Can you explain your name? It's obviously an unusual one, and I couldn't find anything online on how you got it. _(Jonas Shaffer) _"Yes, funny story. My mom and dad, of course, they had me. They agreed on 'Blu' before I'm even out. That was the main thing they wanted to do. We got all the way down to – I'm pretty sure – the delivery room. I'm crying somewhere; the umbilical cord has to get cut. My mom was like, 'I want a K; I want a K name.' My dad was like, 'This was a process the whole time ... We're switching up?' So, they made a compromise and pretty much wanted to find what flowed with Blu and went Kyu Blu. Kyu Blu is my first name."
How much do you think having a father who played in the NFL for over a decade helped you as far as your football career? _(Jamison Hensley) _"It helped me 100 percent. I was literally just telling him before this whole process even started that without him, I wouldn't even be as close to the man I am or close to the football player I am today. A lot of kids … Just having a father in my life, let alone an NFL father. That's such a big thing; that's such a blessing in this life. I can't even have the words to say, but it's such a big blessing I have, for sure."
You were a four-year starter at Stanford, which is pretty impressive. Can you talk about where your game grew, what you'll bring to the Ravens and your matchup last fall with Vikings rookie WR Jordan Addison? _(Ryan Mink) _"I'll start with my career. Just playing four years of ball, you get a lot of experience. You see a lot of football; you learn a lot about football as the years grow. I feel like what I bring to the secondary – and just to the team – is one, a competitor. [I am a] really, really uber competitor. Whatever I'm doing, I want to be the best and beat the best. [I am] a nickel and a corner. Whatever they want to fit me at, in man coverage or zone coverage. I was able to experience a lot of different scheme diversity that really helps me in being a Swiss Army knife and putting me in different places.
"As far as Jordan [Addison], [he is] a great player. Great player. He got me on that one post [route], and we had some battles at the line of scrimmage, and I didn't get any balls after that, but [he is] a great player. I see him doing well in the league, just like I expect myself to do well, for sure."
I read that you signed a deal with Microsoft for a video game that you created, and you're also involved in real estate development. Can you talk about what sparked those two things? _(Brian Wacker) _"Believe it or not, it's pretty cliché – my dad. It's funny, for the video game, we have a friend of ours who was creating a movie that's coming out. It's based on what the video game is based on. He introduced it to my dad, and I play video games. They both knew nothing about video games, and he was like, 'My son plays a lot of video games.' He was like, 'Kyu, can you create a story? Like a story board, or a log or some type of lore for this game and figure out a story based behind it?' I just sat down [for] maybe like a few hours, created a whole story board, characters and stuff like that. They gave it to the company, and they really liked it. So, that game is still in progress; we're still figuring it out. It'll definitely be coming out soon with the movie and everything.
"Real estate – once again – my dad, believe it or not. He's definitely doing real estate development right now. He has his own development company out in Vegas. I was blessed to be at Stanford and doing internships with venture capitalists, private equities and real estate firms alike. Just being around it with my dad and seeing it around there, it was something that I just wanted to dive into throughout this whole process in the NFL and after."
What is the video game or the movie, or, at least, what's it based in? (Brian Wacker) "I can't talk too much about the movie. But the video game is … If you can think of a SEAL Team Six that travels back in time to stop people from trying to change historic events. So, let's say somebody trying to redirect … I'm saying too much. (laughter)But yes, that's the whole scope of it – like a time-travel SEAL Team Six."
Obviously, you will have the opportunity to participate in organized team activities and training camp against an offense with players like QB Lamar Jackson, WR Odell Beckham Jr. and WR Zay Flowers. How good of a challenge will this be for your game? (David Andrade) "This is something I used to always think about – playing against guys like 'OBJ' [Odell Beckham Jr.]. I've seen Zay Flowers in this process. Those are the guys I want to line up against. I want to see what they've got in their game, and they can just make me better. Guys like that who are pros, and Zay Flowers, who is going to be a great rookie for our team, I feel like that's just going to make me better; it's just an iron sharpens iron thing. And a competitive guy like me, I want my first shot at bat at them when I can to just jump out there and make sure I'm doing better [and] getting better."
Did you have any contact with the Ravens during the pre-Draft process? And how much do you know about the Ravens or even Baltimore, coming out from Stanford? (Cliff Brown) "Starting off with Baltimore, Maryland, [I've] never been – never been. I've heard great things about it. But the Baltimore Ravens are a historic football program. Coming from … I've watched Marlon Humphrey I don't know how many times. The dude is a baller. Marcus Peters, when he was there. You guys have Kyle Hamilton now; Eric Weddle. [The Ravens have had] guys in the secondary that I've watched throughout my whole entire life – Ed Reed, too. Like, that's even crazier – just me being able to have an opportunity to cement my legacy also [in Baltimore]. But as far as the process, I had a meeting with the DB [defensive backs] coach [Dennard Wilson] – a Zoom meeting. Honestly, I never talked to [head coach John] Harbaugh until today; I never talked to the GM [executive vice president & general manager Eric DeCosta] until today. But Ryan Capretta is my trainer at Proactive [Sports Performance]; he told me they reached out at the Combine and were just wondering what type of a guy I am, and Ryan, of course, said I'm a super competitor and loved to compete, and that was honestly the first interaction I had up until that Zoom meeting. But I'm just super stoked, man, [and] super glad to be a Raven – super blessed."
Usually, the team sends out some of the videos of the phone calls with guys getting that call, telling them they've been drafted. What was the moment like for you, and how special was it for your family, knowing that a father and son would have that bond in the NFL? (Jeff Zrebiec) "Honestly … Just going through the days, it's a grueling process for any type of draft prospect. Sitting there [and] watching everybody get picked, [including] dudes in your position, the competitive nature in all of us is like, 'That should have been me.' But you every team has a fit, every team loves you, and I'm just glad the Ravens love me. But just sitting there, you don't expect it, you don't expect it. I was sitting there, talking to agents, of course. They're telling me other teams … They're telling me teams that weren't even the Ravens might jump up and take me, and then it just happened. I got the 410 area code; it said Baltimore Ravens, and I was just so happy, man. It's just a breath of fresh air to finally have a home – finally have a home."
With your Bishop Gorman roots and also working out of Proactive, have you gotten to know T Ronnie Stanley at all? _(Jonas Shaffer) _"No, honesty. I've heard [Ronnie Stanley]'s a legend around [Bishop] Gorman. He was there a while before I was, but I always knew he was a legend. [I] would love to meet him, [I] would love to talk about his days at the G [Bishop Gorman]. But yes, never got a chance to meet him, but [will] definitely get the chance to now."
You're the first player from Stanford the Ravens have ever selected. What does that mean to you? _(Garrett Downing) _"Oh, wow, that's crazy. Just being a Raven in general, I feel like I just have to bring it – bring everything I have to this whatever position they need me at, wherever they want me at. [I will] just give it my all and just be so thankful. I'm really thankful to [head coach John] Harbaugh. I'm really thankful to the Ravens for taking a chance on me and [I'm] making sure there's no regrets with that – making sure they got the right guy. I believe that, and I'm going to make them believe that to."
I know you had a really good week at the Senior Bowl. What did you feel like you proved to teams there? _(Ryan Mink) _"[I proved] definitely that I still have it. I feel like my last season – my senior season compared to my junior season – I had in total in man-to-man, I think, about 25 targets in the whole entire season, so not a lot of opportunity to show myself, not a lot of opportunity to go out there and make plays. I just knew at the Senior Bowl, I have to turn it up here because people are like, 'OK, he had a good junior year. His senior year was so-so. Is he still that same player?' And I think I proved that day in and day out. I'm just making sure I'm competing and putting my best effort forward."
What are the things you think you need to work on at the next level, and at Stanford, were you able to ever play in special teams because most guys first coming into the league, special teams is one of the ways they make their mark?_ (Kevin Richardson) _"Yes. Speaking of special teams, the tradition at Stanford, that's a right of passage no matter how good you are. Dudes like Christian McCaffrey and Solomon Thomas still played special teams. You're never too good to be off [the field] on special teams. So, I was able to play gunner, I was able to be the jammer, [played on] kickoff. Those are the things that got me on the field as a freshman. I played my freshman year – I started my freshman year – but it was four games in. Those three games of four I was all special teams guy, just going at it. I take a lot of pride in that. I feel like that's how I gain the respect from the top down, from the GM all the way down to player. I feel like just busting my butt on special teams and doing what I need to do for the team is the biggest thing. And sorry did you ask another question? I was lost in the special teams question."
What is the other thing you need to work on at the next level? _(Kevin Richardson) _"Now that I'm going to the Ravens, I look at a guy like Marlon Humphrey. He's uber-physical. He's one of the most physical corners in this league, and I feel like that's definitely something I can plus in my game. Not being the same size as Marlon [Humphrey], different types of players I feel like, but at the same time making sure I bring that same physicality that they demand from their top guys. I think that's definitely something I can do. The only thing that keeps you in this league is ball production. [I want to] make sure I just get two hands on that ball and give it back to Lamar [Jackson] and Odell [Beckham Jr.] and let those guys do work."
