Redskins Park, Ashburn, VA-
Coach Jay Gruden
On what he liked about the players selected on Saturday:
“We liked something different about all of them. Obviously, we got Jamison [Crowder] – we liked his big play ability. He can return punts, obviously. That’s obviously exciting. Very productive college football player, very tough, and he’s going to be an instant playmaker for us. So, that’s going to be a good one. [Arie] Kouandjio from Alabama, big, physical offensive guard. You talk about offensive line depth, you can never have too many big guys that can move the pile – powerful people. Knowing him and talking to him at the combine, he’s a very good person who works very, very hard. Very detailed in what he does, and he’ll be a good fit for us. Martrell [Spaight] the linebacker from Arkansas, very productive player. A one-year player who really did some things in college as a linebacker, physical linebacker. Makes a ton of plays. Very, very productive in the games that he played. Very exciting. He likes to hit, you can see that. He doesn’t back down from any contact. He’ll be a player to be reckoned with. I promise you that. Very tough player. And Kyshoen from Virginia Tech, the safety, similar type. A little bit undersized for a safety, he’s 5-foot-10 but when he brings it he brings it. He’s a tough guy. I think he’s going to be very good on special teams and he’s going to have to try to work his way into the lineup. But, very physical player, very productive player at Virginia Tech, and we like what we saw on tape. And we like his demeanor and the way he plays. Physically tough, makes up for not being 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-1 by his physical toughness and his ability to play special teams. And Tevin [Mitchel] at Arkansas, did a lot of work on Tevin. He had an excellent pro day, has excellent measurables, 6-foot tall. He was relegated mostly to playing nickel at Arkansas. But, I think with the measurables that he has, there is a role for him. He can run and did some good things at the nickel position. And Evan Spencer, you know obviously he’s Cole’s brother, who works here. We know a lot about him obviously, but he brings a different type of mentality to the receiver room. He’s a different type of player, he’s a physical player. Excellent special team player – excellent, excellent, excellent – and he’s going to make that room better. Very, very good, positive, tough football player. And Austin [Reiter] with the last pick at South Florida, you watch him on tape and he does some really good things. He’s a good solid center. He’ll come in and fit in the mix and come in and compete like the rest of these guys. I think the motto of this draft really is that these are all good football players, proven football players, very productive in college. Tough, love to play, and we’re excited to get to see them.”
On not taking any defensive linemen and if that is what he expected:
“No, that’s not what we expected. When we got Preston, you know he’s kind of a tweener. We addressed defensive linemen in free agency obviously. We have some good guys in house and we wanted to take maybe one or two of those, but we just felt the players that were available that we did take were a better fit for us at that time.”
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Redskins Coach Jay Gruden |
On why it was important to select players with strong special teams experience:
“Well, our special teams has not been very good the last couple years and it’s an area that we have to improve. You really only improve special teams by improving your depth and when your depth becomes improved then your special teams becomes improved. And the type of mentality that these guys have to have that Evan Spencer has, that Spaight has, that Kyshoen has, I think these are good fits for us and they’re going to come in and they know on Day 1 and know that [it is] ‘special teams one, position number two,’ that’s the way you crack into the lineup. That’s the way you crack into the NFL is by dominating special teams, making your mark in Coach [Ben] Kotwica’s room, and then when your opportunity is called out there at your position, you make the most of it. But, they all have to be good on special teams.”
On if the draft philosophy changed from last year:
“You know, obviously Scot was the lead dog. That’s the biggest change, but really we all had input. Obviously, he took everybody’s input, but not a lot of changes. It was just a matter of who was making the final decision. That’s really it. There weren’t any head-butting issues. Everything went along really smooth. Once the pick was made, we were all in and we were all really excited about the players we got. So there wasn’t any animosity, no bickering or any of that stuff. There was some conversation. When the pick was made, it was final and we all respected it and we were all fired up about it.”
On the type of player the Redskins coveted this year as opposed to last year:
“I think really the motto is he [Scot McCloughan] really preaches he likes tough football players, physically tough football players. You see that with the guys that we got. Matt Jones, obviously Brandon Scherff, Preston is tough guy, Kouandjio is tough guy, Martrell is very, very tough, Kyshoen is tough, they’re all tough football players. Evan is a tough guy and you want to have a physical toughness when you’re drafting football players, guys that love football and have a strong passion for the game. And you have to visualize a role for them. What’s their role going to be for your football team? Is it special teams year one? Develop them into a core starter? Is it competing for a starting job? Is it a nickelback, is it a safety, what is it? But, we do have a pretty good vision for all these guys. We are excited to get in the building and see what they can do.”