. How quickly can he put that tape on and spit it back to you? So I think a lot of this not just for Robert Griffin, but Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden, it's critical to get in the rooms and resonate confidence, look people in the eye and show them you can be a leader, and basically the face of your franchise. Q. Do you think that's something they can prepare for in their precombine workout? Was it something you kind of have or you don't? MIKE MAYOCK: I think the more they know about -- the more conversant they are about the technical game of football and pass protections and coverages, the more you can look, when you're 22 years old, the more you can look a 50-year-old man in the eye and answer the question and shake his hand and spit something back out to him, tell him this is what you did with pass protection, but you can't wait to learn about

how they do it in the NFL. The more you can show that eagerness to learn and the aptitude to learn, I think the more it's going to help you. Q. Mike, could you evaluate Florida's Chris Rainey? MIKE MAYOCK: Interesting guy. You have to figure out where do we line him up? Don't care where he runs, because we know he's fast. He might run 4.25, who knows what he's going to run. We know he's quick, explosive, and fast. He catches the ball well. So the question is going to be with his size, how do you evaluate him? With the value perspective, it comes down to what your plan is as an organization. If you're going to draft this kid, how many snaps a game are we going to get, and what do we expect in return games? When you answer those two questions, you come up with a value. A lot of people have a value for him in the third or fourth round, depending on how you answer those two questions. Q. I wanted to ask you about B.J. Carmen, and your take on him from the Shrine game, and what he needs to show in the combine? MIKE MAYOCK: He's an interesting guy. He stood out in the east west with his size and arm strength. You kind of gravitated towards him almost immediately. I think what he has to do is continue to show maturity and leadership. Why did you transfer. What were the reasons behind that? Are you going to throw the football? Are you afraid to throw the football? Guys like him need to come out there at the combine and participate fully in everything. He's not Andrew Luck. He's not Robert Griffin. So come out there, throw the football. I think his upper body and lower body need to stay connected. Sometimes I think when he gets in a hurry, he gets a little sloppy with his lower and upper body. But if he just comes out there and shows people that he's got a good, solid arm, he can get in the classroom and do all those things I was just talking about a minute ago. I think those are the most important things. He's going to test okay. He's going to look pretty good throwing the football. I think the important thing to do is look people in the eye and come across as impressively as possible as a student of the game and a passion for the game. Q. Where do you have him graded right now?


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MIKE MAYOCK: I've got him as a late draftable quarterback. Q. Can you compare and contrast Courtney Upshaw and Melvin Ingram? They seem to be somewhat similar body types, but you've got them at two different positions in your rankings. Maybe explain why and what might be different about those guys even though eyeballwise, they kind of look built similarly. MIKE MAYOCK: That's a really good question. Courtney Upshaw for me might end up at that defensive position before this thing's over with. If you look at their height and weight from the combine, they're almost identical. One was 272, one was 274, and the height was within a quarter of an inch. They are different body types, believe it or not. From the waist down, Upshaw's bigger. He's more of a defensive end from the waist down thank Ingram is. Even though I've got them listed opposite. I'll tell why in a minute. I think ultimately, Upshaw might be a better fit as a four-three defensive end, even though at Alabama he played that 34 rush linebacker position. Now the reason I still have him at linebacker is that is the position he played and where a lot of teams are grading him right now. But when you watch Alabama tape in their base defense, he's a 34 linebacker. When they're in the sub-package, he's a hand in the dirt four-three guy. So I think it helps the entire league to evaluate him. From my perspective, Upshaw might be better as a four-three end, and I'm probably going to move him there at some point. Ingram to me is a little different. He's not as big downstairs. He doesn't have quite the big butt and size as Upshaw does. But I like his movement skills better. I think can you move him around more. If you watch what they did with him at South Carolina, he showed up at nose tackle. He stood up at outside linebacker, stood up at inside linebacker. That's a long way of saying he reminds me of Justin Tuck. He can do those things. He's got natural pass rush ability, athletic, and can move him around. He's shown he has the aptitude to learn all those different positions. Even though they're almost identically on paper, there are some differences in their game. Q. You have Ingram higher then?

MIKE MAYOCK: No, actually, I've got Upshaw as the number one linebacker, and I've got Ingram as the number one defensive end. Q. Overall though, who is higher? Overall who is higher on your board? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't have a board yet. I don't ever do a board prior to the combine and the pro days. Q. With the Ravens there in the first, you talked a lot about the guards. Are there receivers and maybe some pass rushers that talentwise the best player they're worthy of consideration. Who are some of those guys? MIKE MAYOCK: The pass rushers aren't great here in this draft now if Melvin Ingram and Courtney Upshaw was around later, I think they'd be interesting with a team like the Ravens. I'm not sure either of them will be there, but they're interesting kind of guys for the Ravens. I think Ronnell Lewis late in the first round is an interesting guy. You can move him around. He does different things. Some teams are going to like him, some teams aren't. As far as the wide receiver position is concerned, now that's kind of interesting. Blackmon's going to go early. Kendall Wright will run a sub 4.4 from Baylor. He'll probably go in the top 15 picks. If Michael Floyd runs well, he'll be in the top 15 or 20, if he doesn't run well, he'll probably slide a little bit. You never know where Michael Floyd could end up. And Reuben Randle from LSU. Those are my four first round wideouts. Floyd or Randle could slide. You never know. They'd both be of interest to the Ravens. Q. You've already talked about linebacker and defensive end for the Eagles. Just the best player on the board that you think has a chance for one reason or another to slip to 15? MIKE MAYOCK: Who could slip to 15, huh? I think Jerel Worthy from Michigan State could slip to 15. I happen to like him a lot. I think we've already talked about Kuechly. I don't know what is going to happen with DeSean Jackson, if DeSean Jackson was not a Philadelphia Eagle, I think you'd have to be looking at a Kendall Wright who is a similar type of guy. If Michael Brockers was there, which I doubt. If Michael Brockers was there, I would jump all over him. They'd be the kind of guys I'd be thinking about.


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Q. You look at the past couple of years at the combine with guys like Darius Heyward-Bey and Chris Johnson to name a few. Why do you think coaches and programs have put more of an emphasis on measurables as opposed to old-fashioned scouting and research? MIKE MAYOCK: I would tell you that I think the teams that do the best drafting on a consistent basis understand the correct blend between all the factors and don't get carried away with the measurables. What the combine should be is a cross check of what you've seen on tape. What I always say is fast guys run fast, and slow guys run slow. It's not a story when that happens. But when a fast guy runs slow or a slow guy runs fast, now you've got to figure out why. What I look at and what the smart teams look at is when you see a 4.32 that a wide receiver runs that you thought was a 4.45 guy on tape, for instance, okay, that's a cross check. You have to go back and find out whether or not this kid is really that fast on tape, or is it manufactured speed that he got from some training camp where he learned how to start and do all those things, but he's still the same guy. I think that's where the trap is. We start to fall in love with all the numbers, and I think what happens is when you look at your job, let's just take any scout. If you grade a guy and you give him a second round grade, and he goes out and runs a great time, you feel good about that. You're going to push him. You're pumped. You're happy. You push him. I think that's where mistakes get made. As an organization, I apologize, I'm pontificating here. But the bottom line to me is that each component in this process has to be taken on its own merits, and it can't be the leader of the process. The leader always has to be the college production and the tape. Q. I know there's been a lot of talk about the Robert Griffin Jr. or Robert Griffin III teams that will be targeting and kind of moving up. I'm just wondering, in your opinion, it seems like Colt McCoy was sort of turning the corner a little bit coming into week 13 with the injury. We know that's a west coast offense there that they run. Like to use a true form of west coast offense that generally has a learning curve at quarterback. Do you think thrusting a guy like Robert Griffin III into that kind of offense whenever you say that he lacks anticipation is something that a coach like that

that kind of wants to win now would be interested in doing? MIKE MAYOCK: It's an interesting question because to back up a step, I thought that the coaches around the NFL did a better job than ever last year with rookie quarterbacks than they've ever done. Because what they did was they adapted some of their offenses to suit what the rookie quarterbacks did best. Look at Cam Newton, Dalton, Ponder, and they gave those kids chances to make plays in comfortable situations. In the old days, NFL teams said here's our playbook. Go learn it, kid. In three years from now, if you know our offense, can you come back and play it? That's a long way of saying if Cleveland moves up to get this kid, I think they have to make this kid comfortable. He's too explosive and too much of a play maker to just sit there and have him read the triangle that the west coast offense is. I think in other words Brad Childress and that group of coaches in Cleveland is going to have to change some things to make this kid the play maker that he is. Q. I wanted to ask you how unusual is it when a team like that has that many guys leave? Also if any of these eight guys are intriguing? MIKE MAYOCK: It is unusual to have that many, especially given the record that they had this year. I don't know what the situation is. I'm an Al Golden proponent. I live in Philadelphia. He came from Temple. I don't know if he went down there with a different way of doing things, and that's why so many underclassmen left. I don't know that answer. But we're not talking about five first round picks like in the old days at Miami. That's not what we have here. The guys that are somewhat intriguing to me, I like the tailback. I think he's a good football player and enjoyed watching tape with him. I don't know what he's going to run, probably going to be good. I'm going to say low 4.4s. His ability to catch the football and his production. The game he had against Virginia Tech was phenomenal, 18 carries for about 160, 165. So he's a downhill, one-cut, make-you-miss bang. There is not a whole lot of shake and bake. I like that. He's a solid second round pick. Q. Regis?


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MIKE MAYOCK: That's who it was. Regis had some quickness and explosion to him. He's going to be a mid to late round guy, but I think he can fit into a defensive tackle rotation. Also that tight end, Ford, who had not played a lot of football is a pretty athletic kid who caught the ball well. He doesn't have great speed, but he's another guy that's going to make a roster pretty interesting. Q. I had a question of Seattle Seahawks draft needs. What you think they might look at with the No. 11 overall pick. Also your evaluation of Jackson watching him this year at the Philadelphia game? What do they need to do to improve the quarterback situation with T. Jax there? MIKE MAYOCK: You know, I've seen a lot of T. Jax, because I also used to do the Minnesota Vikings preseason games. So I've seen an awful lot of him. I like him. But I think that position needs to be upgraded. I don't mind T. Jax competing for the position. But he either has to get a free agent in there or he has to draft somebody. The Seahawks are sitting at either number 11 or 12. At that point, the top two quarterbacks are going to be gone, if you're talking about the first round. You have to take a look at a guy like Tannehill. Trust me, even Washington and Miami will be looking at Tannehill before you. Last year, none of us thought that Locker was going to go that high or Ponder was going to go that high. So Tannehill is a guy they have to at least be looking at. If they don't take him, they get into the second round and have to look at Brandon Weeden. But somebody has to come in and compete with T. Jax, and I think that position has to be upgraded. If you're not looking at quarterback in the first round and can't convince yourself those are the right guys, I think you have to look at wide receiver and probably defensive end. Q. You mentioned though that you didn't like a lot of the defensive ends, so do you think they would consider best player available if someone like Trent Richardson was available? MIKE MAYOCK: I absolutely think when you're drafted in that position that high, you've got to get a great football player. If you don't like the defensive ends, like I don't -- by the way, Pete might love Coples, and that's fine. Pete would probably get Coples to play hard, and if he did, it would be a home run.

But if you don't like the defensive ends available at that point, then, yeah, you take the best player out there. In that range, there will be somebody good there, maybe even a wide receiver. Q. You mentioned earlier Vinny Curry out of Marshall looking like a second round pick. Can you evaluate his game? Can the combine potentially bump him up in that first round? MIKE MAYOCK: I thought The Senior Bowl helped him more than the Combine will. That is because I admire his game. I admire what this kid is. What that is he's a lunch pail guy that works his tail off. He's got some talent, but he's supremely twisted and gets the most out of what he is. He's got natural pass-rush abilities and toughness. When you combine those things, you can be a productive, good, NFL player. Can he help himself at the Combine? I'm not sure what he's going to run or what any of his numbers are going to be. I know he's gotten himself into that late first to mid second consideration because of what he did at The Senior Bowl. Now he's got to continue the process, run well, do well in the meetings, present yourself well, work, and that's what this kid is. People are going to like him because he works so hard. Q. Do you see him going to an outside linebacker in a three-four situation? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't know if he's athletic enough to stand up and drop and do all those things. I'm anxious to see what his height, width, and arm length are. I've got that all from The Senior Bowl obviously. Will have him do with the conversion guys, all the defensive end that's will stand up and do linebacker drills. I'm anxious to see him do those drills. I'm just not sure he's going to be as good at that as he is at rushing the quarterback. Q. I have a quick question to Michigan players, David Molk, the center. He has an injury and he's not going to run at the combine, and also his size. I was wondering what his status is with you and we are stands on your board? MIKE MAYOCK: He's one of those guys that is kind of undersized, quick, tough kid. I like him. You put the Michigan State tape on, for instance, and he's going to have a little problem


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with those big bodies. That's what people are asking about him. Jerel Worthy, for instance, at 320 pounds, can he block that kind of guy consistently? So I questioned wherever he had a big body on to have him on tape. He's got his head on a swivel in the pass game. He's a little bit of a grabber instead of a puncher and very much a finesse guy. I think what you're going to see is one of those zone teams. The run scheme zone team. They like that kind of player. He's got quickness. He's smart. He's a mid to late-round pick to a zone team. Q. I know you talked about Mike Martin before, but what do you see as him having to gain or lose next week at the combine? MIKE MAYOCK: I think he'll be helped at the combine. He's athletic, quick kid. He's strong. What the combine will show is I'm guessing his strength on the field will translate in the weight room. We're going to see a really strong kid that moves well athletically, and when you combine those two things, the nice thing for him is the three-four teams will be strong enough to anchor on the nose. So the four-three teams will see he's quick enough to play defensive tackle for them. So I think for him, the combine's important. Q. If the Browns do not move up for Griffin, what do you think they would do? MIKE MAYOCK: If they don't move up for Griffin, they're sitting there at 4 and 22, the next question is what are they doing with Peyton Hillis, right? Q. That's a good question. MIKE MAYOCK: Because that could determine part of their decision making in the first round. I sit there and look at them and I did a Browns game this year, and boy could they use a game-breaking wide receiver. So they'd have to be looking, I think, at Blackmon. I think their defense is a pretty good, young defense with an ability to grow and get better. I'd be look to go augment the offense. If you're not going to get a quarterback at four, I said earlier, you better play great defense. You better run the ball. So if you keep Peyton Hillis, that's one thing. If you don't, you have to be looking at Trent Richardson. So I think Blackmon and Richardson are two very logical people if you stay there at four.

Q. You talked about Richardson then at that point your signal cut out. Could you go over him again? What are his strengths? MIKE MAYOCK: His measurables are phenomenal. For his size-speed ratio is great. He's got tremendous feet for his size, really good balance and vision. I think when you talk about it -- I don't throw accolades out there for running backs as Top 10 picks very often. The last time I thought there was a true Top 10 was probably Adrian Peterson out of Oklahoma who went number seven to Minnesota. I'm a big believer that can you typically go down later in the draft in the second, third, fourth rounds and find good running backs unless a kid is special. I think this kid is tough, great balance and vision. He's a three down back. I think with Colt McCoy at quarterback, you've got to have the run game. I think siting there in Cleveland, Ohio, he'd be the perfect guy for that. Q. Want to ask you about a couple Alabama guys as well. Does the injury to Josh Chapman or Mark Barron or the recent arrest to Dre Kirkpatrick, does that hurt their draft stock at all? MIKE MAYOCK: You've probably heard me say a lot of times that this thing is a process. We in the media all of us tend to have knee-jerk reactions to things and I think the NFL let it play out a little bit more. So if you take those situations one at a time, Dre' or Kirkpatrick, the knee-jerk reaction is, oh, my goodness. Drug arrest, blah, blah, blah. Well, that didn't turn out to be too much. I don't think in the world of the NFL -- are they going to do their homework? Absolutely. Is it a minor red flag? You bet it is, and they're going to do their homework. But I don't think on its face, if there's nothing beyond that, I don't think it's going to hurt them at all. As far as Barron the safety, I would have loved to have seen him workout. But his body of work on tape is very strong. He's the number one safety on just about everybody's charts. Everybody's hoping that he'll have an opportunity to work out prior to the draft. But you can go back to the tight end the Pittsburgh Steelers took out of Virginia, Heath Miller, who had the hernia surgery and was never able to work out. And the Pittsburgh Steelers got a great bargain for him at the end of the first round. I think Mark Barron's going to be fine because his


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body of work speaks for itself. Now we all want to see him work out, but I think his tape is really good. Now the defensive tackle, the Chapman kid is what he is. He's a strong, tough, defensive lineman. The combine wasn't going to do a whole lot for anyway. Q. (From Mr. Irrevelevant representative)I know you don't have your draft board set-up. But we are a pick fan of last pick. I was wondering who might be best available 254, 25, kind of like a kicker like Ryan was back in 209 who has done really well for the Chiefs. MIKE MAYOCK: You're really going to do that to me? Q. I had to do it to you. Sorry. How about kickers? Who do you have that might be available that late? MIKE MAYOCK: I don't even look at kickers until right before the draft, because I don't think I'm qualified. So I talk to all my special team coach buddies about the week before the draft. I'll give you somebody as a last pick, all right. I'm going to give you somebody that is not a quicker. How about Vaughn Meatoga defensive tackle from Hawaii? Q. I like that. MIKE MAYOCK: All right. Q. You hear all the Cam comparisons to RG3. Is that fair? Or does it even make any sense to do that? MIKE MAYOCK: No, to me it makes no sense at all. I think this kid's -- the similarities are that they're both play makers. That part of it is fair. They're both play makers. I think RG3 is a more natural thrower of the football, even though Cam was also. I think RG3 looks down the field and throws more routes. I don't think we have any of the off the field issues that we had with Cam. So from my perspective, you're looking at a clean kid, and trying to evaluate the football piece of it. So to me, it's a completely different animal. Q. Does a few inches of height make that big of a difference? MIKE MAYOCK: In yesterday's NFL, I think it did. There are very few six-foot quarterbacks. All you have to do is look around the league. There are 32 starting quarterbacks. Outside of Drew Brees, how many six-foot

quarterbacks are playing at a high level, and the answer is what? Probably none. Q. Nobody? MIKE MAYOCK: So the NFL is big on those kind of comparisons. However, when a kid has this kind of game and this kind of natural ability, he kind of destroys those kinds of stereotypes. You've got to take him and look at him in a different way. Is he going to be a pocket -- I mean, Drew Brees is so good because he slides and moves in the pocket and finds lanes. This kid is such a great athlete that he can find lanes differently and still keep his eyes down the field and still make plays. He's not just a runner. I think people are getting hung up on that. I think he's a gifted thrower also. Q. Jordan White, the receiver out of Western, he has huge numbers but the knee surgeries. Is he draftable? MIKE MAYOCK: It's a good question. As a matter of fact, it's a note I have. A lot of it depends on the medical. That's the same thing I'm going to be asking NFL teams, because I don't know where the medical is. Wish I could help you more.

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February 15, 2012 - WordPress.com · NFL.com’s New ‘Combine Tracker’ Provides Immediate 40-Yard Dash Times The following is the transcript of the media conference call on Wednesday,