We're excited to get Anthony Hill Jr. It was a guy that we've done a lot of work on. Brought him in here on a 30 visit. Spent a lot time with him. He is the prototype linebacker in this defense. Long, fast, violent, that we always talk about. Tremendous kid, great football character. As we were going through at pick 69, we were just—he's still up there. We had made some calls to try to go up. We felt with some of the teams maybe ahead of us that there could be a chance that he goes. So, we made a move to go get the guy that we wanted.
(on his comfort level for what is left on the offensive line)
Yeah, I mean, we got five picks tomorrow. There's still a good amount of guys up there right now. I know the draft's not over here yet. But we feel good about some of the guys up there.
(on how much not having a third or fourth round picks limit them)
Yeah, I mean, listen, we have five picks, so you can try to move around a little bit more if we had to. But we'll see how the board falls.
(on Anthony Hill Jr.'s learning curve)
Yeah, he's a smart kid, playing that green dot in this defense too, which he did at Texas, but just like any young linebacker, just going through reads and it's going to be a process for him. But I saw a guy that continued to get better as a young kid. He's a young kid who was 20 years old last year playing and continuing to get better. I thought he was really good in coverage. I do think his instincts are good. The one thing about him, when he sees it, he goes. He's fast and violent. He fits what we want here.
(on all of the picks being younger so far)
I think you're always looking for younger, healthier guys that have more of an upside. It wasn't really something that we totally just said, 'We're going to do this,' just happened to draft the first three guys that were all 20 years old last year playing basically. But of course, there's always—this guy is 20 years old, I mean, some guys they come out now at 24. So these guys are going to be finishing their first contract while some guys are still in college. So I think there's still room for these guys to grow.
(on the process in knowing when you have to trade up to get a player you want)
Yeah, there's all those scenarios. You're on the clock, something happens. But I think our pro department does a great job of studying team needs, teams in front of us, what they need. We track teams that have visits with players. There's all sorts of information and intel that you might take into account. And that's really what you do. You really don't know, but you try to have as much information as you can with the teams in front of you or even behind you if you think you can move back and still get that same player.
(on what he believes is still available at the nickel position)
I got to see who goes the rest of the night, but there are some guys in some of that bigger nickel role that we have down there. But Marcus (Harris) is—I think Robert (Saleh) said he's one of the bigger nickels he's ever had. He's tough in there, he can tackle. So we'll see how it shakes out, but there are some players on the board that we do have in that category.
(on how Anthony Hill Jr. will fit into the inside linebacker room and if he expects him to start immediately)
No, I mean, all these guys have to come in and earn their role. The guys we have in there, I thought played well last year. And just like anything else, these guys will come in, it's a competition. That's the name of the game.
(on how the new scheme changes how they evaluate the linebacker room)
It's not so much from the off the ball linebacker. It's not much of a bigger transition as it was, I guess, in the past with some of these 34 linebackers who were just downhill thumper guys. The game has changed so much where you have to be athletic. So it's really more of the front that you have figure out the edge, defensive ends versus outside backers. Off the ball linebacker is pretty comparable.
(on how this draft has been different than last year's draft)
Well, I think anytime you have a year under your belt with the staff, it really hasn't been much different, but I guess there is a sense of more, it's more comfortable because guys have been through the process before. The process that I was putting in last year just going through the fall with the scouts was a whole new thing, but certainly the more drafts that you have and going through a cycle with the same staff, it's a lot easier.
(on if they will not be utilizing Anthony Hill's pass rushing skills)
No, there are some different schemes that Robert (Saleh) has done, especially with Fred Warner. And we've gone over that, and how he's going to be used and certainly that role as a blitzer will be used here in the scheme.
(on how his comfortably being in this role helps him navigate the later rounds and potential trades)
I think you try to stay true to the board and then once you get into free agency, it's a little bit of the process. Probably less numbers than we have to fill than last year in terms of the 90-man. So that'll be a little bit different.
(on three draft picks spending their entire college career at the same school)
Yeah, I do think it's case-by-case, I guess, really. But I do you think having stability in one place and taking coaching in one school is probably a little bit easier, just in terms of—I touched on offensive linemen before, just the fundamentals and being there at one place, it certainly helps.
