Alrighty, we uh as an organization really excited about about the draft.
It's been a really cool process. As it is every year.
You don't want to take the opportunity to thank a few people, you know, our scouts were We've got tremendous scouts and uh a lot of them are here before we got here, and uh I'm blessed to work with them each and every day. And uh, you know their professionalism,
their work ethic. You know, those guys are led by Adam Peters and our college Scouting director, Director Tarakaman, have just been fabulous this this process and and ever since I've worked with them, Justin chabb At, our assistant college Scouting director, these guys are really.
Important to what we do.
And uh, I want to really commend those guys for their leadership and their example for our staff. And uh we we are extremely I put our college staff against anyone and along the same lines, h R and D Department, we lost a couple of key guys a couple of years ago with Quasi leaving and Demetrious Washington, and we're we're really fortunate that that we haven't skipped to beat. Matt Plonsky leads there our R and D department in
a really cool way. And then of course our coaches, Kyle and our coaches, they're very integral to our process.
And uh, you.
Know this year, Uh, it's it's kind of cool because it's a seamless process, that's a well oiled machine now. So when guys like Steve Wilkes come in, they learn real quick the way we do things. And it's been awesome to have some some new set l eyes and and uh, in a couple of different instances with Steve and Clint Kubiak, some some different perspectives in.
The in the meetings as well.
Uh, you know, Frankie g h Frank Gore sat and and a lot of meetings, didn't say much, but you know, sat back and took a lot of a lot of mental notes and and uh, that's been cool to share the process with him. And uh, I think we're ready and I'm not gonna have much to do on Thursday, you know, but we'll continue to work right up till we first pick.
And you know, I've said this many times, and I'm always.
An optimist the way I look things, but I think this isn't just being optimistic.
I think it's a reality.
The if you ask kind of what the themes of this draft, I think one of them is the quality of depth in this draft, and so I think that sets up well for you know, our first pick being at ninety nine, then having eleven of them. The quality of depth is really a signature of this draft.
For me.
There's a lot of good football players and a lot that we like, and so that excites me and that excites everybody, and we've got to have a productive draft. You always have to be infusing youth into your team, and quality youth, and you know, we're we're excited about the prospects of being able to do that.
And with that, I'll open it up for questions.
This is.
Not necessarily a draft question, but I guess it is as far as the timing. What's been your level of transparency with Trey, as far as what's transpired, as far as teams reaching out to you, what have you told them? Where's a stand?
Yeah, So you know, generally, Matt, you know our policy, my policy if we're actively trying to trade a player not trying to, or or if we're having discussions, for instance, last year with Mike McGlinchey, it became a parent that a year away from that, it was going to be tough to re sign with Trent Williams in the building and the reality of our roster. You know, I brought Mike McGlinchey up and said, hey, Mike, I never you know, from being a player myself, I never want you to
hear from anyone else that you're being shopped. So I'm telling you we are going to talk to some teams if we're if we're fielding inbound calls. You know, I think I'd be doing that every single day if I'm if I'm telling every single player, I do think with the sensitivity of of Trey's position, maybe a little different. So Trey and I have talked and we're on the same page, and Trey knows exactly where the situation is. His mindset is all about competing, and I think that's
exactly where his mindset should be. We're excited about the position he's put himself in, with the work he's done this offseason to number one, get healthy, number two improve upon some things that he really wanted to improve upon. And you know, we don't get to to watch all of his workouts. I've got a good, good view, and he's definitely excited and I think he has reason to be.
And you know, so, yes, there has been good communication and we're excited about you know, Trey's ability to go compete for a job and.
Characterized the calls that you get about him. Is it offers made or is it just kind of feeling you guys out?
You know, I think there's there's a lot of smoke.
Really, it hasn't been extremely active and it's not like we've put it out there that hey, we're taking offers for Call one eight hundred, you know, like it's that's not been the process. You know, people's job in this is to ask questions. Has that been Has that happened on a couple occasions, sure, but hasn't been that sub substantive.
And and you know, like I.
Said, we're focused as his Trey on his ability to compete and play an integral role on this team. Last year we needed we needed five, and so we value every single one of those guys and we're excited about our group.
We really are.
It's reached out to you about potentially moving him if he doesn't get an opportunity to play No.
Frank Corps I mean, is that sort of laying the groundwork for him joining the front office or the scouting staff at some point. And then you also mentioned Turk and Justin.
Have any of one of those guys.
Sort of filled the role that Ran had been playing in previous.
Tracks, really, I mean they're more focused on the on the college side of things. Now, Rand did did play a part in our college. Rand's a really solid evaluator and had a good feel I think one of Rand's most unique talents. He's got a great feel for people. And so Rand was tremendous with the thirty visits with the combine just getting to know people and having a great feel for that. So we collectively those guys are skilled at that as well, but different roles, Matt, but
they're they're both incredibly valuable to to our organization. And you know we've kind of, you know, made may do without Rand, but you're gonna you're gonna feel it when you lose a guy like that and just misshapping around here. He's one of the one of the good people that I've worked with, So you know, they're Oh and then Frank, you know, a couple of years ago we had stay
in here. Uh, Frank showed an interest in coming in here, and uh, you know, like I said, somebody had made made me, made that opportunity available to me years ago, and I was really grateful for it. And so if someone's willing to put the time in and as given as much as he has to the organization, then absolutely we're going to open our arms. And and you know, Frank, I think he learned a lot through the process the.
Owners of meetings that you would know more about Brock after about twelve weeks.
I know we're not quite there yet, but just having him in the building the last week, kind of what is his mindset bit and what have you know?
See so far?
Well, you know, he just what we expected. He's attacking each day. I think he's focused on each day.
You know.
Doctor Meister had said that like an inflection point will be twelve weeks because that's when he's supposed to start throwing. So but right now he's just really focused on Max and each day. I think with rehab, having gone through it myself, there's a physical component to it. There's also a psychological and emotional and mental component, and part of that is just waking up and get you know, really being where you're at. And I think that that's what
Brock has done a really good job of. And you know, get a lot of people reaching out saying, you know, the fives at the Giants game were really encouraging, and you know, but I think what's more encouraging is what I'm hearing every day from our people from Brock. He's making great progress. You know, we're we're you know, as I have it, we're six weeks out, just finished that six weeks and really doing a good job with it.
So he is saying that he wasn't really sure, honestly, if you'll be able to play this year?
Is that on the table or is it guys taking it one day at a time.
You know, I think it's more so Brock being Brock and understanding that he's got to be exactly where he's at. Where he's at, and it doesn't do him or anyone else a lot of good to be speculating about what's to come. And Brock's just jumping in each and every day and really doing well.
Go ahead, is he on schedule?
As far as.
He's doing really well, He's doing really well. And as I understand it, he's he's definitely on schedule, hitting all the checkpoints and doing very very We're very encouraged by his rehab.
Eric, if you already covered this in your initial answer, but is it accurate to say your expectation Islands is going to be on the roster threat.
That, Yeah, absolutely, I expect Trey to be here.
And you know, we're excited about Trey's ability to compete and what he can do for our franchise, just as we were when we drafted Trey.
And and you know, I think the.
Only thing that's changed this offseason is that Trey's gone and got himself healthy. He was injured last year. He's done a really good job of doing that. He's done some different things in terms of his training this offseason.
He's very encouraged by that.
And we'll see when we get an opportunity to get out there on the field with him. But we have every reason to be encouraged as well.
You're looking at that position in the drafts, till John in terms of bringing in another maybe low round draft pick to see what he can do.
We'll do our due diligence.
I know a lot's been made about who we've met with and you know, the only thing I'd say to you, some of those things are true, some of those are ours just doing our job.
We're always going to be thorough.
We're always going to study sometimes that's for three four years down the line. We want to get to know each and every position and quarterbacks.
No different teams are calling on.
Trey, Obviously, something would have to be substantial, fair to say, to change your stance on then. And how does it factor in kind of with the uncertainty of.
Brock that you have to take that into account when.
Having those discussions.
Well, I think you definitely have to take that into account. And you know, we, uh, we've.
Approached it that way.
As good as we feel about Brox rehab, I think we have to prepare for every scenario. But more so, we're just excited about having three really quality quarterbacks in our room and letting those guys go out and compete and buy for a job. And uh, you know, we're we're excited about that.
Reached out to you about potentially treating for Brandon Ayuk and is that something you would consider?
You know, there's I'm not going to get into specifics on people. We love Brandon Ayuk and Uh, you know, excited about Brandon being a part of this team.
So I'll just leave it at that.
Regarding are you, I mean with his if you pick up as with your option, what that number will be next year? And Deebo's number you talked about you can't keep the Lynchet Andrew Onney. Is it DeForest Buckner Ark Armstead situation?
Yeah?
How do you do that?
Like, I know we're talking about this play four, but is that something you can creatively navigate having both those guys remain.
On the roster next season? Yeah, it's a good question.
It's a fair question because I understand the line of thinking you can't keep everyone. You know, we're trying to do something special this year, and Brandon's going to be a big part of that, you know, and and beyond it as well, And so yes, you always have to think out a few years. But we're really excited about Brandon. Feel like he made another big step next year, and I think the best is yet to come, and so
we want them being a part of it. And at some point, yeah, you have to figure things out, and I guess we'll take that as it comes.
But as of right now and into the.
Future, We're really excited about Brandon Aiyuk and where he's at as a pro, the work he's done to develop as a pro and and become, you know, one of our core players here.
You don't have to make those officials till next week, but have you made the fifth year decisions on on Brandon?
And you know you always like to get through a draft, you know, I want to publicly before I publicly disclose that which will happen.
I mean, we have to buy Monday, right after the draft.
I want to talk with each one of those guys individually before I do that, so that will be forthcoming.
While doing as ever, like coming back in the season.
JK is doing great. He uh, this is it. He's really in a good spot.
I mean he looks like a h he.
Looks tremendous, you know, uh he Uh, he's preparing.
He's excited about his preparation.
I think it's a good feeling when you've battled injuries year after year and you're in a healthy spot, and you can see it in the way he's walking around here. He's he's just very encouraged and in a really good place and and I think he's earned that right He's worked really hard to be here, and I'm I think we're all really encouraged by it and excited to see what can come the.
Interior A line at the owners meetings at Feliciano.
Is he going to be competing for a starting spot, maybe that right guard spot.
I think that's open to him.
You know, we rotated Spencer and Brunskill last year. John's a guy who started a lot of games here in the last few years. I think he gives us tremendous versatility at guard and center.
Around the league.
It's kind of known he's one of those glue guys, one of those guys you want in your room, and so he became a priority for us in free agency. I felt very fortunate that we were able to come out of free agency with John a part of our team, especially once we lost Danny. Those guys are incredibly valuable. Now, haven't said that. I thought Spencer acquitted himself really well.
He's a really talented young man, and I think it's only going to get better, and it's always great to have competition and know you have someone there that if something were to happen at either spot, and I mean all three really you've got a guy who's tested, who's battle tested, who has done it, and so John was really a nice addition for us, and and you know, really really cool to have added him to our group, into the team.
It's doing well.
You know, they're they're you know this phase, they can meet and I think they're having great meetings.
He's out there throwing with our guys and doing really well.
The last few years, you've been able to kind of plan for the future, you know, with banks who find the guys that maybe they don't have to play right away and.
Then the next year can can step in.
Does that change at all how you evaluate guys in terms of, you know, maybe this guy's learning curve is a little longer, but we have that LEAs to do that, or how does that kind of maybe any.
You know what I think in both those instances, I don't I don't believe looking back that we said, hey, this is a guy who we see starting two years from now, you know, but we're not going to put guys out there until we feel like they're ready and they've earned that job. And so those are two occasions with those guys who've turned into a really good play Aaron had to do some things kind of rework in his body, and he took on that challenge and and did a tremendous job of it and uh, really had
a solid year, Huff. We've known this guy as a playmaker. He had a couple of people in front of him. This year he earned it and you know, had an All Pro year, and so we're excited to know that.
Yeah, And there are.
Times sometimes, especially with this roster, this roster, a lot of spots are are filled. We're always going to add to that and add competition, and sometimes it is Yeah, we could we could see this guy being a starter in year two. But we like drafting players we believe can go play right now. And is that more difficult when you're when your first picks at ninety nine?
Sure?
And is that more difficult with a roster that's constructed like ours where a lot of the spots are somewhat spoken for sure? But we want to continue to add players who add to the competition and uh, you know, make us a better.
Football team to the end of the draft that it's open to you to take four or five of them, you know, and go get someone you really want. How do you balance that with also wanting just a lot of picks just so you.
Can hit some more.
Yeah, you know, that's something you have to you have to take. You know, we've had drafts where we're incredibly active, and last year we didn't make one move that wasn't for lack of try. And you know, we tried to move around, nothing came to fruition. I think a lot of that's just sitting there and it's it's kind of painful to do when you're sitting there, just as it
was last year we picked at sixty one. It's a lot of sitting and waiting and seeing names go off that you really like, and then you know, I think what you start doing is saying, hey, if all the players we like are starting to go okay, now, is this an opportunity for us to move up and go get one of the one of the last few that we really have a high grade on. Those things can factor in, But you know, I mentioned the quality of depth on this draft.
I really believe at ninety nine, at one oh one, one oh.
Two one, there's gonna be players we really like and want to add to our team. And that has me encouraged.
Someone who could compete it right tackle.
Do you see more as.
An interior off Probably more as an interior. But he is a guy.
When we speak of him, we talk about five five position flex.
I mean, I think Nick has that in him.
Nick, just talking to our strength coaches, he's a guy really having a having a great offseason. He's just been here the entire time, making a lot of progress in terms of his strength, his explosion. He's the right type of mindset, and he's a really good talent. I'm excited about his future offense.
Love one and signing the other Nick in the next three months. And is it a non starter the team's call to ask about his trade availability.
That hotline's closed. That that never opened.
So you know, as for the other thing, we're gonna focus on this draft and then you know, I've stated many times that's a priority for this offseason.
History says that that.
You know, we have a really good, you know, track record of doing that and making that come to come to uh fruition. And you know, I'm excited about working on that when the when the time comes.
As usual, still training hand, yes.
Yeah, doing what the boss do.
Your track record of finding talent in the kind of middle rounds third through seventh. Can you shed light on what it is that has made you guys so successful finding guys who are you know, starters and even stars.
Yeah, you know, I think, uh, you know, I really believe it's it's collaboration.
I believe it's.
When you're when you're personnel and your coaching staff are in lockstep and there's constant communication, there's constant challenging of each other's views. Hey, we really like this guy. Okay, we didn't see it like that. Let's see if we can get there. I think we really take pride in doing that, and we do it from the top up,
bond down. Kyl and myself spend a ton of time watching players together, and so I think when you do that, and you do that throughout the draft, that gives you an opportunity to really hit throughout the draft at any pick.
And I think that's something we've done. I think one of the things too, we forced ourselves to do early on is really not just be vague about what we wanted each and every position, but really talk about the traits we want at each position, both physically and mentally, and in the spirit we call it, you know, of each position, and so I think we've done a nice job of defining that so that when you're in those meetings,
everyone knows who's a Niner. And when you have that as a starting point, I think you can start finding those guys.
So we aren't perfect.
We've had our share of misses, but I do I'm proud of our track record and hopefully that continues because we got a lot of lot right there this year.
Figure back, you know that, like what's a Niner? Sevent and you guys took Joe Williams and you were like, he wasn't initially on your draft board, Jamie Keller Wills there and just you personally were like aggressiveness as far as tackling I mean, just speaking for you, have you identified more like as far as football character and what you believe in? I mean, whether you've had the seventeen did it and you've kind of established since then?
Yeah, No, it's I do think it's an evolving deal as to as to exactly what we are and who we want. But I can tell you that the bedrock of those things we want tough, dependable, fast, You know, we don't we don't need rocket scientists, but we need smart, smart football players. We want people that are contagiously competitive, you know, do you make people around you better because you're so darned intent upon getting better and competing each every day. Those are the kind of guys that play well.
And then we like Phis players and I think such that we play with such a physical mentality. I think our mentality is a lot about attacking on both sides of the ball and on special teams, such that when you have someone who's not a fit, it stands out you don't you don't really have to. So I do think that when we've missed, uh, it's been more that spirit part than it has been the talent. The talent
we're pretty good and identifying. I think it's probably the spirit, and so we spend a lot of our focus on trying to learn as much.
And that's where the scouts. You really have to rely on the scouts.
To get to know these players over a course of time, and then sometimes you have the opportunity to meet them yourself and you put as much time as you can there.
So, yeah, we're look at two how do you weigh you know, the best player you've got, you know on the board. And also relation to you know where you guys need immediate help, where you need help a year from now. What's the organizational philosophy I guess, not just on those picks, but just realm the draft.
Yeah, we've certainly identified. I think as a starting point, you have to be incredibly thorough because you just don't know who who might fall for whatever reason. So you can't just to scount all the people you think are going to be gone by ninety nine, and we haven't.
We've been in very thorough.
And then you know, Matt, what I talked about, you know, the things that we covet from multiple different perspectives, and then a lot of it is who's going to be there. You know, last year, I can tell you we never thought Drake Jackson would be there when we picked. There was another guy who we liked along with with Drake, and both of them were there, and we never would have thought that both of them would have been there
at sixty one. So that's another great lesson that you just have to prepare for everything.
Some of it's about, you know, you know, position needs as we see it.
Yeah, we have priorities on what we've identified, but ultimately you want to take football players that are gonna make your team, going to be around here for years to come and make you a better team. And so kind of a combination of all those things is how we take it as as it comes and gonna be a long wait watching a lot.
Of players that you really appreciate go.
But I am I keep saying it because I am truly confident that that we'll come up with some players that we really like there and that are going to help us right away and into the future.
One more quarterback question, Yeah, how throw were you guys? Did you look into Lamar Jackson? And is that a possibility?
And also, you know you you look into everything, and we seem to be linked to each and everything.
I can tell you.
I think it's a how convicted we are on brock on this current group of guys that you know, why you're not doing your job if you don't look into things a lot of those things, I think you're limited by the way our rosters set up, you know. And the other thing is you're you know, what's your motivation? And while those those players, there's there's more than that than just Lamar. There's tremendous players, MVP type players. We really like our guys, and we like where we're at.
We like our complete roster and how they fit for multiple reasons, and we're excited about that group.
So I'll just leave it at that. Yeah, all right, we'll see you this weekend. Thank you, guys,