Q. You drafted five guys that were at the Senior Bowl this year and a lot of those guys talked about those conversations had with them and the things you learned about them. How important was that this year, especially, when you didn't have the combine and all the traditional visits? Was there extra value added on meeting guys there?
CHRIS PETTIT: Every year we've been here, we've taken guys from the Senior Bowl. Senior Bowl does a great job of recruiting and bringing in really good players to get a look at. There's, you know, every year I feel like we draft guys from there. This year, it really was -- I said it the last couple nights was our really only time to be face-to-face with the prospects and how important that was to the process of just seeing them, feeling them, getting close to them. So yeah, it was super important, but every year they do a great job of bringing in really good players down there for us to evaluate.
Q. And then one guy that wasn't at the Senior Bowl that you picked was Gary Brightwell who was a little more under the radar. Joe talked about how impressed he was with the special teams tape. Was that something that stood out to you?
CHRIS PETTIT: Yeah, absolutely. Especially one of our special teams coaches Tom Quinn ran into me one day in the hall and said he really saw some good traits in him. So we threw on the tape. Also as a runner, this guy will help us as a running back, as well. He's competitive. He's tough. He's got good hands. Good athlete. So yeah I'm looking forward to seeing him run and also contribute on teams.
Q. Obviously Joe told us that the process was already starting with you guys trying to get together and worry about after the Draft and free agency. If you can explain what this year's process looks like compared to obviously last year where you were not bringing guys in and going virtual. How different is this year and do you have a number in mind of how many guys you will look to sign after the Draft?
CHRIS PETTIT: Between the scouts and coaches, we're collaborative and we work together on recruiting and really trying to get these guys signed up after the Draft is over. It's definitely been a better process this year than it was last year doing it all virtual. It was difficult. I'll be honest, it was difficult. I'm sitting there looking, trying to organize it all with about 60 faces on the Zoom and the communication was hard. I think we did a great job last year and this year is going to be even better. We have the coaching staff here and we can communicate face-to-face. We have some of our scouts had a live locally around and that's helping out and then we have our scouts zoomed in the room. It will be better this year but we're not at full capacity when we are all together working as a team face-to-face.
Q. Rodarius Williams is going to be 25 in September. Some teams are drafting guys who are 20. How old -- how do you look at age in the draft process? Is there a number that's too old? Is there a number that's too young? Are you aware if a guy is 22 versus 23? Do you know that number off the top of your head? How do you see age?
CHRIS PETTIT: I mean, I think it's a piece of the puzzle like every measurable is or every skill is. Obviously it didn't affect us, his age and why we took him. You know, it's a case-by-case basis when it comes to the age to be honest with you. But no, I mean, actually he's more mature. We don't have to -- some of these guys that are coming in, maybe don't have the life skills being younger players, really straight out of high school almost. But no, it's part of the puzzle like everything else, like I said, every measurable, every skill.
Q. You just spent the last year of your life devoted to these three days. What is your takeaway of this class and how does it compare to what you might have expected coming in?
CHRIS PETTIT: This has been going since really our meetings in early May, I had my mind on this date. So it's been good. It been a difficult year for all of us. But it's been a great process. We've learned a lot. We learned new ways to scout. I think that's going to help us going forward. I'm really excited about the class. There's guys that we kind of targeted way back in February and we're happy they were there for us at the time they were. So you know I feel good. I feel good about every draft class. We put a lot of work in both -- all the scouts, all the personnel, all the coaches, we put a lot into this, so it's a big day for us.
Q. When you look at a guy like Elerson, Joe was just talking about big school, small school. Is he a little more of hey, you look at him and say, he is not what he's going to be and you project him and just what kind of potential as a pass rusher do you see him having?
CHRIS PETTIT: I think there's a lot of potential. The biggest thing with the smaller school guys, we always start at step one, do they dominate that level. They have to dominate that level of comp to get in the conversation. And the great thing about Elerson that, again, reference the Senior Bowl again, but we got to see him on the same playing field with guys from Power Five schools and the higher levels and he fit right?. He competed his butt off and looked the part. You got to compare apples-to-apples there. That was a great venue for us. There were times when he had to play a Division I team. He played Iowa State this year, played over 90 plays in that game and competed to the last whistle and it was really impressive to see.
But I think there's big upside there, with all our players, they are going to have to come in and develop and become pros.
Q. I know you're finishing up and probably haven't turned the page yet but you spend your whole year to get to this date. What's the mindset you take when you are going to be leaving moving forward knowing, okay, next year now, we have all these extra first, an extra third, an extra fourth.
CHRIS PETTIT: Yeah, kind of what I alluded to last night with the class next year being so large, to have the extra picks is really beneficial going forward. To be honest with you it makes it fun knowing that we have all these opportunities to take players next year. So I'm looking forward to it. With a big class, it's going to be a lot of work for us. Our scouts are going to have to be as thorough as ever and start work earlier with such a big class and guys moving all around. We know that and we are ready to take on the challenge but now at least we have the picks to hit it out of the park next year again hopefully.
Q. Did you get any directive or direction from the defensive coaching staff about the cornerbacks you were looking for as opposed to in years past and can you talk about sort of how Rodarius and A-Rob line up with each other? Are they a similar type of player?
CHRIS PETTIT: No. 1, first day here with our coaching staff, is let sit down with the personnel and coaching staff and talk about what kind of players they want and what works in the scheme. The last thing we want to do is, you know, give them players that don't fit their scheme and type of people. It's collaborative. I'm sure Dave has said that many times but it's true. We work together. It's our job as personnel people to provide them the players that work.
As far as Rodarius and A-Rob, they have some similar skill sets, both long, both physical and both competitive, instinctive mares. I think, you know, they fit our scheme. They both are good in press. Ball skills, they both have ball skills which we emphasize. I'm excited to see those guys work together.
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