Highlights from Mike Shanahan’s conference call with Buffalo and Toronto reporters earlier this week:
On the team’s philosophy heading into the Draft: “You know, like most teams, they’re not going to give their game plan away for the Draft, especially when you are picking in the top 10. We have a number of needs so we have the ability to go in a lot of different directions. With there being no free agency, you can actually go with the best player available.”
On the team’s top needs: “Well, I think people see us and they know we could have help on the offensive line. We need some help at wide receiver, quarterback situation as well. You’re always looking for that young guy that can possibly be the franchise guy. On defense, we’ve got [needs in] the interior defensive front, you know switching over to the 3-4. Also, the linebacker position [is a need area] as well. So there are a number of directions that we could go.”
On Donovan McNabb’s status with the Redskins: “Well, I’ve talked about this a number of times before. I talked about it in Indianapolis. I’m not going to go through that scenario until after the draft. And after the draft, I’m going to talk about it some and I’m staying with that game plan for obvious reasons.”
On wide receiver Draft prospects AJ Green and Julio Jones: “I think that’s the two big names up there. Everybody’s got them going one-two. I think everyone was surprised when Jones ran the 4.38 [forty-yard dash] over at Indianapolis; it was very impressive. When you look at AJ’s game film, he’s just one of those natural receivers. There are a lot of different opinions on them, but I think they are two excellent receivers that are going to play for a lot of years. Jones is very physical both in the running game and carrying the football. I look at Green, he has experience running all of the different routes. Those wide receivers have some strengths and some weaknesses, it’ll be interesting to see which one goes first.”
On building the team in the draft without many mid-round selections in the Draft: “Well, we have eight picks -when you take a look at our picks, a couple in the fifth, one in the sixth, and three in the seventh. We have the ability to move back as well. Even though it looks like you don’t have any picks in the third and fourth round, there’s a possibility you can move back and get a couple of picks very quickly when you pick early in the draft like we do at 10 and 41.”
On whether there will be more trades in this year’s Draft: “You know, you just never know. It all depends on how many picks a certain team might have and the interest they might have when your number comes up. If it’s the 10th pick or the 41st, in my years in the NFL, there have been times when we haven’t received a phone call. There have been other years when you’ve got three calls and everyone seems to want your pick, and you’ve got a number of different options. I think it just depends on what pick you do have and what people are looking for, if they are looking for a certain need. As you mentioned, let’s say there are two wide receivers and, all of a sudden, one wide receiver goes off, all of a sudden, it comes up to be the 10th pick, you may have three of four calls very quickly. Also, if there are a number of athletes available at a certain position, they may pass on you and go to 12 or 13. You just really don’t know, everyone has a game plan, some people want to move up, some people want to move back. You have to feel very comfortable with your board either way if you’re moving back or moving up. You have to feel confident that you are going to get the players that you want.”
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