JazzyJeff Draft post-mortum w/ Ireland

quote:

---

So what you’re saying is, Payton Turner was not a fallback option?

Ireland: At the end of the day, we did not settle. We felt fantastic because of the process we went through, all the things that we tried to ridicule ourselves about, and then he just kept coming out on top. Look, we didn’t miss on character. We didn’t miss on motor. We didn’t miss on length. He’s the longest defensive end, I think, in the last 10 years. And he plays with it. He plays with that length. He’s got bend. He’s got athleticism. The workout was fantastic. He’s 270 pounds. He plays the style of defensive end that we want to play. And that’s, take that tackle back into the quarterback. We’re not going to be behind the quarterback a lot. We’re not this old Dwight Freeney, bend-the-edge type guy. We’re not that. That’s not the way we play defense. We’re going to get our hands in the quarterback’s face. We’re going to take that tackle, we’re going to press him right back into the quarterback’s lap. And we’re going to play with speed and power. And then just when you think we only bring power, he’s got the athleticism to get around you, just like Marcus (Davenport) and just like Cam (Jordan). And so that, in a nutshell, is how we arrived at the pick.

---

quote:

---

And we felt like those were all compete to start (players). We didn’t feel like it really necessarily checked that “must” box off like maybe Horn and Surtain did.

---

quote:

---

What did you see that you liked in Pete Werner?

Ireland: He’s everything you’re looking for in a draft pick. He checked all the boxes. He was a badass special teams player as a freshman. I mean really good. He’s going to play all four core special teams. He’s prototype (size). He started three years. He’s played multiple positions. You see him play mike linebacker in the sub (defense). You see him play will. He’s played sam. He’s blitzed. He’s covered. He’s covered man-to-man. He’s even played safety when they needed an extra player. Even as a linebacker, he’s played half-field safety. I mean you can tell they trust him to do whatever they ask him to do. … I like Ohio State players. I mean I think they’ve gone through a process of being prepared for big football games.

---

quote:

---

Some league executives have said it was more competitive than ever for undrafted free agents this year because there were prospects than normal. Was that the case?

Ireland: It was a real different year for free agents. I think there were 600 or 700 less (player) tags on the board than in normal years. So everybody in free agency was going after the same small pool of players. We had less than 120 (players overall on the big board). I do feel the back end of the (draft) board did not have as much quality. And I think we were pickier because we had less medical information. Some of these guys, we’ve never seen on the hoof (in person). I went to 17 Pro Days. I usually let my scouts do it, or I send the coaches out. But I personally wanted to go see guys that I didn’t get a chance to travel to see in the fall. I can’t remember a draft where there’s 20 percent of the players that we’ve never seen on the hoof.

---

quote:

---

Is there a good comp for him? I feel like he’s got a little Jake Delhomme in him?

Ireland: I can see that. I felt like I saw some (Tony) Romo in the kid a little bit. At times he has eyes in the back of his head. … It’s funny, Mickey and Sean and I, we all have great resources around the league, great colleagues. I probably heard more people give me compliments on the Ian Book pick, people that I trust and know football. They love that player.

---