HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON AND GENERAL MANAGER TRENT BAALKE
PRE-DRAFT MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2024
BAALKE: (On importance of drafting players with immediate contributions) “You try to find the best
players, that’s what you try to do in the draft. We have some needs, obviously, that we need to address
and the board’s got to fall the right way. Needs are paramount, but we’re going to stick with our formula
and draft the best players available.”
BAALKE: (On if it matters to have a player that doesn’t contribute right away) “Well, most of the time,
there isn’t that big of a separation between a need and another position. When in doubt, you’re going to
take the need, if it’s close. If there’s a great distance between the two, you’ve got to weigh that out.
Usually, what we’ve done in the past, is stick with the formula and take the best player available. Now
again, if it’s close, we’re going to take the higher need.”
BAALKE: (On if he feels more comfortable with the roster after many free agency signings) “Yeah, I think
you try to address needs in free agency. You try to attack it that way. The less needs you have going into
the draft, the better. It allows you to then stick to that formula of drafting the best player available. We
feel comfortable, I think Coach can speak on that, too, we feel comfortable with where we’re at and
we’ve got a ways to go.”
PEDERSON: (Continuing off previous question) “I look at it too, same. The first thing we try to do every
offseason is try to resign our own guys, that’s kind of the priority there. Then, look outside the building
to fill, as Trent was saying, to fill those immediate needs possibly there. Obviously, this third bucket is
this draft. You feel good with the guys you’ve got in the building because you were able to answer a
couple of questions and now, heading into next week, you feel that now you’re just adding more talent,
more depth and the competition that as coaches, we look for as we continue to build.”
BAALKE: (On if having a deep position group within the draft class complicates the plan because they
have more options) “Well, it’s obviously more comforting to know there’s depth at a position where you
have a need because it gives you multiple opportunities within different levels of the draft. Sometimes,
you’re splitting hairs and sometimes the guy that you’ve got a little more value to doesn’t play up to or
doesn’t play as well as the guy you’ve got right behind him. There’s a little luck involved as well. We feel
good about where the board is at now, we feel good about where our needs lie and what the board is
shaping up to look like. Now, we’ve just got to wait and play it out.”
BAALKE: (On how he feels about the talent in the draft pool this year) “I think it’s no different than most
drafts. There’s talent at all levels, you’ve just got to find them. A lot of finding them is fit, a lot of finding
them is opportunity, giving them an opportunity once you get them on your program and within your
organization. I think it’s no different. I like this group of players coming in, it’s a little bit older. It’s an
older group because of the COVID situation and guys that went back for their fifth, sixth years of college.
That’s a little different for us.”
BAALKE: (On the amount of teams looking into quarterbacks this year and how that impacts plans)
“Well, when you don’t need a position and it’s heavy at a position like it is with quarterbacks, four or five
or a group are more than likely going to go off before we pick at 17. That’s a good thing because that
leaves the position players or more position players available for us. Again, you don’t know what’s going
to happen, one through 16. You think you got an idea, you go in with a pretty good idea of what it looks
like and what your options might be, whether that’s three or four players we’re looking at right now.
We’re not there yet, we’ve still got a couple of days going through. Coach and I haven’t sat down and
gone through the final board yet. We’ll do that on Monday. But we like how it’s shaping up and we’ve
still got some work to do.”
BAALKE: (On if he addresses the offensive line in the draft differently than defensive line in the draft
since the goal with offensive line is continuity) “I don’t know if we address it differently. You’ve got guys
that you rate as starters and guys that you have rated as backups with a chance to develop depending on
what depth of the draft you’re looking at. It is easier to get the defensive players on the field, the D-line
on the field first or earlier, because you can get them in a rotation like you say. A lot more difficult to do
that with O-linemen, so usually those backend guys, those eighth, ninth guy, sometimes the teams that
carry 10, Philly carries 10 a lot of times, the ninth, tenth guys, they’re not going to get much playing time
unless somebody goes down. Really, there for developmental reasons. It’s a little bit unique in that way.”
BAALKE: (On if there’s a wider net to cast with trading options by having the 17th pick) “Yeah, there’s a
lot, as you know, that goes into it. We feel good about the group that’s there at different positions that
we’re focused in on a little bit. But you don’t know what’s going to happen, you really aren’t going to
know what we’re going to do until maybe the 12th or 13th pick. Then, we’ll look at the opportunity to
potentially move up. If we get to 16 like we did last year, then somebody calls and there’s a chance to
move back one or two, you just don’t know. You’re playing it on game day.”
PEDERSON: (On how 2023 draft picks LB Ventrell Miller and OL Cooper Hodges are progressing following
season-ending injuries) “Both guys are doing extremely well. Both have been here, rehabbing and did a
nice job during the season to get themselves in a position to perform this spring. They’re here in the
building, they’ll be able to get on the grass with us in Phase 2 and obviously during OTA’s and Phase 3.
It’ll be a big opportunity for both of those guys, because I thought at the end of camp, both of those
guys were really trending in the right direction for us to potentially help. We’ll see where they are, but
they’re healthy, they’re ready to get back on the grass and see where we can plug them in and
contribute, and again, give us the depth that we’re looking for at both of those positions.”
PEDERSON: (On DL Tyler Lacy and OLB Yasir Abdullah using last season as a sort of redshirt season)
“Exactly. Yasir probably falls in more with Coop [OL Cooper Hodges] and Ventrell [LB Ventrell Miller] in a
way, even though he was healthy and practiced and all of that. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time
on the grass during the regular season. Then, Tyler did, and we’ve got to continue, all four of guys, we’ve
got to continue their growth and development this spring and make sure they’re in a position to help
us.”
BAALKE: (On how he views the receivers in the draft) “I think it’s a very good group of receivers,
obviously. I think those three that everybody is talking about are really good football players. I think
there’s some guys in the next wave that are really good football players, too. I think there’s good players
like that all the way through the draft in that position. There’s going to be some later round guys that
make a mark for themselves at some point in their careers in this league as well. It’s a good group,
there’s a lot of variations of guys, guys strictly in the slot, guys strictly out on the perimeter. There are
some guys that can move around the formations a little bit more. It’s a good group of receivers.”
BAALKE: (On what will be done if there’s two players they really want at the 17th pick) “I think we do
what we did last year, just look at each other, flip a coin and take one [laughter]. I think when it’s very
similar, you’re going to go with the need. What’s the need pick? If there’s two players that are in
competing positions and you say, what’s the higher need? They’re both good football players, we like
them both. They both fit our culture, everything equal, go with the guy that’s going to get on the field
first.”
BAALKE: (On taking a player that’s needed over a player with higher value) “As long as there’s a very
similar…when you talk about what’s the difference in value, is it minimal? Is it one space on the board? I
mean, if it’s two rounds on the board, no, we’re going with the better player. But if they’re both in the
first round and we feel good about both of them and everything else is equal; culture, football IQ, all
that stuff, go with the need.”
BAALKE: (On importance of the person they’re drafting as well as the player) “Very important. I think you
look at this roster, you look at it since Coach and I have been together, the locker room is good. We place
an emphasis on leadership, we’re a young group, we focused on that as we went into the offseason,
especially in free agency, the type of guys we brought in here. Guys from winning programs, that are
used to winning, that are used to leading and being apart of that, that championship run. We’re looking
for players that have similar characteristics as we move forward.”
PEDERSON: (On if he takes into consideration what’s going on in the division when drafting players)
“You’re going to pay close attention to your division and see what’s going on. We saw last year in the
division, there were three brand new quarterbacks that were taken in the division. You pay close
attention to that and some of the free agent moves, even that were made in this offseason and some of
the things and decisions. They’re looking at us the same way. We have to construct the best roster for us
and making sure that we have the best 11, offense, defense and special teams on the field. I think if you
go in saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to stop the run’, then we need run stoppers. If we’ve got to defend the pass,
then we need cover guys or pass rushers. You’re going to take a look at all of that, but yet, we have to
focus internally too, and make sure that we’re putting the best guys for what we’re doing. Schematically,
we’re not the same and we do things a little bit different. Building it that way as well, but do we pay
attention? We sure do.”
BAALKE: (On Tom Gamble joining the front office) “Tom and I have been together for a long time. We’ve
been together on three different occasions. He understands the system that we have in terms of the
evaluation process. He’s a senior personnel executive, he’s in all of the draft meetings with us, in the free
agent part of it with us. He’s a valued guy, he’s been around the league for a long time, he knows what a
good football player looks like. He knows what our system is and what we do, so I’m just glad to have
him back again.”
BAALKE: (On how long Tom Gamble has been with the team) “He got back here, I don’t know the exact
date. He got back here sometime after the national championship. I think sometime in February is when
he fully came on board with us.”
PEDERSON: (On concerns of the Colts drafting similar positions two picks ahead of the team) “It’s
something that you can’t control, it’s just the way it falls. Every year, it’s different. Like I said, we’re going
to put the best roster together for 2024 and go play football and go be competitive. That’s all we can
control; we can’t control what happens above us, we can’t control what happens behind us. We can
control ourselves, as Trent alluded to, we can either move up or move back, whatever. Again, we’re going
to pick players that can help us.”
PEDERSON: (On if he feels the team is in a good spot with the short-yardage offensive game) “I do. That’s
something that we’ve, as a staff, we’ve focused on this offseason so far. We’ve put our finger on some of
the ‘whys’; why weren’t as good in third-and-one and fourth-and-one situations. All things that are
correctable and fixable, Tank [RB Tank Bigsby] is going to be a part of that, Travis [RB Travis Etienne Jr.] is
going to be a part of that, as we know, Ezra [OL Ezra Cleveland] will be a part of that. Whether it’s Luke
[OL Luke Fortner] or Mitch [OL Mitch Morse], they’re going to be a part of that. We’ve got a plan, we’re
going to stick to our plan, we’ve got to be convicted on it, we’ve got to present it to the players the same
way and make the necessary corrections this offseason to fix those areas.”
PEDERSON: (On having players create moments instead of waiting for moments to happen) “I think what
we’ve been through the last two years, I think these players are understanding that you can’t just wait,
you can’t wait around. We were sitting there at 8-3 and we had a chance to keep our foot on the gas and
keep pushing. This is why you’re seeing, some of the players we’ve gone out and brought to this team,
Trent mentioned it, these guys are winners. They’ve been in the AFC or NFC Championship games,
they’ve been deep, Arik [DL Arik Armstead] was in the Super Bowl. We need more guys like that. We
have a young football team, but the culture is heading in the right direction and just having more guys
like that on your roster, who have been there and have done it, can help the players. Even coaches can
help the players kind of punch through that wall. It’s my job that we continue to push and push hard, get
over that hump.”
BAALKE: (On if a comparison can be made between the draftees for this draft and in the 2021 draft)
“Well, I think in one regard, it’s totally irrelevant because what happened back then and who is picking,
what were their needs, what was the true strengths of the draft, I’d have to go back and replay that in
my head. I don’t worry about what happened in 2021. I’m trying to figure out what’s going to happen in
2024 here. Again, we can’t control what happens in front of us. Whatever happens, happens. The only
thing we can control is becalculated on if we really target someone and we really feel we need to make a
run, let’s say get up to 12, get up to 13, we’ll be prepared to do that if the right person is there. Look at
the other side, like we did a year ago, we trade back twice and get the same player. There’s so many
things that can happen, you just got to go in prepared. The board is going to fall the way it falls; you can’t
change that. You’ve just got to be ready for everything.”
BAALKE: (On temptation of moving up in the second and third rounds) “Well, if you talk to the analytics
people, they’ll tell you never move up. Acquire as many darts as you can, keep moving back. You just got
to look at the board and let the board speak. We spent 360-something days putting this thing together
and to try to make something happen and force something to happen, sometimes backfires on you. You
chase something and it doesn’t pan out, so you lose out there and then you lose out on the guy you
would’ve picked and the two guys you would’ve picked with the other picks you gave up. If you’re going
to move up, you better be right.”
BAALKE: (On separation in the cornerback group between some of the draftees) “I think it’s a good
group. I think if you looked at 32 boards, you’d probably find 28 different ways to stack the top 10
corners in this draft. You might find 32 different ways. I think it’s that close. I think there’s good value,
they’re good players, the make up and character of these players are all different, it’s all over the board.
It’s going to be interesting how that group falls off the board on draft day.”
BAALKE: (On resigning QB Trevor Lawrence before the season starts) “Again, I try not to force anything.
We’ve had some great talks and great conversations. I spoke with his agency again last night. We’re
working, but you can’t force this stuff. I said the same thing with Josh’s [OLB Josh Allen] situation, I said it
would take some time and it did. But we’re glad it got completed when it did so we could go into this
offseason program knowing that’s behind us and we can move forward. We’re working at it, we’ll
continue to work at it. Ownership is involved, obviously. Coach is involved; we’re going to put our best
foot forward and hope to get something accomplished here.”
BAALKE: (On how to scout the football IQ of prospects) “Well, you do a lot of work. You do a lot of work,
you talk to a lot of people, you look at the film, the film will tell you some. It’ll certainly speak to you
about the players’ instincts, which is the part of the football IQ and a big part of the football IQ. We
Zoom call these guys, we send coaches to workouts, we send coaches to meet with them, we bring them
in on the 30 visits, we get in front of them as much as we can. Every opportunity we get a chance to talk
to a guy that we have concerns about, we do. We interview them at the combine, we interview them at
the all-star games, we interview them at their pro days, we get as much time in front of them as we can.
The coaches make calls to the coaches that work with these players, you gather as much as you can.
Usually, by the time you get to the draft, you’ve got it pretty well figured out from that perspective.
Sometimes, guys come in and they fool you. You can’t just use test scores to say a guy can learn or can’t
learn, that doesn’t work. There’s guys that have had low test scores that learn extremely well, there’s
guys that have had high test scores that don’t learn very well when it comes to football. You’ve just got
to do your homework.”
BAALKE: (On how much Senior Personnel Executive Tom Gamble helps with potential draftees after
working with a college last season) “That helps, and we’ve got some coaches that we’ve brought on
board who are from the college game that have spent a lot of time with a lot of these guys. In the
recruiting process, whether they’ve coached directly or recruited them, that gives you some insight as
well. You just use every opportunity, every resource you have to try to figure these guys out.”
BAALKE: (On if it helps that he had his coaches leading some of the pro day workouts) “Most of the
universities, they let the pro guys take over the workouts. There are certain big schools that want their
coaches to handle the workouts but for the majority of the workouts that we go to, if there is a position
coach there, they are going to work that position out. They’re putting them through drills that they’re
going to be put through on a daily basis once they get to the league but most of the time it’s drills these
guys have been doing since they were 14-years-old.”
BAALKE: (On how the new kickoff rule affects roster construction) “From a roster perspective, obviously
you’re going to have two returners back there. So, having two really good returners helps you a lot
because they can’t kick it away from the one that’s back there. So that’s going to be something that you have to deal with. I think when you talk to special teams coaches, getting guys that can bump-and-
release, press-and-release, get off of blocks quickly, strike-and-go, is going to be important. So, I think you’re going to see some bigger bodies involved in it, if I were to guess. But I think for the most part,
bringing the kickoff back into the play is going to help the guys, the [special] teams guys especially, when
you build the roster with linebacker type players.”
PEDERSON: (On if he likes the new kickoff rule and what the challenge it brings) “I like the rule, I think
it’s going to bring excitement back to our game. There were close to 2,000 kickoffs last year and 21 to 22
percent were returned. Where back in 2010, we were up to about 80 percent, almost 90 percent
returnable kicks. So, it’s going to bring some excitement back to the football game. As Trent [General
Manager Trent Baalke] mentioned the dual returners back there, it’s going to look different, it’s going to
look a little awkward at first. It’s going to take some getting used to. Heath Farwell [Special Teams
Coordinator], Luke Thompson [Assistant Special Teams Coach], special teams guys here are really diving
in to the X’s and O’s and to Trent’s point, I think you’re going to see bigger athletic guys that are
especially on the return team that can run and move because they’re going to be a little bit closer
together and be able to block a little bit faster. So, we’re working through all of those things right now.
This spring is going to be important for us as dive into the next phase, phase two and phase three, and
really kind of iron out our own design and figure out who our two guys will be back there, and what it’s
going to look like.”
BAALKE: (On if he has discussion with teams about trading picks before the NFL Draft) “Well we know
who’s willing to move and we’ve had preliminary discussions on what that looks like, what it’s going to
cost to move up there. I’m not a big believer in moving before draft day because what are you moving
for? Unless you know exactly who you’re moving for and you know that he’s going to be there which is
impossible to know, why move? Unless you’re going to number one. That’s the only guarantee, right?
Number one, you’d have your choice. So, you have exploratory conversations, you know what it’s going
to take you to get to the 12 or 13, 14, 15 or whatever the number is and then you wait until draft day to
figure out whether you’re going to do it or not.”
PEDERSON: (On if he has more input on the draft this year because of trust) “I’ll tell you something, as
far as our involvement as a staff and myself, it’s the best I’ve been around. It’s one of the things that
Trent [General Manager Trent Baalke] really has been open to the evaluation process from the coaches.
He understands the coaching side of it as well as the scouting side of it. The involvement has been the
same every year, it’s probably even gotten a little bit more, just the more comfortable we are working
together. It takes everybody to put a roster together. It’s not about one guy making all the decisions. So,
there’s a lot of input. He values what the coaches say and how the coaches rank and stack players. Just
like we appreciate what the scouts do because they’re the ones out there every day scouting these
players. So, it’s been a really good process and one that as a coach you can really appreciate.”
BAALKE: (On if he thinks the top cornerbacks have created separation with the others, or if he thinks
beauty is in the eye of the beholder) “I think a little bit of that, I think system. I think the system plays an
important role in that as well. How are you going to play the corners? You going to play them off-man?
You going to play them on the line of scrimmage? On press and run with guys? So, I do think that plays
into it. I think there’s really good depth and really good skill at the corner position in this draft more so
than maybe the last couple of drafts that I’ve been involved with here. So, it’ll be interesting to see how
these top guys fall off the board.”
PEDERSON: (On missing on a guy in the draft or drafting a guy who doesn’t live up to expectations)
“Yeah, you’re going to be wrong at times. You do everything you can to be right, Trent’s [General
Manager Trent Baalke] already talked about it. But are you going to make a mistake? Yeah, you’re going
to make a mistake, it happens. But the key is not to make too many mistakes, that’s why there is so much
time spent in this process and there’s so much dialogue, so much film and on the road, and just the process itself and all 32 clubs are going through the same thing. But, will you miss on a player from time-
to-time? You will. Like I said, it’s just a matter of minimizing those opportunities and maximizing the ones you have, and developing those guys so they can help you come November, December, January and
ultimately into February.”
BAALKE: (On if defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen has changed, the way Trent Baalke looks at defensive
draft picks) “Well there’s a definite change, you’re going from a 30 to a 40. What he’s looking for at the
end position is different than what we were looking for in the last scheme. So, there’s definitely a change
but it’s a change I’m very familiar with. So, it’s been good. Ryan and his staff, we’ve had a very good
dialogue. We’ve spent a lot of time when he first got here, going through exactly what he was looking for
at the different positions. How we were going to play the corners in this scheme versus how we played
them in the past, how the linebackers are going to fit and how we were going to get the Sam linebacker
position filled from within. So we had a lot of great dialogue and it’s been fun to learn what he’s looking
for in players. He was with Coach Payton [Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton], and that goes back
to coach Parcells [Coach Bill Parcells]. So, the traits that he’s looking for I’m very familiar with, obviously
so it’s been good.”
BAALKE: (On if the offensive line class lives up to the hype) “Yeah I think it’s a very good group. Again, it’s
a group whether it’s inside or outside. I think there’s great value throughout the draft, I think you’re
going to find starters in the fourth, fifth round. That are eventually going to find their way into starting.
There’s always some guys that even go later than that. I was telling the group yesterday, the local
workout guys, most people don’t realize this, there’s more guys in the [Pro] Football Hall of Fame that
were undrafted free agents, than there are first round picks. So good players come from all levels of the
draft and even the undrafted. I think we’ve just got to remember that it takes time. They’ve gotten be
given time to develop.”
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jaguars have re-signed OL Tyler Shatley, the team announced today.
Originally from Icard, N.C., Shatley was signed as an undrafted free agent in May 2014. In 10 seasons with the Jaguars, he has played in 145 games and currently holds the franchise record for the most consecutive games played (140). During the 2022 season, he was named the Jaguars’ nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award.
