http://www.azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=1162
Q&A With VP of Football Operations Rod Graves
Can you describe the weeks leading up to the draft and what you and your scouts are doing?
Since Indianapolis, our guys have really gone back out on the road to shore up any final information we may need. When we leave the Combine there are three groups that we usually have to shore up information on (height, weight, speed, background)—the existing guys we already had files on, new players that we didn’t have information on that were invited to the Combine, and then the underclassmen that have declared for the draft. We spend most of the spring making sure we have all the answers for those three groups. Our scouts returned to the office April 1st and will be in-house right up to the day of the draft.
How much time leading up to the draft are you guys watching film?
For the first-round type players, those guys are covered by the area scout, regional scout, myself, Coach McGinnis, the coordinator and the position coach. All of us have probably spent 4-5 hours of film study on each particular player and we try to watch at least 3 or 4 games. By the time we come to our draft discussion, we have a lot of man-hours invested in those players and we are usually in a position to have a real healthy discussion.
Personally, I’ll be focusing on probably the defensive side of the ball and particular positions I feel we need to fill. I’ll probably spend 5 to 6 hours a day watching tape from this point up to the draft. I like to be familiar with players from the positions that I feel we will possibly take in the early rounds, middle rounds and late rounds.
How important are the individual spring workouts in the draft evaluation process?
I think you have to be careful about how much you invest in them. You get a sense for the player based on how he has performed in the fall during games. To me, games and practice habits are really what dictate the level and quality of the football player. You can get fooled by extra fast times or real slow times, but I don’t think any of those really tell you exactly what type of football player they are. Speed is important, levels of quickness are important, athletic ability is very important and so those things tend to push a player’s stock up, especially if in the spring he is quicker than times we had. I don’t know that they do as much to hurt a player’s chances because the bottom line is we are still looking for good football players and if they played well, we tend to go with that.
How did you feel the combine worked with adding on extra days and changing up the interview process?
It was extremely more beneficial this year because of the interview process. We were able to designate 60 players that we could interview for 15 minutes and the process was much smoother than it had been in past years. In the past, it was a sort of a chaotic catch if you could. This year, the players had specific times that they were appointed to your room. You were assured that you were going to get the players that you really wanted to talk to, so the only challenge for us was making sure we made the best of our 15 minutes. We did a very good job of that and so I thought it was much more beneficial.
Is it disappointing to you when guys choose not to run or work out at the Combine?
It is disappointing, but it has been an issue for as long as I can remember. I don’t know if we will ever be able to resolve it unless you get the Commissioner intervening in that process. Once upon a time, there was talk that if a player didn’t work out, teams would boycott that player’s spring workout. But, when it gets right down to it, teams are doing what they can for a competitive edge so to not show up at a top player’s workout is ridiculous. Agents encouraging the players not to work out at the combine and opting for a spring workout day has had a big effect on the players and I think that the players and their schools also get satisfaction from hosting the Pro Day. For some of the guys, they have 200 to 300 NFL people on their campus and it has gotten to become a media event so I think they can use it for recruiting purposes. I just think it is something we will always have to contend with.
Do you like where we stand with the 6th pick in the draft?
I think we are assured of an excellent football player at that spot. Once you get out of that seventh or eighth range, the questions about the player increase. I just feel that we will be in a position to get a top player that will help our program at that spot and besides that, it leaves us with a lot of options. We can certainly trade back to pick up additional picks later and still be in a position to get a truly talented football player. Anytime you are in the top 10, you are in good shape. That 6th pick is a pretty good position to be in.
What are some of the things you look for in a college player when trying to ascertain if he’ll make it in the NFL?
I would say that you have to start with athletic ability -- size, speed and quickness. That sort of gets a player on the map. The second thing is football instincts and the third would be toughness because it is a physical game and you want your players to be tough. And along with toughness, I would say also desire. Players with desire usually show a will to win, not only in their efforts on the field but in their preparation through the week.
How heavy do character issues weigh into drafting decisions?
Character has become almost important of an issue in our information gathering as the height, weight, speed part of it. There is so much money involved these days and so many risks associated with that investment that you want to make sure that you are getting people who are potentially solid people, coachable, and people who are team oriented. You would like to make sure to the best of your ability that you are comfortable with a player in those areas. You don’t want an embarrassing situation, especially something that is known beforehand and you haven’t covered it. You have to do your homework in the character issue to minimize risks.
Are you more of the philosophy of sticking to how your board is stacked or filling a need position?
I think you utilize both. I think you should start at a point of addressing your needs but once you get to a certain level where the quality of the player drops off and does not warrant that particular pick or round, then you have to go to another player. Sometimes you have to ask who the best player available is and whether or not they area a person you should not pass up at that point.
For fans, the draft is always an exciting time, but for you and your scouts, can you describe the magnitude of the draft and share how it is the culmination of really a year’s worth of work?
We spend from July up until March really preparing for the draft. During training camp, we are organizing our coverage for all of the colleges and the Bowl games. Once we leave training camp, the whole process of building up the information and the building of our draft board starts. So for us, it is a long process of information gathering, evaluations and it is just like a long sprint. The draft is the end of the sprint for scouts, but we just sort of pass the baton to the coaching staff at that point. Once those players are here, it is their job to coach them and get them ready to play.
Following the draft, where will your staff focus your attention?
Our scouts will return home to their perspective areas and start to focus on next year’s guys and visit some spring ball programs that may still be going on. May and June are lighter months for them as far as travel.
For me, I’ll start getting ready for the contract negotiations for the draft choices. We will start reviewing past drafts and determining what types of deals and the kind of money that was paid at different slots and positions so we can develop an analysis and determine our strategy for negotiations.
Can you explain how the undrafted free agent process works Sunday night?
We have a number set for how many players we will take into camp and we know how many veterans we have under contract prior to the draft. Once we insert our draft choices, we’ll know how many guys left we need to sign. We categorize undrafted free agents based on our grades. Following the draft, any free agent that had a draftable grade is considered an A free agent. Then we have a numerical system that rates guys as either B or C free agents. We also have sectioned off the type of signing bonus money associated with each level and we assign our scouts to certain positions and we start our calls with the A list and work our way down. We make those calls Sunday night and tell their agents that it is a first-come first-serve approach. When guys call us back willing to accept, we are going to accept those offers and move on. Using this system, we are able to get out as many calls as quickly as possibly and the agents know they are up against time and usually we’ve been able to get those guys tied up within 24 hours.
Can you comment on the newly acquired free agents and how you think they will fit?
I am extremely delighted over the quality of the players we’ve brought in, not so much limited to what I feel they will be able to bring us on the field, but the fact that these players come from quality programs. One of the things I wanted to see us address was lifting the overall attitude and spirit of our team. I felt like what we needed to inject into this ball club was really the heart of a lion. Instead of guys coming to work and just viewing it as such, we need a group of guys that have a purpose. To a large degree, we need to learn how to win. Dexter Jackson, James Hodgins, James Darling and Jeff Blake are all good football players and have been part of programs with a desire and will to win. We needed to insert that mentality here and I think they will do a lot to help turning things around.
Do you feel like you have this organization headed in the right direction?
I do, but I think it is going to be a process. I know our fans have become somewhat impatient, but I don’t know how else to describe what needs to happen. I would like to say there is quick fix but I think what we need to ensure is that we’ve got not only a team in place but a championship attitude in place. That gives birth to a long run of winning. We want to make sure like so many teams that have won year after year, that it becomes not only habitual but something that we all expect. It takes time to get that kind of attitude in place and I think we have taken the steps to build that here. We want to be able to expect that over the long haul and that is simply not going to happen overnight.
Q&A With VP of Football Operations Rod Graves
Can you describe the weeks leading up to the draft and what you and your scouts are doing?
Since Indianapolis, our guys have really gone back out on the road to shore up any final information we may need. When we leave the Combine there are three groups that we usually have to shore up information on (height, weight, speed, background)—the existing guys we already had files on, new players that we didn’t have information on that were invited to the Combine, and then the underclassmen that have declared for the draft. We spend most of the spring making sure we have all the answers for those three groups. Our scouts returned to the office April 1st and will be in-house right up to the day of the draft.
How much time leading up to the draft are you guys watching film?
For the first-round type players, those guys are covered by the area scout, regional scout, myself, Coach McGinnis, the coordinator and the position coach. All of us have probably spent 4-5 hours of film study on each particular player and we try to watch at least 3 or 4 games. By the time we come to our draft discussion, we have a lot of man-hours invested in those players and we are usually in a position to have a real healthy discussion.
Personally, I’ll be focusing on probably the defensive side of the ball and particular positions I feel we need to fill. I’ll probably spend 5 to 6 hours a day watching tape from this point up to the draft. I like to be familiar with players from the positions that I feel we will possibly take in the early rounds, middle rounds and late rounds.
How important are the individual spring workouts in the draft evaluation process?
I think you have to be careful about how much you invest in them. You get a sense for the player based on how he has performed in the fall during games. To me, games and practice habits are really what dictate the level and quality of the football player. You can get fooled by extra fast times or real slow times, but I don’t think any of those really tell you exactly what type of football player they are. Speed is important, levels of quickness are important, athletic ability is very important and so those things tend to push a player’s stock up, especially if in the spring he is quicker than times we had. I don’t know that they do as much to hurt a player’s chances because the bottom line is we are still looking for good football players and if they played well, we tend to go with that.
How did you feel the combine worked with adding on extra days and changing up the interview process?
It was extremely more beneficial this year because of the interview process. We were able to designate 60 players that we could interview for 15 minutes and the process was much smoother than it had been in past years. In the past, it was a sort of a chaotic catch if you could. This year, the players had specific times that they were appointed to your room. You were assured that you were going to get the players that you really wanted to talk to, so the only challenge for us was making sure we made the best of our 15 minutes. We did a very good job of that and so I thought it was much more beneficial.
Is it disappointing to you when guys choose not to run or work out at the Combine?
It is disappointing, but it has been an issue for as long as I can remember. I don’t know if we will ever be able to resolve it unless you get the Commissioner intervening in that process. Once upon a time, there was talk that if a player didn’t work out, teams would boycott that player’s spring workout. But, when it gets right down to it, teams are doing what they can for a competitive edge so to not show up at a top player’s workout is ridiculous. Agents encouraging the players not to work out at the combine and opting for a spring workout day has had a big effect on the players and I think that the players and their schools also get satisfaction from hosting the Pro Day. For some of the guys, they have 200 to 300 NFL people on their campus and it has gotten to become a media event so I think they can use it for recruiting purposes. I just think it is something we will always have to contend with.
Do you like where we stand with the 6th pick in the draft?
I think we are assured of an excellent football player at that spot. Once you get out of that seventh or eighth range, the questions about the player increase. I just feel that we will be in a position to get a top player that will help our program at that spot and besides that, it leaves us with a lot of options. We can certainly trade back to pick up additional picks later and still be in a position to get a truly talented football player. Anytime you are in the top 10, you are in good shape. That 6th pick is a pretty good position to be in.
What are some of the things you look for in a college player when trying to ascertain if he’ll make it in the NFL?
I would say that you have to start with athletic ability -- size, speed and quickness. That sort of gets a player on the map. The second thing is football instincts and the third would be toughness because it is a physical game and you want your players to be tough. And along with toughness, I would say also desire. Players with desire usually show a will to win, not only in their efforts on the field but in their preparation through the week.
How heavy do character issues weigh into drafting decisions?
Character has become almost important of an issue in our information gathering as the height, weight, speed part of it. There is so much money involved these days and so many risks associated with that investment that you want to make sure that you are getting people who are potentially solid people, coachable, and people who are team oriented. You would like to make sure to the best of your ability that you are comfortable with a player in those areas. You don’t want an embarrassing situation, especially something that is known beforehand and you haven’t covered it. You have to do your homework in the character issue to minimize risks.
Are you more of the philosophy of sticking to how your board is stacked or filling a need position?
I think you utilize both. I think you should start at a point of addressing your needs but once you get to a certain level where the quality of the player drops off and does not warrant that particular pick or round, then you have to go to another player. Sometimes you have to ask who the best player available is and whether or not they area a person you should not pass up at that point.
For fans, the draft is always an exciting time, but for you and your scouts, can you describe the magnitude of the draft and share how it is the culmination of really a year’s worth of work?
We spend from July up until March really preparing for the draft. During training camp, we are organizing our coverage for all of the colleges and the Bowl games. Once we leave training camp, the whole process of building up the information and the building of our draft board starts. So for us, it is a long process of information gathering, evaluations and it is just like a long sprint. The draft is the end of the sprint for scouts, but we just sort of pass the baton to the coaching staff at that point. Once those players are here, it is their job to coach them and get them ready to play.
Following the draft, where will your staff focus your attention?
Our scouts will return home to their perspective areas and start to focus on next year’s guys and visit some spring ball programs that may still be going on. May and June are lighter months for them as far as travel.
For me, I’ll start getting ready for the contract negotiations for the draft choices. We will start reviewing past drafts and determining what types of deals and the kind of money that was paid at different slots and positions so we can develop an analysis and determine our strategy for negotiations.
Can you explain how the undrafted free agent process works Sunday night?
We have a number set for how many players we will take into camp and we know how many veterans we have under contract prior to the draft. Once we insert our draft choices, we’ll know how many guys left we need to sign. We categorize undrafted free agents based on our grades. Following the draft, any free agent that had a draftable grade is considered an A free agent. Then we have a numerical system that rates guys as either B or C free agents. We also have sectioned off the type of signing bonus money associated with each level and we assign our scouts to certain positions and we start our calls with the A list and work our way down. We make those calls Sunday night and tell their agents that it is a first-come first-serve approach. When guys call us back willing to accept, we are going to accept those offers and move on. Using this system, we are able to get out as many calls as quickly as possibly and the agents know they are up against time and usually we’ve been able to get those guys tied up within 24 hours.
Can you comment on the newly acquired free agents and how you think they will fit?
I am extremely delighted over the quality of the players we’ve brought in, not so much limited to what I feel they will be able to bring us on the field, but the fact that these players come from quality programs. One of the things I wanted to see us address was lifting the overall attitude and spirit of our team. I felt like what we needed to inject into this ball club was really the heart of a lion. Instead of guys coming to work and just viewing it as such, we need a group of guys that have a purpose. To a large degree, we need to learn how to win. Dexter Jackson, James Hodgins, James Darling and Jeff Blake are all good football players and have been part of programs with a desire and will to win. We needed to insert that mentality here and I think they will do a lot to help turning things around.
Do you feel like you have this organization headed in the right direction?
I do, but I think it is going to be a process. I know our fans have become somewhat impatient, but I don’t know how else to describe what needs to happen. I would like to say there is quick fix but I think what we need to ensure is that we’ve got not only a team in place but a championship attitude in place. That gives birth to a long run of winning. We want to make sure like so many teams that have won year after year, that it becomes not only habitual but something that we all expect. It takes time to get that kind of attitude in place and I think we have taken the steps to build that here. We want to be able to expect that over the long haul and that is simply not going to happen overnight.
