JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE AND GENERAL MANAGER DAVE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY QUOTE SHEET
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Dave Caldwell: (on having 12 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft) “It’s huge. This is the most draft capital we’ve had here. We need to hit on all 12, and that’s our philosophy and our thought process. We want to make every one of them count. If we can use one of those to trade up and get a guy that we want in a select round, we’ll do that too. You never know. We may acquire some more throughout the draft.”
Caldwell: (on acquiring more depth at cornerback) “When we went into free agency, we were really targeting Darqueze Dennard and Rashaan Melvin. Darqueze was a guy that we went after first because we did know that he had some inside ability that if we ever needed it, we could use it, even though we have Tre Herndon and D.J. (Hayden) there that can play that spot. We felt like it would be good to have a guy that was versatile like that. When we kind of felt like that the Darqueze deal wasn’t going to happen, that’s when we said, let’s secure ourselves and get Rashaan, and that’s what we did. Between Tre, Rashaan, Perry Nickerson, who we felt really came on late last year, and D.J., we feel like we have four guys there, and three of the four guys can play inside at the nickel spot too.”
Doug Marrone: (on the Virtual Offseason Program) “It’s going to be important for us. Offensively, there have been a lot of things that have changed, whether it’s terminology or different types of concepts. There have been some changes there. On defense, we’re looking to make some changes to help ourselves going into this next season. We started to get ready – the NFL came out and said we have a four-week period to get three weeks of work done. We could either start on April 20 or April 27. We’re going to start our program on April 27. Right now, we’re going through the process and making sure everyone has correct numbers, correct email addresses, things of that nature. Making sure our players are in good shape. We’re going to be able to film a lot of the installations. That’s something that we’ve done before. We used to film them in-house. That way, if we did pick a player up, not necessarily later in the year but later in training camp or even later in the year, we’ve always had that stuff – that library – that we’re able to show the players to kind of make up for what the foundation of the system that we have are. We’re doing that right now. We started that a couple of weeks ago, getting everything ready. What we’re doing to do – we’re going to basically put it out in the cloud. We’re not going to do it from a virtual standpoint because we have guys all over the country and out of the country even at this moment. Going to put it out in the cloud and that way, they’re going to be able to look at it on their time. It’s still a voluntary period for the players. We’ll send them things, workouts. If they want to use them, they can use them. If they’re doing their own, they can do their own. We’re in the process now of making sure that everybody has at least enough equipment to be able to work things out. We’re working on that, making sure we can send players the equipment that they need. Most of them have that equipment when you look at it. Those are the things we’re doing right now. We’re all going through the same thing. I feel like it’s an equal playing field. I think, for me, what I feel like the biggest challenge is knowing that we’ll be a young football team with young guys. I really like the mindset of the younger guys that we drafted last year with Jawaan Taylor, Josh Allen, (Gardner) Minshew (II), all of those guys. DJ (Chark Jr.) the year before, those guys have really done a good job of knowing where they are. Dave (Caldwell) and I have discussed this. We’re looking to bring people in that have that team concept, not a lot of drama. Really concentrating on being a good teammate and being able to put it out there on the field. Those are some things from a psychological standpoint that we’re looking to create. I think we brought in guys that we really believe are going to help us, but they’re also great teammates and guys in the locker room. The challenge is going to be when we have these young guys and what I’m still working on is how do you create that chemistry that you would normally have if you were here Phase 1 and Phase 2, get to know your teammates. Now all of a sudden there’s a certain type of a bond when you go out there and do it. Those are the big challenges. The one good thing is going to be a bunch of young guys, going to be a bunch of hungry guys. That’s what we’re focusing on. That’s what I know we’re excited about. We got a chance to speak to everyone about changing the culture, and we’ve really been communicating well, the scouts and the coaches. We’ve been on these Zoom videos or whatever it may be and talking to lot of these draft, potential people. That’s been going well. This influx of young talent that’s coming in is an exciting time for us.”
Marrone: (on Gardner Minshew II and the QB situation going forward) “When you look at it, first of all, we evaluate everyone in the draft. We evaluated the quarterback position like we evaluated the defensive end and running back positions, everything. Sometimes you look out there and, right now, if we went to play and Gardner Minshew is our guy and I’m excited about that. But do I want competition for him? Absolutely. You want competition for everybody. You want competition for everyone though. I don’t want to make it where I’m answering this question and, ‘Marrone is not as confident’ or ‘Marrone wants competition.’ I want (competition) not just for the quarterback but I want competition for everyone. The one thing about Gardner is that he showed some good things last year. We did win six games with him. He’s a guy right now that’s working his ass off. We’re working on getting a better football team and, like Dave said, if we can bring someone in, cool. Or the other thing is bring some people around him that can help that position at quarterback. I think everyone has to prove. It’s no different than Josh Allen, who had a great year, or DJ Chark, who had a great year. Brandon Linder had a great year. When people talk about, hey, do you have confidence in this player, well, when you put a player on that field and he’s a starter, what you’re saying is that you have total confidence in this player. Because if you don’t, you’re really selling the team short, the organization short and selling the fans short. Anyone who we put on that field. If you’re asking me if I’m happy with Gardner, absolutely.”
Caldwell: (on Yannick Ngakoue’s situation) “I don’t really have a whole lot of news on that outside of we’re a week away from the draft and we exercised a franchise tender. He has yet to sign it. Other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to add. Out of respect for him and his team and our team, I think it’s best to just – when I have news for you guys, I’ll let you guys know where we’re at.”
Marrone: (On if the offense will change and be more pass heavy with Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden) “I think in looking at it, we want to be able to see if we can get some playmakers. We feel like we have some already. We want to make sure we focus around that. I think it is more showcasing where our best talent is. I think that’s the most important thing. I think when you get into questions of run versus pass, those questions a lot come up when you don’t win. When you are not scoring points, people are going to say you should have ran the ball more or you got away from the run too early or you should have thrown more. I think we are going to look at who the best players are, and at the end of the day you want to be 50-50. But if it is 60-40 pass-run or run-pass, depending on how the game goes, I do not mind. What I want to do and what I am really focused on is how we are going to get better situationally. I think that is the one thing that has held us from scoring and being on the field. One is obviously third down and the other is in the red zone. For me, I want to make sure that you get these playmakers and make sure you make them make plays and positions in third downs and red zone to get us going. A lot of it will depend on how Gardner (Minshew II) progresses and what he is doing well. I think that if he’s going and we are rolling with him, we are more than happy to throw the football. If we are running the football and the runner is hot, then we will stick with the run. I think each game is different, but we definitely want to be able to add to some of the playmakers that we have and be able to get the ball in their hands.”
Caldwell: (On if having two first-round picks and 12 total selections gives the team flexibility to trade in the first round) “Short answer, yes. It gives you a lot of flexibility. The longer answer really depends on the player or the players that are there when you are about ready to pick. Doug (Marrone) knows this and we have talked about guys and you guys have heard me in the past where a certain player falls to you that you’re going to exercise that pick regardless. It is kind of a no trade player. If there are players there or if we are sitting there at 9 or 20 and we do like four or five different players and they are still on the board, that gives you an option to trade back. Conversely, if you are sitting there at No. 9 and No. 20 and there is an only guy left at pick No. 5, you might have to use some of that ammo to go up and get the guy that you want. I think you have to see what is happening in front of you and when you get your pick, who is there for you to trade back for.”
Marrone: (On how much he weighs physical traits versus college production when making a draft choice) “I think it all goes to where you are looking at that risk. In other words, if you don’t have the physical traits, do you have a ton of production? Then you are going to have to really discuss that. Let’s say for the lack of a better terms – red flags as far as height, weight and speed, but the guy is just a flat-out football player. You just are going to discuss some more, look at comparisons and when are you going to take that guy? The philosophy is those early guys, you want to make sure they have the height, weight, speed and the production. That is what you are looking for. At the same time, if there are redeeming qualities, but you don’t see the production you want, is there something there that can be developed? Is there something there you can work on? I think all of those things factor in early and late. There are things that I have always been appreciative of. Dave and I, we have talked about it, but we have also heard a lot from our coaches and our scouts about where these players are. Obviously, the perfect scenario is the height, weight, speed and the production. The next one is production and low risk on height, weight and speed. If you don’t have the production or the height, weight and speed, it is very difficult. I think all of those things come into play. We look at all that stuff, the psychological profiles and different types of testing and flexibility and lifting. We have a lot of things that go into it. We have a lot of numbers that we crunch.”
Caldwell: (On measurables versus production and the process you have to go through in terms of setting up potential trade partners and how different the process is this year) “The first part of your question, ideally you like to have the physical traits meet the production. With any college guy you are drafting, there is an element of projection with NFL coaching and development, what kind of player can he be two years down the road? You take that into account, too. As long as they have the right mental makeup and psychological makeup, then you feel good about it. If the production is lacking and they have some physical traits, can we get that (production) out of the player in our system? As far as the process goes in talking to some of the GMs across the league, we have started some potential scenarios of potentially trading up and trading back. I think right now that is probably the one thing that gives me a little bit of angst of how that process is going to go on. I feel good about being able to exercise a trade in the first round with the time limit. I think as you get into the third and the fourth and the later rounds where the time is shorter, it will be interesting to see if I can use my left hand as well as my right hand in terms of making calls and making trades and trying to figure out the value of that. There are still some logistics and our IT people are setting up our remote draft room tomorrow. I will have a better feel of how that process is going to play out. There is probably the one thing that I have a little bit of concern about – exercising the trade in the later rooms.”
Caldwell: (On how difficult it has been to gather information on late round prospects and what that process has been like and what he has had to differently) “If a player was at the combine and they were a late round guy, it’s not an issue. The biggest issue that I think we face is the medical portion of these guys that were not at the combine and having to draft a player that you are not 100 percent sure of the medical. It is one thing to draft a player and not have an accurate 40 time or short shuttle time, but to have a player come in and then all of a sudden you realize he has a medical issue that disqualifies him after you draft him, that is an issue. To draft a player that is a late round guy and realize he drafts a 4.65 (40-yard dash) instead of a 4.55 (40-yard dash), that is not as big of an issue because they can come in and still compete. I think that is the one thing that we miss the most. We trust our scouts, we trust our coaches in terms of what they watch on the video. We have spent more time with some of these late round prospects whether it is a Zoom call and getting to know them. Our coaches have done a great job getting to know them via this same application here. We feel like we have a lot of good information. Some of the guys have done their own pro days and we have watched them. We have put a stop watch to the video albeit not accurate and we don’t know if it is exactly 40 yards, but we have done it. We have some gauge of what guys can actually really do and that has been good. Our scouts and our personnel department and everybody has really done a good job of really focusing that if we draft a guy, we are going to feel good about having the information that we need outside of medical.”
Caldwell: (On how the team will manage the draft room virtually): “We will have everyone on a Microsoft Teams call, everybody that normally would be in the draft room will be on the call. There will probably be some additional people now that we are not limited by space. (Owner) Shad Khan will be on the call, too and Doug (Marrone), myself. Anybody that normally is in the draft room (will be on the call). We will also have a call that is tied to the league and Doug, myself and probably (Director of Football Administration) Tim Walsh will be on that call in terms of submitting that pick and for trade purposes.”
Marrone: (On how the team goes about addressing needs and taking the best player versus going with a need) “I think the best thing that you perceive yourself having a need and that player is valued at that pick and you go ahead and take that player. That is how it works out best. I think there have to be discussions. You do not want to reach because if you have a need and you just have to fill it. I feel like Dave (Caldwell) and the pro side and our coaches have done a good job of getting that stuff to where we are not going into this draft saying we can’t line up today and play. Do we want to add players? Absolutely. We are going to have a great opportunity to do so in this draft with 12 picks. My personal philosophy is you can never go wrong with taking who you view is the best player. Later on when there are so many players that are kind of together, meaning that their values are around the same, I think you look to upgrade a certain position. I think it is a little easier to do there because I think there is less of a separation.”
