General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel met with the media this weekend following the draft. Check out their top quotes.
(On not drafting an offensive lineman)
Chris Grier:
"We want competition at every position. We do have some competition with the offensive line group. As we've gone through here in the spring and Mike (McDaniel) and the coaching staff have been very excited about the group and that's been the fun part about working with these guys here is they've talked about it all spring and then getting on the field with them recently, they're really excited about it. With us, all through the draft, yeah we try and look at every position but we follow our board. We don't reach for people. We did try and move up a couple of times but we had limited resources in terms of being able to move around. As we said before, just because the draft is over doesn't mean we are going to stop looking to improve the roster. We'll keep working through that all spring and through the summer."
Mike McDaniel:
"It's important for a team that you're a combination of players working together. You give everyone an opportunity that you think fits. We have some good, young competition that we feel good about and you're trying people at different avenues really just to put people in the best position they can be to be successful. You can't force the market whether it's the draft or free agency. You do what you're most comfortable with for the team, that's what we've continued to do and moving forward, if the opportunity presents itself, we'll jump on it. Right now, we're just a group of guys that are all in, trying to learn a new system and get better every day. That's what we're most concerned with moving forward."
(On new QB Skylar Thompson)
Chris Grier:
"It seems like every year Kansas State pulls a big upset over someone and he has a game that people end up talking about. He's a competitive kid that's smart, tough. He's got some athletic ability. I always appreciate how he played and how their coaches and people around him talked about the character and the person. It was always intriguing and then we got to the point here at the end where there is a guy that has some potential to develop as a quarterback and has some upside. We're excited."
(On new WR Erik Ezukanma)
Mike McDaniel:
"The cool part about Erik is that he competes and he does it – we've talked about it at length. Wes (Welker) believes it and a lot of the receivers in the room are starting to understand it but you can really dictate the toughness and the physicality of the team with how guys go about their business. That's the one unique thing I think we have is however fast they are, all of our receivers compete and play tough. That's watching Erik do something similar in a completely different body type. It was exciting to watch him play and I think he fits the energy and the skill level that we're looking for. We want guys to be fast and play fast and doing both with a decisiveness and a team-first passion that he bleeds. We're excited to add him. That was the biggest thing, I saw a football player playing the receiver position."
(On how the draft process was for him as a head coach)
Mike McDaniel:
"I feel like there has been a lot of work done, but nothing has been done if that makes sense. You're right, you're in the natural process of at least for a portion of the calendar of the year, you can be focused specifically on one thing and that's practicing football and getting better at that. That's relieving, but it's just the transfer of focus. It's a cool part of the process. It was fun. I imagine the first night would be a little more climatic in the near future. It was nice to get my feet wet by doing nothing. (laughter) But it was fun. I was very happy with our draft picks on our first day. I just got to watch them practice for the last couple of weeks with Tyreek (Hill). That was good. We felt good about that one. (laughter) I'm excited to move forward and I think a lot of people in the building are too."
For additional press conferences, visit our press conferences page.
