Maxman Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 New York Jets Round One Press Conference, 4.30 Opening Statement… Mike Maccagnan: Well, obviously we picked Leonard Williams today with the sixth pick in the first round. Obviously, we are very, very excited about that. Basically, at the end of the day, he was the best player on our board and we were kind of surprised that he actually fell to us and felt it was too good of a value to pass on at that point in time. On their reaction when they saw Washington did not pick Williams… Maccagnan: I was telling people internally that there is always unexpected things that happen in the draft. When you looked through all the mock drafts, his name consistently came up in the first three, four or five picks in the draft. I kind of stressed with everybody throughout the process that you just try to build your board in a bubble. In essence, try to figure out the players from best to worst and when you go through the process, you basically anticipate any possibilities that may happen at that point in time and when we were going through different scenarios, we kind of thought it was a bit of a long shot, but when it kind of presented itself, we basically went back to my simple philosophy and that was to try to have as many good players in the organization as possible and get the best player available at that point in time, which is what we felt he was. He’s a very big, physically talented, very young player. He’s only 20 years old, won’t even be 21 until sometime in June. So we feel he has a very big upside and a lot of potential. On whether they hesitated before drafting another defensive lineman… Maccagnan: Well, I think when we had built our board, certain players we felt were just really good players. I think at certain times in the draft, you build your board, there’s players in your mind that you go through it’s an unlikely scenario that they fall to us, what do you do? Do you go by what you believe in, especially with the draft, which is a little more risky in terms of trying to project return in the future, do you just go with the best player available? Then at the end of the day, you really can’t have enough good football players so it really doesn’t matter what position you go after, as opposed to maybe factoring in something that doesn’t really apply to how good or bad that player is going to be, but your own personal need. Maybe you pass on a player and then two years later, you find out that the player you had reached a certain ceiling and the player you probably should have taken, that was the best player available has a much higher ceiling or turned out to be a better player. So that’s the game you play when you go through the evaluation process, but again, in my mindset, as long as we have good players in this organization and players that can be impactful and help us win games. To me, you can never have enough good players, especially on the defensive line and when we play teams in our conference that do well. On whether they explored trading down while they were on the clock… Maccagnan: Yeah, I think we turned the pick in later in the process. We gave it its full allotment of time to see if the phone would ring. There wasn’t any trade options that came across our desk that were worthy to move out of the pick. So at the end of the day, we kind of went back to what we felt. In this process, you just try to maximize your return and take the best player available. Again, and I kind of felt in the process that there were certain players that we really felt good about and that we felt were really good players in this draft. Again, you just have to prepare for the unexpected sometimes, when guys fall to you that you really don’t expect. On whether they tried to trade up during the draft tonight… Maccagnan: Well, in terms of the draft, it all heats up at the very last minute. The way that all the back channel stuff works is you kind of find out what the price is for certain picks, like we literally talked to every team in front of us and we literally talked to every team behind us. We had multiple people calling at times it seemed like. We realized that at the point in time, when Tennessee took the player they wanted, they had a lot of interest in that pick from what I understood, and I think for them it was going to take a very large offer to get that pick, and at that point in time, we researched it and decided to sit tight where we were and see what fell to us. On where Williams was on their draft board… Maccagnan: I would say he would be in the top three players on our board. On utilizing Williams, Wilkerson, Harrison, and Richardson on the same line… Todd Bowles: You can never have enough D-linemen. I’ve had a bunch of D-linemen in Dallas when I was there too, so having a lot of good football players doesn’t matter. I think everyone on the D-line has to learn how to play across the board in our scheme anyway, so having him added to the mix just makes us better. On whether he will consider a 4-3 scheme now based on the personnel… Bowles: No, we’re a 3-4 team. It may give us a chance to do some certain packages depending on the game, but we’re still a 3-4 defense. On whether Wilkerson is a trade chip now… Maccagnan: Right now, Muhammad is on our team and we’re not actively trying to shop Muhammad, so at this point he’s part of us and obviously at some point in time we are going to talk to him and his agent and kind of proceed forward. On whether they feel confident a deal will get done with Muhammad Wilkerson… Maccagnan: Again, I would hope so, but time will tell. On whether they have received any offers for Wilkerson… Maccagnan: First of all, we’re not actively shopping him. The way this works, everybody kind of puts out feelers all the time in the league. We were calling around literally every team about trades in terms of draft picks and stuff comes up in conversations, but again there is really nothing to speculate or report on on that front. On whether Williams being available changed the team’s stance on trading the pick… Maccagnan: Well actually, I think we would have entertained any offer and not really to speculate on what we had or didn’t have on the table, but at the end of the day we gave it the full allotment of time to see what teams would kind of call and inquire. At the end of the day, we never really got an offer to kind of move out of the pick that we felt good about. On Williams’ shoulder injury… Maccagnan: Yes. He did have a shoulder surgery that I believe was prior to this last season in January. But, again, in our process we felt very good about him from a physical and health stand point going forward. On how much time they spent visiting with Williams… Maccagnan: Yeah and we went to his pro day and covered that and we obviously met with him at the combine also. We did have him in here for a visit, one of our 30 official visits that we were allowed to have. On whether both Maccagnan and Bowles were at Williams’ pro day… Maccagnan: I didn’t go to the USC pro day, but we obviously saw him at the combine workout and he worked out very well at the combine. Bowles: Our defensive line coach (Pepper Johnson) was at his pro day. On whether something about his visit to the facility impressed them… Bowles: For me, obviously his play spoke for itself, but when he got here, just meeting the young man, seeing how mature he was and how full of life he was and the great attitude he had and the passion for playing football, that kind of connected with me. On some of Williams’ strengths that aren’t as obvious… Maccagnan: When you break down Leonard, obviously he is sort of prototypical in terms of size, he’s literally 20 years old, not even 21 until June. He’s a very big, athletic, explosive player when you watch him on tape. I think that sort of comes to the forefront. He can be in essence a three-down player because he is big, athletic and physical versus the run, but he also is very quick and active and an agile player to be effective as a pass rusher. I think with a kid when he is that young, especially talking to a lot of people that knew him and had been around him when I went there in the fall and scouted him at Southern Cal, and eventually called back and talked to people about him later; everybody you talk to about the kid really likes the kid and thinks he has just a huge ceiling in terms of potential, which I would concur with just watching him. So to me, it was you’re looking at a guy that is scratching the surface of what is the player he can potentially be and that player could be a very good run down and pass rusher when you put it all together. On whether the best way to cover up not having an elite quarterback is to build a dominate defense… Maccagnan: Well, I would probably defer to Todd on some of those questions, but I think from our standpoint, we’re tasked with trying to get as many talented players as we can in the organization, be it pro or college. It’s kind of a simple philosophy in terms of trying to make every position as competitive as possible and again the more good football players you can put on the field, the more impactful they can be. On whether they’re trying to make up for not being a team that scores a lot of points by trying to be a team that can get to the quarterback… Bowles: No, in this case, we took the best player available. It could have been an offensive guy and we would have taken an offensive guy, but Leonard was the best guy on our board. We weren’t trying to compensate for the quarterback or not compensate for the quarterback, we were just trying to take the highest (rated) player available. I think when you pick that high, you can’t go for need and reach before something with a guy that’s more athletic and a lot better than the guy you are trying to reach for, so we took the best player available for us. On who the top two guys on their board were and whether they were already gone… Maccagnan: I would probably plead the fifth on that one, but yes, they were also gone. On whether they are happy that they added the player a lot of people considered the best in the draft… Bowles: I’m excited. I know it doesn’t look like it on my face (laughter), it’s been a long day with minicamp. On the inside, I am very excited. He adds to the mix of defensive linemen down there and that should help us a great deal. On whether they may not have to blitz as much next season with this defensive line… Bowles: Let’s hope so. (Joking) On whether they had any doubt that Williams was going to be their pick once they found out he was still available… Maccagnan: Pretty much at that point in time. Like I said before, on the pro side, you can factor in need as you try to target players that kind of fit certain positions when you go through pro free agency. It’s sort of comparing apples to apples. When you’re in college, I always feel teams fall into the same trap and they factor in things that have no bearing on the player being successful or not. So, in our mindset, that was very true to what we believe, which is if you feel a player is substantially better than the players around him, you don’t really factor in need to your decision making process. When everything else is equal and the players are at the same level and ability, then you can use need to separate it. So when we saw him available, it was just, we felt, a very good player. Again, we’re a little surprised he kind of fell to us and we’re kind of excited about it, but from that standpoint it was the idea of adding a young, talented player to our team that was in my mindset a fairly easy decision to make. On having any inkling that Williams would be available at the sixth pick... Maccagnan: It was interesting. There were a few players we kind of felt were going to be early on potential players and quite frankly, I don't think any mock draft had Leonard going beyond five, like literally none. People sometimes like you guys sort of follow, really the people who follow the league and follow the teams, you know some of these mock drafts that people do, as you get closer to the actual draft they tend to get more accurate. When you look at them from weeks or months away they are not quite as accurate. But as you get kind of closer they get more accurate. So it was interesting, sometimes you will hear little tidbits, were as you guys gather information, the media gathers information, you see guys who trickle down or it may get more accurate to how it was. So really, I don't think we kind of expected him to be there until we got on the clock and realized that when Washington made their pick and we realized it wasn't the player we thought it was going to be, we were kind of excited and surprised at the same time. On whether they will consider incorporating some 4-3 elements… Bowles: We have already incorporated some 4-3. We’re a multiplex defense. We kind of run both of them anyway. It depends on the game and depends on the team. On whether either of them will reach out to Wilkerson to reassure him… Maccagnan: I think we both will. Whether it is myself to his agent or Todd to Mo. Bowles: Yes, we will. On whether they still want Wilkerson… Bowles: Well, he is on our team and obviously he is a good football player. Of course, we want him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBallhawk Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Wish he'd just say Mo is not available so we can stop speculating. This "not actively shopping him", "stuff comes up" or "he's currently on our team" talk kind of bothers me a little. But I have faith in Macc, I'm sure he's just trying to get some more leverage by dangling Mo a little bit. If he really wanted to trade him he would have by now so I'm not that worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Obviously these two like to say "obviously" a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Wish he'd just say Mo is not available so we can stop speculating. This "not actively shopping him", "stuff comes up" or "he's currently on our team" talk kind of bothers me a little. But I have faith in Macc, I'm sure he's just trying to get some more leverage by dangling Mo a little bit. If he really wanted to trade him he would have by now so I'm not that worried. Why? What if someone calls and offers us a stud QB, or a 2nd, 3rd and future 1st? Why make it definitive for the fans... when there exists the opportunity to improve the team by leaving the door open? All he's doing is leaving the door open as a means toward making the team better. If the offers don't come, or suck, then we are better with Mo. If the offers are great, then are potentially better without him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Obviously these two like to say "obviously" a lot. OOOooooooooobviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 God bless the NFL. On whether they will consider incorporating some 4-3 elements… Bowles: We have already incorporated some 4-3. We’re a multiplex defense. We kind of run both of them anyway. It depends on the game and depends on the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerfish Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Rex would have been more fun, We don;t have any words/phrases like 'why i'll tell ya', 'he's going to smash you', 'You ready to be part of a #1 D' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Wish he'd just say Mo is not available so we can stop speculating. This "not actively shopping him", "stuff comes up" or "he's currently on our team" talk kind of bothers me a little. But I have faith in Macc, I'm sure he's just trying to get some more leverage by dangling Mo a little bit. If he really wanted to trade him he would have by now so I'm not that worried. Maybe I'm reading into something that isn't there, but part of the "currently" may be that they haven't locked him up beyond this season. I have little doubt they would prefer - especially now, after taking Williams - someone comes in with a great offer. But the unexpected is also why nothing was gained by signing him early with a big bonus that would have made him impossible to trade. They can always sign him later, and if anything this pick helps in the team's leverage if they do (Mo surely doesn't want to play on another 1 year deal for far less than his earning potential, and I don't blame him). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBallhawk Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Obviously these two like to say "obviously" a lot. Those are obviously some dumbass questions. "Do you still want Wilkerson?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Those are obviously some dumbass questions. "Do you still want Wilkerson?" Yeah, if Wilkerson is now a trade chip? This is a serious question that anyone expects an affirmative answer to? Perhaps the guess that they wouldn't be prepared for Wilkerson questions and Maccagnan would have started bouncing knees under the table or pinching his lip as he weakly flubs an answer of, "Umm, uhhhh, like good question. We don't, uh...know what? Mo's still on the Jets right now. Like technically he's a Jet and he's totally valuable to us and stuff." The purpose of asking a question is to acquire information in its answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuscanyTile2 Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Can we call our GM "at the end of the day" and our head coach "Captain Obvious"? EXAMPLE: It was a good first day of the draft as "at the end of the day" picked a player that adhered to the "Captain Obvious" philosophy on defense. ...or for brevity: It was a good first day of the draft as ATEOTD picked a player that adhered to the CO philosophy on defense. ==================================================================================== Mike Maccagnan: Basically, at the end of the day, he was the best player on our board and we were kind of surprised that he actually fell to us and felt it was too good of a value to pass on at that point in time. Mike Maccagnan: Then at the end of the day, you really can’t have enough good football players so it really doesn’t matter what position you go after, as opposed to maybe factoring in something that doesn’t really apply to how good or bad that player is going to be, but your own personal need. Mike Maccagnan: So at the end of the day, we kind of went back to what we felt. In this process, you just try to maximize your return and take the best player available. Mike Maccagnan: Well actually, I think we would have entertained any offer and not really to speculate on what we had or didn’t have on the table, but at the end of the day we gave it the full allotment of time to see what teams would kind of call and inquire ==================================================================================== Mike Maccagnan: Well, obviously we picked Leonard Williams today with the sixth pick in the first round. Obviously, we are very, very excited about that. Maccagnan: Right now, Muhammad is on our team and we’re not actively trying to shop Muhammad, so at this point he’s part of us and obviously at some point in time we are going to talk to him and his agent and kind of proceed forward. Maccagnan: Yeah and we went to his pro day and covered that and we obviously met with him at the combine also. We did have him in here for a visit, one of our 30 official visits that we were allowed to have. Maccagnan: I didn’t go to the USC pro day, but we obviously saw him at the combine workout and he worked out very well at the combine. Bowles: For me, obviously his play spoke for itself, but when he got here, just meeting the young man, seeing how mature he was and how full of life he was and the great attitude he had and the passion for playing football, that kind of connected with me. Maccagnan: When you break down Leonard, obviously he is sort of prototypical in terms of size, he’s literally 20 years old, not even 21 until June. Bowles: Well, he is on our team and obviously he is a good football player. Of course, we want him. ==================================================================================== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Why? What if someone calls and offers us a stud QB, or a 2nd, 3rd and future 1st? Why make it definitive for the fans... when there exists the opportunity to improve the team by leaving the door open? All he's doing is leaving the door open as a means toward making the team better. If the offers don't come, or suck, then we are better with Mo. If the offers are great, then are potentially better without him. This is why you wait to sign him until you have to. Part of the "what if" is What if Leonard Williams is available and way ahead of the next guy on the board and there aren't any compelling offers for the pick? Nice thing to see in Mac's answer is they try to prepare for the unexpected. That the draft never goes from start to finish the way the projections suggest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 This is why you wait to sign him until you have to. Part of the "what if" is What if Leonard Williams is available and way ahead of the next guy on the board and there aren't any compelling offers for the pick? Nice thing to see in Mac's answer is they try to prepare for the unexpected. That the draft never goes from start to finish the way the projections suggest. Said the exact same thing last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsFanInDenver Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Can we call our GM "at the end of the day" and our head coach "Captain Obvious"? EXAMPLE: It was a good first day of the draft as "at the end of the day" picked a player that adhered to the "Captain Obvious" philosophy on defense. ...or for brevity: It was a good first day of the draft as ATEOTD picked a player that adhered to the CO philosophy on defense. ==================================================================================== Mike Maccagnan: Basically, at the end of the day, he was the best player on our board and we were kind of surprised that he actually fell to us and felt it was too good of a value to pass on at that point in time. Mike Maccagnan: Then at the end of the day, you really can’t have enough good football players so it really doesn’t matter what position you go after, as opposed to maybe factoring in something that doesn’t really apply to how good or bad that player is going to be, but your own personal need. Mike Maccagnan: So at the end of the day, we kind of went back to what we felt. In this process, you just try to maximize your return and take the best player available. Mike Maccagnan: Well actually, I think we would have entertained any offer and not really to speculate on what we had or didn’t have on the table, but at the end of the day we gave it the full allotment of time to see what teams would kind of call and inquire ==================================================================================== Mike Maccagnan: Well, obviously we picked Leonard Williams today with the sixth pick in the first round. Obviously, we are very, very excited about that. Maccagnan: Right now, Muhammad is on our team and we’re not actively trying to shop Muhammad, so at this point he’s part of us and obviously at some point in time we are going to talk to him and his agent and kind of proceed forward. Maccagnan: Yeah and we went to his pro day and covered that and we obviously met with him at the combine also. We did have him in here for a visit, one of our 30 official visits that we were allowed to have. Maccagnan: I didn’t go to the USC pro day, but we obviously saw him at the combine workout and he worked out very well at the combine. Bowles: For me, obviously his play spoke for itself, but when he got here, just meeting the young man, seeing how mature he was and how full of life he was and the great attitude he had and the passion for playing football, that kind of connected with me. Maccagnan: When you break down Leonard, obviously he is sort of prototypical in terms of size, he’s literally 20 years old, not even 21 until June. Bowles: Well, he is on our team and obviously he is a good football player. Of course, we want him. ==================================================================================== Obviously at the end of the day that's what you can call them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Said the exact same thing last night. Oh yeah, well I said it in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsFanInDenver Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Here are my observations: I was impressed that our GM went with BPA. It would have been tempting to reach for a need(Kevin White) but long term BPA is what better serves the organization. But i was super unimpressed by the presser. Given Maccag's background in scouting I was expecting more insightful answers. Instead what we got was in substance the same thing that Idzik delivered these past few years. A lot of high level talk. Atleast Idzik had the couple of people on the podium who could provide some meaningful insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Oh yeah, well I said it in March. In other words, I agree. Also, what day in March? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 In other words, I agree. Also, what day in March? Oof. So tempted to look it up right now. I have that kind of ego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesr Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Obviously these two like to say "obviously" a lot. Kind of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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