Originally Posted by
86WARD
• On the draft: was skeptical entering it but thought the draft went great. Thought it was almost flawless and learned a lot of things from it.
• Why he would want more rounds: Comment came from private meeting and wasn’t supposed to be public knowledge but thought the opportunity to draft more players and give the players that didn’t have a pro day experience an opportunity. Signed as many XFL guys as they could because they knew more about them than the college players that didn’t have a pro day.
• Chase Claypool- have been watching for a couple years. Though he may come out early last year. Didn’t know he was as fast as he was. Liked his special teams effort. Physicality, blocking and knowledge. Definitely will be a special teams guy. Fills a need for the deep threat. Washington, Wallace, Bryant type.
• Alex Highsmith - Dan Rooney scouted him. Liked him a lot. Colbert scouted him and confirmed he was a player. Very comfortable with his football mentality and hopefully grow into an OLB pass rusher. Will definitely fill a special team need.
• Thoughts between 49-102. Thought about trading back or up but didn’t want to with only 6 picks. Didn’t have ammo to trade up. Happy with Devin and Minkah so the price was worth it. No regrets.
• Anthony McFarland - was a player they were not scouting but jumped off the film. They liked what they saw even with the ankle injury. Has the speed to turn a short gain to a 30-40 yard gain. Short area quickness!! Was a very easy pick with McFarland there at 4.
• Kevin Dotson - No numbers on him. No interview with him. Just liked what they saw on tape with him. Kinda reminds him of Willie Colon. Liked him at the East/West game. Was supposed to be a visit but couldn’t happen. Doesn’t have a physical on him.
• Antoine Brooks - He was a guy playing over the slot. In a base defense they project him as a safety. But bases aren’t bases anymore. Brooks fits into all their sub packages as well. Blitzing, covering TEs, WRs, RBs. Will cover in short zones.
• Carlos Davis - caught their eye at a 4.79 40. Needs to find more out about him. Very capable guy that can run. Best is ahead of him. Thinks he has size, speed, toughness can play 3-4/4-3. Has some work to do but likes the uniqueness of his size.
• College Free Agent Group - Average two CFA make team per year. Were little worried because of non-pro day but that’s why they signed XFL players. Signed 10 CFAs because signed 8 XFL guys. Had a little anxiety about it because of the skepticism but turned out better than anticipated.
• Other Notes - Did a lot of referencing of these players from 2 years ago. So a lot of homework into these players. Had great grades on Chase coming out of the 2018 season. Would’ve drafted him then as well. Any difficult decisions as far as measures led go, they basically just looked at what kind of player they were on field. Praises scouts and coaches for doing this the way they did it this year. Discovered some things doing this way that they will use in future.
• Ben Roethlisberger - got great gauge on where Ben is health wise and that is what influenced direction of some of the draft. All signs are pointing up with Ben.
• Virtual coaching is going well. Challenging but going better than anticipated.
Reply With Quote
