MIKE BORGONZI: Obviously we put the pick in tonight, drafted Cam. We said we wanted to go through the entire process here with Cam, and we did that. I'll tell you that I first got here, I had watched Cam in the past a little bit but really hadn't studied him a ton. So the first thing, when I came in here, it was to really watch all the quarterbacks.
I wanted to do it separately with Brian and myself, Chad, the rest of the staff, Reggie, Dave. So that was kind of the process we went through. We watched every game that he played in at Miami, Washington State, went back to Incarnate Word, and then we kind of got together and talked about it. So that was the first part of the process.
Where it really started to come together -- and I'll tell you really before the combine, we made a decision, you know, if we go through the rest of it -- we really never met him before to go through the process and talking with him and how impressed we were with him, just the person, the football intelligence of the person. You could feel the competitive edge when you talk with him. You can feel the confidence.
It's not cocky or arrogant, but there's a confidence there that you need to have as a player and a quarterback. So we went through the combine, his pro day, private workout. Got to meet his family. He comes from a great family. Great support system.
So, you know, we pretty much had all the answers -- all the questions answered probably couple weeks -- probably three weeks up to the draft where we felt comfortable and we made that decision.
Q. Amy making that trip is pretty unprecedented. What was her degree of interaction with him? What was the back and forth between you and her after that?
MIKE BORGONZI: So it just happened to be the owners meetings down in Florida that week, and we had it scheduled for that Friday, I believe it was, before the owners meetings. And Amy joined us during that time at his private workout. She got to talk with him, meet with him. He's from the same area down in Houston. So they had a lot of common things to talk about. And then just meeting his parents and she got to see him workout and talk with them. We felt great and she felt great coming away from that workout.
Q. Do you think that Cam would have been the best quarterback in a lot of different drafts in the past?
MIKE BORGONZI: Yes, I think that the talent was there. I think the one thing that stood out to me when I first started watching him is he had -- a lot of quarterbacks have great arm talent coming out. But the one thing that stood out to me was really just his instincts and his processing ability, the spatial awareness that he has on the field, his pocket awareness. Now, there's things he has to improve just like any other young quarterback.
But those are the things that really jumped out to me that I thought, you know, this kid has a chance to be special. And then just going, like I said, going through the process and getting to meet him. He's very smart. He's intelligent. At that first meeting at the combine, we had a pretty good idea where we were going.
Q. How seriously did you consider some of the trade offers you got?
MIKE BORGONZI: I did want to listen because I think you have to do your due diligence and listen. And I did that. But I think we came to a decision that we weren't going to move off that pick and we wanted Cam.
Q. What made you so convinced? The reports, the conversation was pretty high. What made you so convinced that you should pass that up and have him be the guy that you --
MIKE BORGONZI: I just think if you identify a franchise quarterback, there's really not a price you can pay for that, in my mind. Like I always said, that's the most important position in all of sports, and if you come to a consensus -- and we did -- that he has the potential to be that, like I said, he's a young quarterback and he still has a lot of things to work on, but I think the intangibles with him, his work ethic, his want-to to become better, we felt comfortable with that.
Q. Did those trade offers come before or after the three-week period where you said, you know, before the draft where you said you guys had made your mind up?
MIKE BORGONZI: They came before, yeah, and after. But it was multiple times we had some offers. I don't want to go into specifics of the teams and what the offers were. But, you know, we were approached multiple times for that pick.
Q. How many different teams?
MIKE BORGONZI: I don't want to go into specifics on the teams but we had offers.
Q. There's no secret when a G-M picks a quarterback they're almost always connected. Just how convicted were you in connecting yourself to this quarterback? And I guess starting the clock on the window you have the quarterback, it's time to build?
MIKE BORGONZI: I don't think you do it unless you're convicted. I felt like I was convicted.
Q. Was he the number one player on the list?
MIKE BORGONZI: He was, yep.
Q. You hear the comparisons with Patrick, obviously a player you know pretty well. I know that's not exactly fair to compare him to someone like that, but do you put any stock in that?
MIKE BORGONZI: You know, some of the things I mentioned about instincts and spatial awareness, when we studied Patrick coming out, I thought Cam showed that. Now, he's got a long way to become Patrick Mahomes, future Hall of Famer, three Super Bowls right now, but there were certain traits I think that I saw that I've been around Patrick a long time, his ability to process and the instincts kind of stood out to me.
Q. Do you think the veteran receivers you've added also help in his development?
MIKE BORGONZI: I think Tyler, bringing him on, is going to be big for us, just having a veteran presence in there, dependable.
Q. You're done for tonight, or is there any impulse to try and get back into the first round?
MIKE BORGONZI: We'll see. I'll have to go back down there. But we'll see.
Q. Is the addition of Lockett change anything as far as the projections go, and maybe if you could just skip ahead as to what might be ahead for day two?
MIKE BORGONZI: Not necessarily. It won't change anything we have on the board adding a player. I think our mindset is the same. Like I said, we're going to approach day two just seeing who the best available player is on the board for us. Like I said, we have a lot of holes right now that we want to fill. I think we want to stay true to the board and draft the best player that we can.
Q. Do you feel any more inclined to stick there as opposed to move, or is that TBD?
MIKE BORGONZI: Yeah, we'll have to see what players are on the board at that point.
Q. Travis Hunter is going to be in the division now. You'll see him twice a year. You had a rival give up an awful lot to go get him. Does that make this decision your conviction about Cam, their conviction about Travis, maybe put even more of a spotlight on it?
MIKE BORGONZI: Not necessarily. Travis is a great player. I knew that one watching him, special talent. Great kid. But it doesn't put any more pressure, spotlight on it, no.
Q. What would it mean to be able to make that call for the first time?
MIKE BORGONZI: Yeah, it was a special moment. You put a lot of work into getting into this position. It certainly wasn't me. I just had to call him, but it really was a collaborative effort between coaches and scouts to come to this decision.
Q. What gives you confidence about Brian's ability to develop a quarterback?
MIKE BORGONZI: Well, he's been around a lot of pretty good ones now. With Peyton and Stafford, and obviously Joe. He's gone through the development part, and we've had discussions on that and just how they develop Joe and things they did with him. So he's seen it done before. So I have full confidence in Brian.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports