SECOND DAY DRAFT REVIEW PRESS CONFERENCE
GENERAL MANAGER/EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OZZIE NEWSOME, HEAD COACH JOHN HARBAUGH,
ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER ERIC DECOSTA & DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE SCOUTING JOE HORTIZ
Ozzie Newsome opening statement: "OK – thanks again for hanging out. Another long day. We came away with two players from the University of Oklahoma. One, we have some familiarity with – 'Lil' Zeus' [Orlando Brown Jr.]. We brought him in for one of the 30 [player] visits, and I can just remember when he was here, when he was 10, 11 years old when his dad [Orlando Brown] would bring him around. He comes in and he has an opportunity to compete at our right tackle spot. Mark Andrews, his teammate, is another target for Joe [Flacco]. We feel like we don't want to put ourselves in a position with the roster, that if you get an injury, that we have to go out on the street and try to find another pass-catching tight end. So that's why we decided to bring Mark in to go along with Hayden [Hurst]. We think we have two young tight ends. Plus on the other side, both of our tight ends are going into their last year of contracts. Then, we are set with seven picks tomorrow? We have seven picks tomorrow, so y'all got a long day too tomorrow! *(laughter) *Our board still really looks good. There's some depth to the board, and we think we'll still be able to add some quality football players to our roster tomorrow."
Eric DeCosta opening statement:"I don't have much to say. I think Orlando [Brown] was one of the first players that I looked at this year on a trip to Oklahoma. [He's] just a very, very good player – physical, tough, mean, nasty, didn't get beat – just a type of guy that we had success with in the past. Mark Andrews is a guy that when I watched him this year, he reminded me of [former Ravens TE] Dennis Pitta – a linear body, a guy that runs well, very, very good hands, uncovers versus the zone, makes the tough catch, just a very smart player. I'm excited about that, and I'm also excited that we have the chance to swing at a lot of pitches tomorrow. I think that's important in this draft, to have a lot of draft picks. I think we're excited about that opportunity. I know our scouts are excited about the opportunity tomorrow to draft seven players, and we'll be ready."
Ozzie, can you just talk about the general emotions of making that call to T Orlando Brown knowing the history with his father? (Jamison Hensley)
(NEWSOME) "The first thing he said was, 'You're not kidding me, are you? Is this for real?'* (laughter)* And I go, 'Yes, it's for real!' The thing about Orlando is when he came in – he just brought a light to the building while he was here. But he wrote a note; he wrote me a note – I don't know if he did for the other guys, maybe he did – that if he was fortunate to get a chance to come and play for us, it would be something very special. That note didn't have anything to do with us picking him today, but I think that just speaks about the kid. I've gotten some texts from other people who were working in the organization when his father was here, or with us in Cleveland, and they all have just acknowledged how what a great thing has happened. We'll just see how it plays out."
Eric, how do you balance his successful career at Oklahoma and the disappointing stuff that everyone talked about at the Combine? (Jeff Zrebiec)
*(DeCOSTA) *"The tape is what we always go back to – especially with offensive linemen. How they play is just ... That's how they play. The other thing is offensive linemen don't have to run 40 yards very often. When you see a guy consistently control his man, knock his man down, block to the whistle and protect the quarterback; what else do you have to see? We're excited about him. Obviously, the fact that we took him, the type of kid he is, he's going to give us everything he has. We want players that are invested in our program, and there's not going to be any player that we draft this year who is going to be more invested in the Ravens than Orlando."
*(NEWSOME) *"To add to that, there were probably four or five offensive linemen who went in the Top 40 picks that told us they were not going to run the 40- [yard dash] and did not run the 40. So you have to give 'Lil' Zeus' some credit for saying, 'Hey, I'm going to go out here and compete and do as well as I can.'"
Eric, can you talk about the strategy today for moving back a couple spots and acquiring all those picks? (Garrett Downing)
*(DeCOSTA) *"It's just all about the players that are still there. Just looking at who's there, how far do you go back, who you think you're going to get. I think we do a pretty good job of calculating what range each pick is going to be, in terms of our sequence. We have a good ability to analyze all of our trades two different ways, using two different charts, that we think work for us. If it makes sense and we think we can do it, we'll go back. We have faith in the system. We love our scouts. If our scout likes a guy, I think we feel if we can go back and get some good players."
Are TE Hayden Hurst and TE Mark Andrews similar or different? It seems like one is the fullback-type and the other one a slot-type. Is that the way you look at the two combinations?* (Stan White)*
*(NEWSOME) *"Hayden has lined up on the line of scrimmage to do some things there. Mark has been more in the slot in the offense that Oklahoma ran. But they have similar skills. I think what they bring to the table – their strength, size, their ability – they'll contribute in the passing game for us."
Eric talked about the aggressive nature of T Orlando Brown. Have you watched tape on him? (Gerry Sandusky)
(Reporter: "Your face just answered my question.")
*(HARBAUGH) *"We're the Ravens! Those are the kind of guys we like."
Ozzie, how much have you enjoyed drafting two tight ends that you can have conversations with, considering your background? (Jordan Schatz)
(NEWSOME) "I like the banter that I have with the tight ends. Every time I turn the tape on, if I'm watching the offensive side of the ball, the first position I look at is tight end. I hope Joe [Flacco] enjoys these two tight ends as much as I enjoy the two tight ends." (laughter)
(HARBAUGH) "One thing about the tight ends I hope you all realize is [that] we have four tight ends. We have two tight ends here that we really like, and we brought in two tight ends we really like. We like tight ends here; our offense is built that way. There's a reason we have all four of these guys."
There was a lot of attention on not picking an offensive player last year, and now you're four picks in and it's all offensive players. Did you feel like where your selections were that all along this was a good draft for offensive players? How do you guys approach that?* (Jeff Zrebiec)*
*(DeCOSTA) *"There are more offensive players in this draft. I feel like at the end of the draft, you'll see more offensive players selected than defensive players. So from that standpoint, we got lucky. Our offensive side of the board had more players this year. The first half of the first round was probably a little bit more unbalanced more towards the defense. So for us, it made sense to try and trade back a little bit. It just matches it really well for us this year. It's two things: It's the type of board that matches well with our team, and the phone has been ringing. We've gotten to the point now where I see different area codes, and I'm like, 'I'm not answering it,' because we've gotten so many phone calls this year that … At one point I joked, 'We're not making any more trades. We've made 27 trades, and we're not making any more.' So that's it."
*(HORTIZ) *"You also have a way of tormenting new coordinators, right?"
(DeCOSTA) *"Yeah! We were joking, because when [former offensive coordinator] Gary [Kubiak] was here, his first year, we drafted all defensive players. Last year with Marty [Mornhinweg], we drafted all defensive players. Now we have [defensive coordinator Don] 'Wink' [Martindale], and so far, we've only drafted offensive players. So we break these guys in when they start with us." (laughter)*
Did the fact that six receivers went affect you guys trading out early in the third round, or no? (Jeff Zrebiec)
(NEWSOME) "No. We had good options. We like our receiver board for tomorrow. So we felt like just getting the additional picks will allow us to continue to look at the receivers. If one is there, we'll pick one."
Eric, you said last night that the top pick in the third round was basically a second round pick. But did you come in thinking there was a likelihood that you would trade back based on the depth, or is that just how it played out as the second round unfolded? (Bo Smolka)
(DeCOSTA) "We were hoping not to trade out, actually, because there were some players that we really liked that we thought had the chance to fall to us – and they didn't. So based on that, and we had a chance to trade, and we had about five or six players [on our board], and we thought we could go back from 65 and get one of those players … Then we went back to 75, and those guys were still there, and we had a chance to trade back again, thinking we'd get one of those players. We ended up going back and got two of those players. If the right player had been there at 65, we probably would've picked. It just didn't work out that way. We're happy with the results overall."
T ORLANDO BROWN CONFERENCE CALL
On the emotions he has after being drafted by the team his father played for:"I'm all over the place, man. I'm just so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity with specifically you all, and then just being the team and the organization that I grew up in. I was born in 1996, the first year when my dad came over with Cleveland, and then to be there a part of the early 2000s with him and all throughout my younger life up until the point where he passed … It's an incredible, blessed opportunity to be here and to be able to play in the NFL, especially for a team, like I said, I grew up loving. I've got a ton of pride and respect for that franchise."
On the memories he has from being a kid and hanging around the Ravens:"Oh man, a ton. From being at training camp when Ed Reed wouldn't practice at all (laughter),* *and [being] the kid catching the ball, I guess on his own side of the field where he'd do his DB drills with his hamstring injuries or whatever it was. Being there with my dad getting into fights with guys, but you couldn't touch Ray Lewis, and Jamal Lewis and all those guys … Going after Peter Boulware … The list goes on and on. I've got a ton of great memories there from that organization. Training camp at McDaniel College, it just goes on."
On his thoughts before he got drafted today after having a bit of a pre-draft rollercoaster ride:"Just going into it, I was more concerned with who was going to be picking me, not where [which pick] I was going, but who was going to be picking me. I'm extremely excited and blessed to be a part of this organization."
On his thoughts about his Oklahoma teammate TE Mark Andrews joining him in Baltimore:"It's unbelievable. This is a guy who we came in together, we redshirted together, and we've been on scout team together. We've had to work to get to this point, and the Baltimore Ravens and God has blessed us with this opportunity to come here together again and continue to build our relationship and friendship and be a part of this amazing team."
On how much he's looking to prove himself as one of the draft's best tackles after being criticized for his Combine performance:"I'm looking forward to it. I can't speak for what happened at the Combine, but whatever happened, happened. Whatever my successes were in college, they were. None of that means anything now. I'm a hard worker, and I'm a guy that believes in himself, and I've been through a lot in life. So, I look forward to coming in and being able to work and compete."
On what the phone call was like when he found out he was going to be a Raven:"It was just unbelievable. Ozzie [Newsome], everything he had to say, and seeing that [410] Randallstown area code – it was just unbelievable."
On if he can mention a little bit about what Ozzie Newsome said to him:"Just understanding that I have to come in and work, that he's extremely excited to have me as a part of this organization, obviously knowing where I came from and my background and everything. Then, there were a couple of other personal things that we talked about."
