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Seahawks Pre-Draft Press Conference: "We're Fired Up About Where We Are At" · Seahawks Press Pass

0:03
Speaker 1: Okay, we welcome. We haven't been in here in a minute. Yeah,
0:09
Speaker 1: thanks for coming out. Big thank yous to Mike and
0:12
Speaker 1: his staff with all the work preparation obviously, the scouts,
0:16
Speaker 1: all the hard work they put in being away from
0:18
Speaker 1: their families in the spring and the fall, and out
0:23
Speaker 1: here for the last two weeks, three weeks, Sam Ramsay,
0:28
Speaker 1: David Strickland, all the docs. Uh, just everybody involved in
0:32
Speaker 1: the process.
0:34
Speaker 2: It's been a it's been a great progress process this year.
0:36
Speaker 1: And yeah, I just really really thankful and grateful to
0:42
Speaker 1: be getting.
0:43
Speaker 2: Ready for our our sixteenth drafter flair away.
0:52
Speaker 3: John, we asked you about this, you know, before them
0:54
Speaker 3: or at the combine, all through the process, but just
0:56
Speaker 3: having Mike and the coaching staff more involved than they
0:59
Speaker 3: were able.
0:59
Speaker 4: To be last year.
1:00
Speaker 3: Now you've been through all this is what was that like?
1:02
Speaker 1: Working with them, it's been outstanding. You know, being able
1:05
Speaker 1: to having the the uh majority of the offensive staff.
1:09
Speaker 1: You know, our new staff haven't been through the process
1:11
Speaker 1: several times at different you know, different buildings and organizations
1:15
Speaker 1: has helped as well. But I think every just has
1:17
Speaker 1: a better feel for each other naturally.
1:20
Speaker 2: Uh.
1:20
Speaker 1: You know your value, you you're Mike and are constantly
1:24
Speaker 1: like evaluating the evaluators, right, So that's you know, that's coaches,
1:27
Speaker 1: it's it's scouts, it's doctors, trainers, it's everybody. And yeah,
1:32
Speaker 1: it's just a much stronger comfort level.
1:36
Speaker 3: Mike, for you, just same kind of thing.
1:37
Speaker 2: Just now that you've gotten.
1:39
Speaker 3: All this experience doing this with John, what's it been
1:41
Speaker 3: like for you?
1:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you just you have a real really
1:45
Speaker 5: strong feel for the cadence about what happens and when
1:48
Speaker 5: and what those conversations are like. But just like John said,
1:53
Speaker 5: I mean it's just it's year two understanding that just
1:57
Speaker 5: understanding our process and how we do it just it
1:59
Speaker 5: uh really helps.
2:02
Speaker 6: How do you avoid that with all the information I'm
2:04
Speaker 6: available to you overthinking as you get closer to the
2:06
Speaker 6: draft and what are the points that change your opinion
2:09
Speaker 6: the most about a player.
2:10
Speaker 2: In the process? Did you did you see that? Were
2:13
Speaker 2: you here yesterday? You see the draft board yesterday?
2:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny you say that, it's a great question. Uh,
2:19
Speaker 1: it's really just we're we're just kind of wrapping up
2:22
Speaker 1: everybody's opinions and you know, we'll get to a spot where,
2:26
Speaker 1: you know, Mike and I just can walk through every
2:28
Speaker 1: scenario and so we're not in a position to overthink things,
2:32
Speaker 1: especially once we get to the weekend.
2:33
Speaker 2: We want to be able to have it look like
2:36
Speaker 2: we want it to look.
2:37
Speaker 1: You know, and and uh, you know, our kind of
2:40
Speaker 1: guys and and uh, just just be able to maneuver
2:43
Speaker 1: and and uh pick good players for this this talented
2:47
Speaker 1: staff and.
2:49
Speaker 7: That at the league meeting you had mentioned that the
2:51
Speaker 7: compensation for trading back in the in the back of
2:53
Speaker 7: the first round has kind of changed in recent years.
2:56
Speaker 1: Why it is so, yeah, I mean there's just a
2:58
Speaker 1: lot of there's tons of different we use just a
3:00
Speaker 1: lot of people used to use Jimmy Johnson's you know,
3:04
Speaker 1: grading scale right the point system. Now they're like the
3:08
Speaker 1: advent of analytics. There's like more and more, you know,
3:10
Speaker 1: like you have salar caps, you have salar cap numbers,
3:13
Speaker 1: you have always you have a lot of people that
3:16
Speaker 1: just have different systems. So what we're doing over the
3:19
Speaker 1: next two days is really having our guys, you know,
3:21
Speaker 1: make sure they're contacting the other teams, the teams that
3:25
Speaker 1: they're responsible for in terms of trades, and uh, and
3:29
Speaker 1: making sure that we're if you know, we're in the
3:31
Speaker 1: same vicinity because every every seems to be using different Yeah,
3:36
Speaker 1: different grading or trading scale system points systems and yeah,
3:40
Speaker 1: and so you know, you want to be able to
3:42
Speaker 1: move in a very fast manner and uh so we
3:47
Speaker 1: want to get get all that kind of laid out
3:49
Speaker 1: ahead of time. You don't want to be you don't
3:51
Speaker 1: want to be like in the moment and having like
3:54
Speaker 1: to be negotiating a ton. There's a certain level of
3:56
Speaker 1: negotiation that goes on there, but you don't want it
3:59
Speaker 1: to be, you know, taking up more than the decision
4:02
Speaker 1: making process, more time than the decision making process.
4:05
Speaker 7: Analytics trading has analytics adjusted how your charte has maybe.
4:08
Speaker 2: Changed every Yeah, yep, yep, we've switched it a little bit. Yeah.
4:13
Speaker 6: You never traded up in the first round, but you've
4:15
Speaker 6: traded up multiple times on day two.
4:17
Speaker 5: Is there a reason for that?
4:20
Speaker 2: No, it just this hasn't happened.
4:25
Speaker 8: Yeah, can make of the fact there haven't been any
4:29
Speaker 8: trades in the first round yet among the first round picks.
4:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just talking to a gentleman this morning
4:35
Speaker 1: about that that from another team. It sounded like last
4:39
Speaker 1: week people were going to be active and then nothing's
4:43
Speaker 1: really happened. So we're just trying to stay in contact
4:45
Speaker 1: with everybody.
4:48
Speaker 2: I don't know, it's hard to tell. I don't know
4:50
Speaker 2: if that's just because of what the top of the
4:53
Speaker 2: top of the first round looks like. I don't I don't.
4:55
Speaker 9: Know, Mike.
4:57
Speaker 6: There's all sorts of hybrid players, and there's something in
5:01
Speaker 6: this draft that play off ball linebacker and also play
5:04
Speaker 6: edge seems like a potentially challenging combination and like they're
5:08
Speaker 6: down when you take a linebacker off or how do
5:11
Speaker 6: you kind of think about the new hybrid players.
5:15
Speaker 5: Well, they're really exciting, I think, especially in this year.
5:19
Speaker 5: It's you know, when you're evaluating these guys, you try
5:22
Speaker 5: to have a vision for what their role would be
5:25
Speaker 5: immediately and then what it would grow to. But it
5:28
Speaker 5: felt really clear, you know, from our coaches, from how
5:31
Speaker 5: I saw it. And now there's several guys like that
5:35
Speaker 5: you mentioned that are in the draft that are will
5:37
Speaker 5: be really exciting.
5:38
Speaker 9: John, you mentioned to us at the combine that you've
5:41
Speaker 9: made your biggest mistakes when you've pushed a guy up
5:43
Speaker 9: the board for need, When does need actually come into play?
5:48
Speaker 9: When when does need? Later rounds that when you actually
5:51
Speaker 9: form your draft board. When does need come.
5:53
Speaker 1: In, it ends up it ends up pretty pretty much
5:56
Speaker 1: being all the way through. But really, you know, your
6:00
Speaker 1: need ends up being part of our grading system too.
6:03
Speaker 1: You know, it's part of we're comparing UH prospects to
6:08
Speaker 1: our players. Not necessarily, it's just the way we do it,
6:11
Speaker 1: not necessarily the rest of the rest of the National
6:13
Speaker 1: Football League. What does our team look like? And so, yeah,
6:18
Speaker 1: what I was talking about the combine is you know,
6:20
Speaker 1: sometimes you just you're you think you're just you know,
6:23
Speaker 1: fill in a hole, and you're you're you're jumping that
6:26
Speaker 1: player ahead of more talented players. Back to the trade
6:29
Speaker 1: value things, get I'm not gonna give your trade values.
6:33
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna text it to you.
6:35
Speaker 7: Yeah, so has there been Is there a big discrepancy
6:38
Speaker 7: in how teams view or how teams value future picks.
6:42
Speaker 2: No, everybody's pretty much on the same page there.
6:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're looking one up every year, So that's kind
6:47
Speaker 1: of how everybody's.
6:49
Speaker 2: Everybody's viewed that. Now, some people try to put that
6:51
Speaker 2: into a point system and we we don't.
6:54
Speaker 10: John, what do you think of where your roster is
6:57
Speaker 10: right now? After the moves you've made this offseason, bringing
7:00
Speaker 10: to your lock back, just some of the recent little
7:03
Speaker 10: ads around the edges since the last time we talked
7:04
Speaker 10: to you, and where you guys are sitting here before
7:06
Speaker 10: the drive.
7:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, we like it, like we were at Yeah, I
7:10
Speaker 1: think we can just we can just go pick turn
7:12
Speaker 1: good football players.
7:13
Speaker 2: You know, we're excited to have you know, four of
7:16
Speaker 2: those quarterbacks.
7:17
Speaker 1: We have three quarterbacks that have you know, thrown for
7:20
Speaker 1: over three thousand yards in a season and.
7:23
Speaker 2: All of them can move. You know. It's that's a
7:26
Speaker 2: pretty cool group.
7:26
Speaker 1: Getting Drew back here and w Jew's very well respected
7:30
Speaker 1: in the building, and so it's just it's great.
7:32
Speaker 2: It's great to get in back here into the mix.
7:34
Speaker 1: He had other opportunities, and we just stayed in touch
7:37
Speaker 1: with his agent and I wanted to be able to
7:40
Speaker 1: We spent time with him in Florida. Someone could get
7:41
Speaker 1: to know him a little bit when we're down there,
7:43
Speaker 1: and he's just a great, great person, great competitor. Out
7:46
Speaker 1: of this building.
7:48
Speaker 11: The roster weird is like you said, right now, how
7:50
Speaker 11: exciting is it to have the five picks in the
7:52
Speaker 11: first time.
7:53
Speaker 2: To even add to that, whether his positions to need
7:55
Speaker 2: or death of spots, that's exciting.
7:58
Speaker 1: I mean we're Yeah, we were in there yesterday afternoon
8:01
Speaker 1: staring at it for a while.
8:02
Speaker 2: It's it's it's fun. There's a lot of uh, there's
8:04
Speaker 2: a lot of room for activity.
8:07
Speaker 1: It's a movie line. Yeah, there's just there's that just
8:12
Speaker 1: provides us with with more opportunities to either just stay
8:16
Speaker 1: and pick good players or or maneuver around.
8:20
Speaker 8: Did you learn about Drew when you got to spend
8:22
Speaker 8: some time, Well.
8:23
Speaker 4: I think it's exactly what John said.
8:25
Speaker 5: It's just an anytime you're opportunity to spend time with
8:29
Speaker 5: the guys outside of like the football setting, it's a
8:33
Speaker 5: great opportunity to connect with him and just spend time
8:36
Speaker 5: with him and just just a great, great guy.
8:38
Speaker 4: He can tell.
8:39
Speaker 5: He's just he fits in great with the locker room
8:40
Speaker 5: and the leadership qualities he brings, and you know, for him,
8:45
Speaker 5: it's probably not easy to be in those settings with
8:47
Speaker 5: like with with the guy you know, with me and
8:48
Speaker 5: having not met him and just be able to move
8:50
Speaker 5: and shake and have a good time and talk about
8:54
Speaker 5: things outside of football.
8:55
Speaker 4: So it was it was a lot of fun.
8:56
Speaker 5: We stayed in contact too, and just a big fan
8:59
Speaker 5: of Drew.
9:00
Speaker 7: Skiell sets and trades and all that aside, Where do
9:02
Speaker 7: you guys feel like your roster is at in terms
9:04
Speaker 7: of having like a locker room full of players with
9:07
Speaker 7: the right edge that you want, like the personality types.
9:11
Speaker 5: I mean, this is an interesting timing for me and
9:15
Speaker 5: our as a coach because normally you're about a week
9:19
Speaker 5: or two into the process as the drafts dress week
9:22
Speaker 5: comes up. So it's I'm excited to start our process
9:26
Speaker 5: as a team to see kind of see how everything's
9:28
Speaker 5: going to kind of come into focus over the next
9:31
Speaker 5: you know, eight to ten weeks and into camp.
9:33
Speaker 4: But I'm really excited about our guys.
9:35
Speaker 5: And it's just just today a lot of the guys
9:37
Speaker 5: are starting to trickle in, you know, we start officially tomorrow,
9:40
Speaker 5: so seeing guys who haven't seen in a good bit
9:42
Speaker 5: and just like their excitement for the off season program
9:45
Speaker 5: and just feels like spirits are really high, enthusiasms high,
9:49
Speaker 5: and we got a lot of work to do. But
9:51
Speaker 5: I feel like the guys mentals in the right spot
9:53
Speaker 5: and we got a great opportunity in front of us.
9:56
Speaker 2: John Leonard that keeps coming up in terms of me
9:58
Speaker 2: is offensive line.
10:01
Speaker 5: Sam's been graded low by you know, evaluators, analytics, sites
10:05
Speaker 5: and stuff in terms of that position group.
10:07
Speaker 4: Do you think there's validity to that?
10:09
Speaker 2: Is that an area I take your hands to Are
10:12
Speaker 2: you gonna pick where you're gonna go?
10:13
Speaker 11: What is there so.
10:14
Speaker 4: Validity to that?
10:16
Speaker 2: I think it's an area of need.
10:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I think we've been been very well documented
10:21
Speaker 1: throughout the spring. But you know, it's also a little
10:29
Speaker 1: bit of a lazy narrative because every team is looking
10:32
Speaker 1: for offensive lineman. We're trying to create guys every single year.
10:35
Speaker 1: We're trying to end up finding It used to be
10:40
Speaker 1: when I started in the league with Ron Wolf, it
10:42
Speaker 1: was like a free agent had had to have three
10:44
Speaker 1: redeeming qualities. Okay, well, now, especially with offensive linemen, you
10:48
Speaker 1: know you have guys maybe in the fourth round that
10:50
Speaker 1: have two redeeming qualities tall and long, strong and quick
10:55
Speaker 1: or whatever. I mean, it's just it's just happened. It's
10:58
Speaker 1: not it's not anything that anybody in football is happy about,
11:01
Speaker 1: to be honest with you. It's just it's an area
11:04
Speaker 1: that hasn't been uh developed as well as as the
11:07
Speaker 1: other side of the ball.
11:08
Speaker 2: For one reason or another.
11:09
Speaker 1: And it's really I think it just fundamentally comes down
11:12
Speaker 1: to like, uh, you know, if if you're gonna be
11:16
Speaker 1: playing football at a young age, you want to you
11:19
Speaker 1: want to go sack a quarterback and do your sack
11:21
Speaker 1: dance or do you want to go block for a
11:23
Speaker 1: runningback or a quarterback?
11:25
Speaker 2: And I think it comes down to that.
11:28
Speaker 6: Talked about how that position there's there's kind of a
11:30
Speaker 6: dearth of talent there and you maybe have to adjust
11:33
Speaker 6: your draft board and push guys up farther than maybe
11:36
Speaker 6: their grade.
11:36
Speaker 2: Would would justify.
11:38
Speaker 6: So are there other positions you've seen like that have
11:40
Speaker 6: to quarterback? Seems like maybe one is this a unique
11:43
Speaker 6: situation or there other times.
11:44
Speaker 2: You've seen this happen. No, it's just quarterback, quarterback, and
11:47
Speaker 2: offensive lineman.
11:50
Speaker 1: And that's just you know, the the position too. They
11:53
Speaker 1: don't you know, Mike, Mike's been there, but they don't.
11:55
Speaker 1: The don't get to spend much time with these guys
11:57
Speaker 1: in college anymore. You know, you just used to be
11:59
Speaker 1: able to go to a practice and spend you know,
12:01
Speaker 1: the first you know, twenty five minutes watching in an
12:03
Speaker 1: individual period and now it's like you go there and
12:06
Speaker 1: there it feels like they're just guys are out there's
12:08
Speaker 1: running plays. So you know, things were much better when
12:13
Speaker 1: we had NFL Europe. We were able to put guys
12:15
Speaker 1: in there and have you know, have coaches experienced coaches
12:21
Speaker 1: training these guys away from the building and getting those
12:24
Speaker 1: those extremely important reps again, same thing with the quarterback position.
12:31
Speaker 10: I know your ability to talk to guys is a
12:33
Speaker 10: little bit limited right now this time of year and everything,
12:35
Speaker 10: But pretty big change over on the roster with no
12:37
Speaker 10: Geno and DK Tyler all moving on different places and such.
12:41
Speaker 10: What's been the kind of the feedback you guys have
12:43
Speaker 10: got about just where you guys are heading directionally, the
12:47
Speaker 10: shift and having so many guys that have been a
12:49
Speaker 10: big part of this team not be hearing the shift
12:51
Speaker 10: that that's made for you guys so far.
12:54
Speaker 5: Well, I think I kind of answered that the last
12:57
Speaker 5: time is just there's a lot of enthusiasm.
12:59
Speaker 4: Are guys who are really excited.
13:02
Speaker 5: I'm going off with the conversations I've had with the
13:04
Speaker 5: guys on our roster, and it's not to make a
13:07
Speaker 5: comment about the guys that weren't here and the guys
13:09
Speaker 5: that are here. It's just there's a lot of respect
13:11
Speaker 5: for the guys that are on our football team, and
13:13
Speaker 5: a lot of prior relationships too that have kind of
13:15
Speaker 5: come back into the into the end of the mold,
13:17
Speaker 5: and so guys are excited about kind of renewing that
13:20
Speaker 5: relationships that they've had with those guys and being in
13:23
Speaker 5: this setting here, you know, at the vMac every day.
13:25
Speaker 4: So I'm really I'm really encouraged. I'm really excited.
13:29
Speaker 5: And uh, you know, this time tomorrow we'll be finishing
13:33
Speaker 5: up our first day and I'll go do it day
13:36
Speaker 5: two and do that for the next ten weeks.
13:38
Speaker 4: It'll be a lot of fun.
13:39
Speaker 3: Mike, what is the acquiring Drew mean for Sam Howell?
13:43
Speaker 5: Well, it means that those guys are going to be competing,
13:46
Speaker 5: So both guys know that. And Jared's part of the
13:50
Speaker 5: mix too, He's gonna be competing with those guys. But
13:52
Speaker 5: anytime you're had in competition to a room and the
13:54
Speaker 5: side of the ball and a football team, it's good force,
13:57
Speaker 5: especially when they're great players and great guys, and it's
14:00
Speaker 5: gonna be fun to see how it shakes out.
14:02
Speaker 3: Nice when you spend time with a draft prospect, whether
14:04
Speaker 3: it's like a thirty visit or combine or whatever, what
14:08
Speaker 3: stands out to you is like this is my kind
14:09
Speaker 3: of player? Is it like a football knowledge things, an attitude?
14:12
Speaker 4: What gets your attention?
14:13
Speaker 5: Well, I think from my perspective, I think it's kind
14:16
Speaker 5: of irresponsible to say, like I can I can get
14:18
Speaker 5: this guy figured out in twenty minutes or an hour
14:21
Speaker 5: or a day. It's just you got to go with
14:23
Speaker 5: this perspective of there's not like one singular thing up
14:27
Speaker 5: that was red flag, like can't touch this guy. You know,
14:29
Speaker 5: It's just it's just I don't know, it's just feel
14:31
Speaker 5: like that's a little overconfident in in the process. So
14:35
Speaker 5: or my role is in my opinion is it's another
14:38
Speaker 5: data point to augment like what all the scouts have done,
14:41
Speaker 5: what the rest of their work that our coach has
14:43
Speaker 5: been doing with all their interviews, and I just want
14:46
Speaker 5: to I want to just have an opportunity to connect
14:48
Speaker 5: with that person. It's for that, you know, time that
14:51
Speaker 5: they were at that opportunity and really excited about the
14:54
Speaker 5: guys that I've met and been able to connect with
14:56
Speaker 5: over this process. There's a lot of great guy, great
14:59
Speaker 5: human beings aft they have awesome stories and and it
15:03
Speaker 5: gets you excited about the opportunity to coach some of
15:05
Speaker 5: these guys, so when they're in the building, you get
15:06
Speaker 5: a better feel for who they are and kind of
15:08
Speaker 5: what have what has got them to this point.
15:12
Speaker 8: Leading the off season program last year, the first time
15:14
Speaker 8: you kind of take into this year.
15:19
Speaker 5: I think it is we have a very clear vision
15:21
Speaker 5: about what we're trying to create and what it takes
15:23
Speaker 5: to get to that point. And uh, it's not just me,
15:27
Speaker 5: you know, sitting there saying this is you know, it's
15:29
Speaker 5: it's everybody, I think all the coaches. We have a
15:31
Speaker 5: we have a great alignment and how we want to
15:33
Speaker 5: go about our business. And again we've done it before,
15:36
Speaker 5: you know, together and we've gone and gone through that
15:38
Speaker 5: feedback loop already and our you know, just talking to
15:41
Speaker 5: one of our players about an hour ago, and he
15:43
Speaker 5: knows who he's talking we're talking about, but like they know,
15:46
Speaker 5: they know that there's a reason behind what we're doing
15:49
Speaker 5: and why and what we're trying to chase. And it's
15:51
Speaker 5: not some big secret on you know, what day and
15:54
Speaker 5: day out looks like. And we can get that message
15:56
Speaker 5: spread across the guys so we can hit the ground running.
15:59
Speaker 6: You guys both talk about adding the right guys into
16:01
Speaker 6: the room, not just the right you guys on the
16:03
Speaker 6: field Ken Chasher talked about and you need to get
16:06
Speaker 6: to a dark place to play the way he played
16:08
Speaker 6: on the field. How do you guys balance like good
16:10
Speaker 6: humans and also finding guys that are gonna be dogs
16:13
Speaker 6: on the field.
16:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll take that one.
16:15
Speaker 5: Like, yeah, I mean you go rattle off the guys
16:17
Speaker 5: on our roster that are Leonard Williams, Jaron Reid, ken Walker,
16:24
Speaker 5: Like just I can rattle off a ton of guys
16:27
Speaker 5: on our football team that are great human beings here
16:31
Speaker 5: in the community with their families, Guys that you know
16:34
Speaker 5: you want to emulate and are our leaders for us,
16:37
Speaker 5: but on the field are not to be messed with.
16:39
Speaker 4: And those are the types of guys we're looking for.
16:42
Speaker 9: Back the quarterbacks. Are you guys cool with having three
16:45
Speaker 9: on the roster because of the experience you have right there?
16:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, to approach a quarterback, No, I was talking about
16:55
Speaker 2: the other day. It's just it's it's hard.
16:57
Speaker 1: Excuse me to maneuver around with quarterbacks to get to
17:01
Speaker 1: a call it like a safe, safe place, you know,
17:04
Speaker 1: where you feel like you're in an ideal world of
17:07
Speaker 1: acquiring quarterbacks. It's just I've talked about it before and
17:11
Speaker 1: if we've going drafted too, and it's just you know,
17:16
Speaker 1: it's a Bryan's point. You gotta be careful, like how
17:19
Speaker 1: far you push those guys. So, but no, it does
17:21
Speaker 1: not the report.
17:23
Speaker 7: That you guys ever seen emquiries about Sam Howe potential trade?
17:27
Speaker 2: Is that actor?
17:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's accurate, And uh, we have a great relationship
17:31
Speaker 1: with Bruce as agent, and Bruce's very well known and
17:36
Speaker 1: respected throughout the National Football League, so he has a
17:38
Speaker 1: ton of contacts as well.
17:39
Speaker 2: So it's a very open dialogue.
17:42
Speaker 4: That be something you've building to move and how.
17:46
Speaker 2: Uh, I don't know. We're not there yet.
17:49
Speaker 8: You mentioned quarterbacks in the draft and danger of moving
17:52
Speaker 8: them up. Is that a position? I mean, there's kind
17:54
Speaker 8: of a perception they sometimes maybe get overdrafted or.
17:56
Speaker 4: Whatever compared to other positions.
17:58
Speaker 8: It's just because of the value of quarterback. Have you
18:01
Speaker 8: found that or does it has that increased it all
18:03
Speaker 8: through the years or commonplace through the years. Maybe we're
18:06
Speaker 8: a guy that people thought I was gonna be go
18:08
Speaker 8: in the third round and suddenly goes in the first.
18:09
Speaker 2: Kind of thing.
18:13
Speaker 1: You're just talking historically, Yeah, it has it, has it
18:16
Speaker 1: increased over the years.
18:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen it, you know. I was.
18:21
Speaker 1: I was talking to Jay c Locker about this and
18:23
Speaker 1: Brady Quinn like it's not like it's not their fault,
18:26
Speaker 1: like that they're you know, these guys are supposed to
18:29
Speaker 1: be the first pick in the draft or you know
18:30
Speaker 1: what I mean. Like it's just the way, you know,
18:34
Speaker 1: the way that this world is right now. I mean,
18:36
Speaker 1: he's goet like they're talked about forever. We were just
18:39
Speaker 1: talking to the our you know, thirty visit guys the
18:42
Speaker 1: other day, like, you know, this is a process you're
18:44
Speaker 1: going through, how you're required in the draft. Enjoy it
18:47
Speaker 1: with your family, but get ready to work because we'll start.
18:51
Speaker 1: The guys are coming in next week. You know, the
18:53
Speaker 1: team's coming in. Getting ready to work, and guess what
18:55
Speaker 1: on Monday, every's gonna be talking about next year's class
18:59
Speaker 1: and we'll be talking about it all year, you know.
19:01
Speaker 1: And it's I get, it's it's it's it's it's fun,
19:04
Speaker 1: it's great entertainment.
19:05
Speaker 2: But it is that. It's it's it's it's entertainment.
19:09
Speaker 1: So but what's happened, especially at that position, is that
19:13
Speaker 1: it's such I mean, most important, you know, I mean
19:17
Speaker 1: most important position of.
19:18
Speaker 2: The team and and so yeah, over the years, yeah,
19:21
Speaker 2: there's been a lot of people that have been.
19:26
Speaker 1: I don't want to say overdrafted, but just just based
19:28
Speaker 1: on the class to just be be pushed up.
19:31
Speaker 6: Obviously, people try to keep be secretive about their draft
19:34
Speaker 6: perspectives and the draft board. Do you also, is there
19:37
Speaker 6: ever put in to throw people off the trail misinformation?
19:40
Speaker 6: You find other teams actively putting out misinformation?
19:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if it's misinformation.
19:46
Speaker 1: We were just talking the way down I call with
19:48
Speaker 1: the team and was you know, asking if we were
19:50
Speaker 1: gonna move down or move up or whatever.
19:53
Speaker 2: I don't know what the conversation was. Really, it was.
19:55
Speaker 1: Like like, we're gonna we want to move up? Okay,
19:59
Speaker 1: well yeah, okay, well we you open to discussing something
20:01
Speaker 1: like that and uh and then it was like, well,
20:04
Speaker 1: I think we're actually gonna.
20:06
Speaker 2: Trade back, Like what what would you just do?
20:08
Speaker 1: We just talk about I don't I understand that I
20:12
Speaker 1: want that five minutes back.
20:15
Speaker 2: We don't do a lot of it.
20:16
Speaker 1: You know, we did a long time ago when I
20:17
Speaker 1: was with the Packers, just joking with guys like I
20:21
Speaker 1: think I've told you guys, well, ka Joanna Carter, you know,
20:23
Speaker 1: like he was gonna be the first second pick in
20:25
Speaker 1: the draft and we were picking like twenty four, twenty
20:28
Speaker 1: five or something like that, and you know, he was
20:31
Speaker 1: kind of complaining about, you know, being in our room
20:34
Speaker 1: doing like filling out the interview sheet and one of
20:36
Speaker 1: our guys was telling me we were gonna spread some
20:38
Speaker 1: rumors about him and you know he was gonna fall
20:40
Speaker 1: and he didn't like that very much. But uh yeah,
20:43
Speaker 1: some teams do it, some teams don't. I mean there's
20:46
Speaker 1: there's uh I think once once you get down to it,
20:49
Speaker 1: Like these conversations right now.
20:51
Speaker 2: Are very very periphery.
20:52
Speaker 1: Last year, Like I remember, it wasn't until the day
20:56
Speaker 1: of like Thursday, where I was like, all right, well man,
21:01
Speaker 1: I think there are gonna be six quarterbacks taken And
21:03
Speaker 1: that wasn't as much of a smoke string as we
21:06
Speaker 1: thought it was gonna be.
21:07
Speaker 9: Mike your year at Michigan. Does that help at all
21:10
Speaker 9: in this whole thing or has it been too many
21:12
Speaker 9: years now?
21:13
Speaker 2: Oh?
21:13
Speaker 5: No, that definitely helps just and we like, you know,
21:17
Speaker 5: I mean, Jay Harbaugh, you know, Chris Partridge, those guys
21:21
Speaker 5: have great feel for those guys too. They were there
21:23
Speaker 5: more recently than I was. So anybody that has prior
21:28
Speaker 5: relationships or exposures to recruiting is always really helpful.
21:31
Speaker 9: And how did you now your understanding of the college
21:34
Speaker 9: game helped in this whole thing because the college game
21:37
Speaker 9: wasn't even the same five years ago.
21:40
Speaker 4: I don't know, I don't.
21:41
Speaker 5: I don't think it affects it that much, honestly, You're
21:45
Speaker 5: just it's this same tape we've been watching for years.
21:49
Speaker 5: How we built our defense at Michigan probably not as
21:52
Speaker 5: probably two parallel lanes there that don't convert.
21:56
Speaker 3: And ask a non football one. You guys had your
21:59
Speaker 3: prime time event for Ben's fun last week. You raised
22:02
Speaker 3: over five million dollars over the years of doing that.
22:04
Speaker 3: And what is the community support for that in that
22:07
Speaker 3: event coming to.
22:08
Speaker 1: Me to you? Yeah, Tracy and I are very grateful
22:10
Speaker 1: to the Seahawks and and everybody that you know gives
22:15
Speaker 1: to this cause. It's obviously near and dear to our
22:17
Speaker 1: heart with Ben's situation. But just the like this community is.
22:23
Speaker 1: Brad Brotherton did an event right when I got here
22:26
Speaker 1: and attended it and UH for cancer research, And I
22:32
Speaker 1: told Tray like I was telling Tracy like, you know what,
22:35
Speaker 1: as soon as we get an opportunity, we get settled.
22:36
Speaker 1: We got to do this because this community is amazing.
22:38
Speaker 1: That people are extremely giving, and you know, it's like
22:42
Speaker 1: a I think it's like eighty seventy to eighty thousand
22:45
Speaker 1: dollars a year now for treatments and and it's you know,
22:50
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a it's a hard it's it's hard
22:52
Speaker 1: for a lot of families. So it's very it's just
22:55
Speaker 1: it's it was over it's been overwhelming, and it's it's
22:57
Speaker 1: it's just a really awesome, uh reflection on the on
23:02
Speaker 1: the community here in Seattle and state of Washington.
23:06
Speaker 3: John, I think you're.
23:06
Speaker 7: Sitting on the radio that you were kind of cautioning
23:08
Speaker 7: against Colin like the quarterback class week not very good
23:12
Speaker 7: in general.
23:12
Speaker 8: Position decide when someone says it asks you if the
23:15
Speaker 8: class is good? You know, what do you hear when
23:18
Speaker 8: you say, what do you.
23:18
Speaker 4: Have to say that you're to say yes?
23:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't really know for like, you know, two
23:22
Speaker 1: three years. Really, I mean it's we what we tend
23:26
Speaker 1: to do is is is kind of beat it up really,
23:28
Speaker 1: I mean throughout the process. But then like while you're
23:33
Speaker 1: you know, you're getting to know that the people and
23:34
Speaker 1: the competitors, and you kind of like it's like wow,
23:37
Speaker 1: like you know, all throughout the draft you can see
23:40
Speaker 1: like the.
23:41
Speaker 2: Strengths and.
23:43
Speaker 1: Like what what we think would be amazing for the
23:46
Speaker 1: like the coaches to bite into and get excited about,
23:48
Speaker 1: and what would make a great Seahawks. So when again
23:53
Speaker 1: getting back to the entertainment portion, it's it's, you know,
23:57
Speaker 1: I understand why people are like, you know, they're on
24:00
Speaker 1: TV talking about this or that and this.
24:03
Speaker 2: You know, this draft looks like this. It's just it's
24:05
Speaker 2: it's it's that. It's it's it's entertainment.
24:07
Speaker 11: Hey, John, going back to a process question I've heard
24:10
Speaker 11: you mentioned the openness of challenge. Can you just talk
24:13
Speaker 11: about how the.
24:14
Speaker 2: Priven a's in your the.
24:16
Speaker 11: The openness of challenge, how you're you listening to everybody
24:21
Speaker 11: and your team in terms of having that comfortable discussion
24:25
Speaker 11: where they can bring in something that you.
24:26
Speaker 1: Might not have known and oh, yeah, just we yeah,
24:32
Speaker 1: we we have a very open process.
24:34
Speaker 2: We listened to we listened to everybody.
24:37
Speaker 1: Whatever information we can get, like the more the better,
24:40
Speaker 1: and it's it's about getting through the information and uh
24:44
Speaker 1: making sense of it and and coming to the conclusion.
24:47
Speaker 2: Am I saying that the right way? Is that what
24:48
Speaker 2: you're asking about the draft process?
24:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it is. It's something you said.
24:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it's it's it's very much. You know. It's
24:57
Speaker 2: it's listening to you.
24:59
Speaker 1: Know, uh, all the coaches, the scouts, you know Roy,
25:04
Speaker 1: you know, Soup Campbell, anybody that's like David Strickland are
25:08
Speaker 1: are doctor ed, like anybody that's able to spend time
25:12
Speaker 1: with the players. And these are all contact points and
25:15
Speaker 1: points of information for us to take in. So we'd
25:20
Speaker 1: be silly not to, you know, listen to everybody and
25:22
Speaker 1: and and get as much information as possibly can to
25:25
Speaker 1: make the right decisions.
25:27
Speaker 11: Deeper on that, how have you changed in terms of
25:31
Speaker 11: being open throughout these years now you know, getting consensus?
25:36
Speaker 11: How how have you changed in all these.
25:38
Speaker 4: Years you've done this?
25:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a self scout like every year,
25:41
Speaker 2: like what how are we.
25:44
Speaker 1: Wor I'm constantly looking at what we can do to
25:48
Speaker 1: you know, how do I improve how do we improve
25:50
Speaker 1: the team? How do we improve improve our process? So
25:53
Speaker 1: it's we're constantly.
25:55
Speaker 2: Looking at that and and.
25:56
Speaker 1: Trying to evolve and not say that, you know, like
26:01
Speaker 1: I don't think we ever say like this is you know,
26:02
Speaker 1: set in stone, like it's either you know, one where
26:07
Speaker 1: one way.
26:07
Speaker 2: Or the other. We're always we're very we're like we're
26:10
Speaker 2: very pliable.
26:11
Speaker 1: And uh, I think when you when you did yourself,
26:13
Speaker 1: like you you put your head in the sand and
26:15
Speaker 1: dig in, then that's that's not a remedy for success.
26:19
Speaker 6: There's there's obviously different parts of the football calendar. There's
26:22
Speaker 6: free agency, there's draft, there's you know ots.
26:25
Speaker 3: All that stuff.
26:25
Speaker 6: Where does this rank for you as your you know,
26:27
Speaker 6: favorite part of the year, Like where's the rank compared
26:29
Speaker 6: to other parts of the year.
26:31
Speaker 2: Get ranked the draft?
26:32
Speaker 1: I mean this is the most this is the most
26:34
Speaker 1: fun I think, you know, getting ready for a draft.
26:36
Speaker 1: I mean I dreamt about this as a kid. I mean,
26:39
Speaker 1: you know, like Paul Zimerman like getting the Sports Oistry
26:42
Speaker 1: a day, right, and you know you get the sports
26:44
Speaker 1: ollstry one week before the the draft, and it was
26:47
Speaker 1: like there was a one mock draft in there.
26:48
Speaker 2: You know, God rest has always passed away.
26:52
Speaker 1: Now, so I don't I don't know how many you
26:56
Speaker 1: know mock draft four point ohers or seven point fives
26:59
Speaker 1: he had, you know, he only had his one. He
27:02
Speaker 1: only had his one. So yeah, I know it's this
27:04
Speaker 1: is the most this is the most exciting time because
27:06
Speaker 1: it's like this influx of of of like new talent
27:11
Speaker 1: that's coming in, respecting the past, respecting who's here, and
27:14
Speaker 1: then bringing in these really new this new group of
27:17
Speaker 1: of guys that everybody's done an amazing job of spending
27:21
Speaker 1: time with and identifying both.
27:23
Speaker 9: The the emphasis on the quality of the player the prospect,
27:27
Speaker 9: what makes him tick? Has the nil here at made
27:31
Speaker 9: that even more clearly defined that you can tell more
27:34
Speaker 9: about a player coming out of college and the money
27:37
Speaker 9: he made and makes.
27:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think it's too early to tell.
27:43
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you were really getting gassed up in
27:46
Speaker 5: that process when we're at Michigan.
27:48
Speaker 4: It just started.
27:49
Speaker 5: That was twenty one, so I guess we're four years
27:52
Speaker 5: in now, so probably more returns on that over the
27:54
Speaker 5: next couple of years. I think if you put more
27:58
Speaker 5: eggs in one basket one way at the other, I
28:00
Speaker 5: think it might be a little dangerous. You know, you
28:01
Speaker 5: start like attributing it to certain things you know you
28:05
Speaker 5: might may or may not be correct, and that might
28:07
Speaker 5: be it might not be the right way to go.
28:10
Speaker 7: You found the but the sort of middle later parts
28:13
Speaker 7: of the drafts aren't is maybe strong in the NL
28:16
Speaker 7: eric as some guys who like they could get more
28:19
Speaker 7: money going back to school than they would being a
28:21
Speaker 7: fifth or sixth round pick.
28:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's happened. For some reason. This year's group looks
28:28
Speaker 2: right now.
28:28
Speaker 1: It feels it feels I don't know, it's because we
28:30
Speaker 1: spend so much time now with these guys, but it
28:32
Speaker 1: seems like it's pretty pretty strong throughout. But yeah, that's
28:37
Speaker 1: that's that's legit. A lot of guys staying like, you know,
28:43
Speaker 1: fifth round, sixth, fifth, fifth on down.
28:45
Speaker 9: Probably does that make smaller school guys or you've had
28:49
Speaker 9: two Division twos in the last three years, Does that
28:52
Speaker 9: make them even more worth scrutinizing because maybe they aren't
28:56
Speaker 9: their road hasn't been as easy and they're not getting paid.
28:59
Speaker 2: M No. I wouldn't, no, because they're all it's all
29:03
Speaker 2: part of the same group, you know, they're all part
29:05
Speaker 2: of it's one big class.
29:10
Speaker 8: Option he did last in a couple of weeks.
29:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'll answer, we'll answer that at a later date.
29:19
Speaker 7: They're strong the.
29:19
Speaker 12: Music, but how do Clink Kobyak and John Betton affect
29:23
Speaker 12: the way you guys might be evaluating offensive lineman in
29:26
Speaker 12: this draft?
29:28
Speaker 5: Well, I think I think, you know, the system has
29:30
Speaker 5: been defined and uh, they've been running for quite a
29:33
Speaker 5: long time. I think what's cool about what these these guys.
29:37
Speaker 5: You could make the mistake of saying, Hey, we're gonna
29:40
Speaker 5: be really myopic and this is what we need and
29:43
Speaker 5: we're not budging.
29:47
Speaker 4: They're not like that.
29:48
Speaker 5: You know, they're kind of seeing the whole player and
29:50
Speaker 5: then having a vision for how they would fit with us,
29:52
Speaker 5: but definitely understand like what we're going to be asking
29:56
Speaker 5: them to do.
29:56
Speaker 4: Is is really clear?
29:58
Speaker 8: John's there's still.
29:58
Speaker 6: Music in the draft room, and it's been a while
30:00
Speaker 6: since I asked this, so you know what's on the playlist.
30:03
Speaker 7: Who's in charge of the playlist in the draft room now?
30:05
Speaker 6: Is it still Bob Martley like it was fifteen years ago?
30:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was that.
30:09
Speaker 1: People are getting tired of me playing that, so they
30:11
Speaker 1: want other stuff. So yeah, my son, I think, yeah,
30:17
Speaker 1: Jack's coming back, you know, so that'll probably be his job,
30:20
Speaker 1: you know, if I can get him to turn it down,
30:23
Speaker 1: you know, to appropriate times. He's way more hip than
30:27
Speaker 1: I am. So yeah, it changes throughout the weekend.
30:31
Speaker 12: But yeah, John WA sanctioned Girls Like Football today as
30:36
Speaker 12: a WA sport. This has been an organization that cares
30:39
Speaker 12: about pushing like football forward.
30:41
Speaker 2: So just your reaction to that.
30:42
Speaker 1: Views, Yeah, amazing. I mean I think that's that's pretty cool.
30:46
Speaker 1: State of Washington and you know the Seahawks, you know,
30:49
Speaker 1: people stair through a great job getting out in the
30:51
Speaker 1: community and im packing women's af Flag football with women's
30:56
Speaker 1: Flag football a camp here this weekend, a bunch of
30:59
Speaker 1: people here, oh, you know, spending time with with UH,
31:03
Speaker 1: with young young.
31:04
Speaker 2: People, future prospects. So no, it's pretty exciting.
31:08
Speaker 3: Do you have any more up it on how chet
31:10
Speaker 3: is doing it, whether you'd be.
31:11
Speaker 4: Ready to again, I don't don't. I don't think it's
31:15
Speaker 4: changed since we we lost talk. But exciting. He's a
31:19
Speaker 4: good spot.
31:23
Speaker 11: I'm yeah, it's the same kind of motion any time
31:26
Speaker 11: you're calling a guy you're about to pick him, you
31:27
Speaker 11: knowing that's like a life changing phone call that person.
31:30
Speaker 6: What is that like for you?
31:33
Speaker 1: Yes, it's really exciting. I mean, it's we're gonna get
31:37
Speaker 1: It's much more fun than.
31:38
Speaker 2: The negotiating contract. I'll say that, uh uh yeah, we're
31:42
Speaker 2: gonna get you know, the area guys doing it more.
31:45
Speaker 1: As well, because they spend these guys spend so much
31:48
Speaker 1: time with with the individuals.
31:50
Speaker 2: Now it's it's it's pretty awesome.
31:53
Speaker 1: I was saying to uh, Aaron Heinleind today, I was like, hey,
31:56
Speaker 1: you know, would you mind calling such and such an
31:58
Speaker 1: agent to see if we're getting hooked u with some coaches?
32:00
Speaker 1: And He's like, well, I can just want to just
32:02
Speaker 1: call him myself.
32:03
Speaker 2: I was like, even better. You know, he's got to
32:06
Speaker 2: do a great job of like you know, everybody, you know, just.
32:10
Speaker 1: Creating relationships with these guys. So it's pretty cool to
32:13
Speaker 1: have like free agency in here. Later on, you know,
32:15
Speaker 1: three four, five years later, you know, you know, giving
32:19
Speaker 1: us crowd for not taking him because they they really
32:21
Speaker 1: wanted to come here and stuff like that.
32:23
Speaker 2: So in the.
32:23
Speaker 1: Relationships that they've developed with the with the Area scouts
32:26
Speaker 1: over the years, did more of that.
32:28
Speaker 3: Lesser the area you guys calling what what kind of
32:30
Speaker 3: caused you to say, hey, I'm.
32:31
Speaker 2: Gonna do that this year.
32:33
Speaker 1: Just the experience that that you know, Mike and I have,
32:36
Speaker 1: you know, coach Carol for years being able to make
32:39
Speaker 1: that like, have that call the person's I mean, it's
32:43
Speaker 1: it's a it's a fun and it's exciting, exciting deal
32:46
Speaker 1: to hear the.
32:47
Speaker 2: Enthusiasm in their voice.
32:49
Speaker 1: You know, some guys are screaming, some guys are crying,
32:52
Speaker 1: some you know, some guys don't pick up their phones.
32:55
Speaker 4: That's what that's what I was thinking of.
32:58
Speaker 2: So girls, thank you, good, thank you though