JOHN SCHNEIDER: Man, I just want to start off saying I love our team. I mean, I love our people. Everybody that works on this, like, every year, we're so blessed to be able to do this. It's like I can't tell you about the coaches, the scouts, medical, everything that goes into this. All our guys working the phones today, rookie free agency, the whole process is just...
We have great people. I'm very personally grateful and want to say thank you to everybody through the process.
So yeah, with that...
Q. You came in with four picks, came out with as many players as you got, how excited are you with the moves you were able to make?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Unfortunately people don't want to trade with us until the sixth or seventh round, fifth or sixth round. I don't know why it happened like that this year.
No, I felt like all the way through we were targeted, we were clear, we had a plan. You're always going to have some upsets throughout the process. We had a couple of those, for sure.
But the coaches were awesome about moving forward after those upsets, and the scouts, everybody that was working the phones, what the board was looking like.
Yeah, ended up just being a great process. We added some guys all the way through that were, like, okay, cool, there's a plan, there's a vision. There's a collective feel for moving forward with these guys, how they're going to compete with our team.
Q. Can you tell us about the decision to move up for Beau Stephens?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, it was too big of a gap and too much talent there. Beau came on a 30 visit. Really cool, right?
MIKE MACDONALD: (Nodding head).
JOHN SCHNEIDER: You're nodding (laughter)?
MIKE MACDONALD: Fly ball, caught (laughter).
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Just the process of coming in, yeah.
Q. How surprised were you that he was still there?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, we were pretty surprised. But when the guy lasts that long, you're like, Okay, how do we figure this out?
We (indiscernible) have a plan to kind of play the compensatory game, if you will. We were, like, we have the 12th pick next year. What does it look like? Yeah, the coaches, we got a lot of buy-in from the coaches. They're really excited about it.
Q. Mike, they all seem like they were energetic and self-assured, yet they understood what it's going to take to compete on a Super Bowl-winning team.
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, I think, again, it speaks to just like the alignment with our people, the things we're looking for. You don't have to be like that to be one of us for us to want you here.
It's cool that it's worked out that way. Like I said, I think it was day one, we have great competition on our team. We have a lot of depth. To be able to add some extra pieces later in the draft is going to be really fun to sort that out as the process kind of unfolds.
Q. You triple up at the cornerback position. What are you excited about with those two players, how they fit into that competition?
MIKE MACDONALD: There's definitely some special teams value. But, like, you can never have too many corners. I don't think I've been a part of a team that has this many, like, drafted corners on their team going into camp, which is really exciting.
It's going to be a fun competition, man. It's going to be really cool to get these guys in here, get moving, see where it goes.
I know Jay is really excited, too.
Q. You guys didn't add an edge in the draft. Free agency either. Talk about some of the guys you got on the roster that maybe you think can step into that role.
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, I mean, Jared Ivey is a guy that had a great, great season last year. He wasn't active as many days as he wanted.
Jamie Sheriff is another guy for two years that has been with us.
Connor O'Toole was up, does a lot of great things.
Missing anybody?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Gains.
MIKE MACDONALD: Jalan Gains is back.
I mean, we're really excited about those guys. They really worked really hard last year. I think all of them were ready to go, if need be, to go play in a game. That's the way the roster shook out on a week-to-week basis.
So yeah, we're fired upped about those guys. Again, the draft kind of normally hits first week of Phase II-ish. We're kind of a week ahead in terms of the process when the players get here. We're early right now, relatively speaking, in our process.
We're off to a great start. We got to keep nailing these days with these guys and see where it takes us.
Q. After Monday you can sign free agents without it affecting the comp pick formula. Do you expect adding more to the competition at the edge spot?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, we may, yep.
Q. With O'Toole and Ivey specifically last year, you had some crunch points throughout the year that you had to put some guys on wavers. To not do that with Ivey and O'Toole, does that speak what you thought about them?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. Very good pre-seasons. It's a credit to Willie and our pro personnel staff identifying, like, these are the teams that are looking for a specific position.
Yeah, it was definitely part of the process.
Q. With Emanuel Wilson, what did you like about him?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: This guy is an outstanding special teams player. Mike reminded me today, clocked at 22.4 miles per hour with football pads. I'm not sure if you can run like that or not (smiling). It's pretty fast, yeah.
I mean, just a ton of speed. We were really excited to be able to get him. Jay spent so much time preparing for the draft. It was so great to be able to get one of the very top players. He's excited about it. And fits.
Q. John, over the years you've kind of expanded the amount of people you have making the draft calls. Why is that important to share that with a bunch of different people?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I mean, the scouts, they're away from their families so much. Like Ryan's got two beautiful little kids. He's gone all the time. They put in so much time.
It's just a cool thing. They build these relationships with these guys. It's just great for them to be able to finally say, Hey, man, we're going to select you, then hand the phone to the head coach.
I feel very grateful that I've been able to do this for a number of years. I hope others in our room will be able to do the same thing, be decision makers. It's just fun to let them do that.
Obviously the team is going to be sold, so it's Bert's last draft with us. Becca, I mean, this girl works her tail off. It's fun for her. We were joking. She is a little AI-ish. It was fun for her to be able to do that, too.
It's all these people in the background. Again, you guys are interviewing the players, the coaches, everybody throughout the year, but there's a lot that goes into this behind closed doors.
Q. Andre Fuller in particular was a guy people thought might go higher. What do you like about him? Seems like he has a lot of versatility.
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, I mean, I think you're looking at an overall really good football player. Again, going through the process, meeting with our coaches, it's tricky with the multiple position thing, but the ability to be able to do those things is exciting. Really smart. Just a great football player.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: He's playing on teams. Special teams player as well.
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: He had a great visit. Some guys don't have great visits. I feel like I say, This guy had a great visit. Coach is excited, yeah. Different area of the board.
Q. Deven, where do you see him fitting in?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Our coaches were very excited to add an A gap player that can get up and down the line of scrimmage and have some upside as a pass-rusher. Let's see what Patrick says about him here. You guys will dig this analytics talk here. Let's see.
'Young player, solid stat line with a better-than-average pass-rush and the run game production. Good physical profile.'
These are the analytics stuff we do all the time (smiling). Packets put together for us. Give Patrick a shout-out.
But, no, that guy is a monster. He's huge. It's really cool. Again, came in on a 30 visit. Coaches were excited, scouts were excited, here we go.
Q. Your call to get young players who aren't in awe of the Super Bowl champions, where do you think you measured up this weekend in that?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: We did a good job. Yeah, I mean, they wouldn't have been on our board really. They weren't going to be on our board if we felt that way. I say that, like, our scouts felt that way, you know?
Q. How did that show up in scouting?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I mean, I could talk to you about this for hours. These guys study these guys forever. It's like we have a competitor scale, how they fit in the competitor scale, what's their self-efficacy, how are they going to handle competition.
Q. John, with Dansby, you didn't have anything at the combine, pro day, metric, timing-wise. What did you learn about him from a numbers standpoint through your process? What can you tell us about him?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Competitive, quick, sticky. We felt like we were missing out on, like, not taking a DB from Arizona because there's, I don't know how many, seven taken, so... Feel like we had to get in the mix. Had some fun over there.
No, he's very competitive. They had a great defensive backfield. He came from San Jose State. Everyone was really excited about him. Those guys, too, seventh round, you're getting closer to free agency. Okay, who are the guys that are going to go?
Q. He told us that he's run in the 4.2s.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: He's a cornerback. He's going to tell you that (smiling). He's swaggy. He's swaggy.
Q. Does that general speed level kind of show up for you when you see him on tape?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, he's fast. Fast, quick, yeah.
Q. Mike, a non-football one for you. What did it mean to have your dad here this weekend?
MIKE MACDONALD: Where is the old man (smiling)?
Q. Just given his journey.
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, it's awesome. Shout-out. Appreciate John for the way we operate here. It's pretty unique.
But yeah, it's been awesome to have him here. See him and Bill hang out, figuring out the draft board, getting the binoculars out, solving the problems. Play a little golf.
But yeah, any time we get the chance to spend time together is definitely (indiscernible), especially where we're at on the map.
Q. Last year at this time it seemed like there was a lot of uncertainty, missing the Playoffs, a lot of personnel turnover. Seems like this year, seems to be more of a complete team. Do you feel that way?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: No. You mean right now at this time? After the draft I felt really good about our team, yeah. I mean, I feel really good about our team. I just have a natural anxiety that drives us to constantly be on the lookout for how we can improve in every aspect of our operation. Yeah, that's basically it.
Never, ever feel like it's, Oh, yeah... You feel good about your team, you love the guys, but there's a part of our philosophy, like, What are we missing? How do we get better? That's just how we roll.
Q. John, we were talking to Josh, Ryan Florence earlier today, they've been with you for so long, what is the benefit of having guys that you have that much history with? How do you incorporate new voices to keep perspective fresh?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Oh, wow, new perspectives. That's great (smiling).
First of all the cohesion, being able to be concise with your communication, quick, easy, non-rambling. We don't read reports, you know what I mean? You can just get at things really quick, can solve problems just in a quick manner, quicker manner.
On the flipside, the point about what are we missing out on, there's always this challenge of, like, there's a possibility this player could be this, whether it's character, whether it's off-the-field stuff, then on the field, like the play, good and bad. I've seen the good. We basically try to accentuate the positives. We've seen the player do this.
The easiest thing you can do as an evaluator, the safest thing you can do for your job stability is basically say, like, He Can't do this, can't do this, can't do that. Okay, who are you going to pick? Somebody's got to play.
It's just a constant just inquisitive challenge for these guys all the time of, like, knowing at the end of the day who the player is, as much as they possibly can.
At the end of the day, when we bring them in the building, we're still learning them. There's guys that have been here three years that we're still trying to figure out. Not trying to figure out, sorry. Trying to help.
Q. Stephens, is he on the right side or the left side?
MIKE MACDONALD: No.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Thanks (smiling).
MIKE MACDONALD: We'll figure all that out later.
Q. (Question about Lombardi).
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, that was fun. Sorry. It's been a long weekend. I was like Stephens? Oh, Beau (laughter).
Yeah, that was fun. I forget whose idea that was, but it was pretty fun.
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