Scott Linehan & Billy Devaney Press Conference

Scott Linehan & Billy Devaney Press Confere= nce

Ap= ril 24, 2008

(On if there have be= en any trade talks with other teams)

Billy Devaney: Actua= lly, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on today. We’re very indicative of wha= t 31 other teams are doing. This i= s kind of the last ‘work’ day. Friday, the day before the draft, everybody gets away and gathers th= eir thoughts. There’s not a= whole lot happening the day before. That’s what we’re doing right now – finishing the process that started a long time ago. I feel very strongly that it’s been a complete and thorough process. We’re getting = to the critical point. We’re n= ot quite there yet, but we’re close.&nb= sp; I would expect in the next 48 hours that we’ll get to that poi= nt.

(On when the team ac= tually decides on who the pick will be)

BD: I think kind of = the way we left it is ‘get away from it tomorrow.’ Everybody’s just going to be= on there own. I don’t even= know if we’ll come in tomorrow quite frankly. We’ll put all our thoughts together, everything we’ve been talking about, for what seems like forever now and probably talk about it late tomorrow night sometime and see where we’re at.

(On how a consensus = is achieved when choosing the pick)

Scott Linehan: Well, I don’t think anybody’s really any different. I’ve been in, this will be the fourth different setup, but generally the board’s stacked. It’s set. There = are a lot of things that happen. My= first year as a head coach here we traded our pick. We were pretty prepared regardless= of whether we could or couldn’t. We were going to pick a player and then with about four minutes to go when we were on the clock there was a trade made. We’re just ready for those scenarios. I think right now it’s pretty much you just kind of count where you are in the draft and you know what pool you’re probably going to be picking from and we’ve pretty much decided that if nothing were to change we’ve = got a game plan.

(On if the team will= pick based on the draft board in the first round)

BD: That depends. The way it’s shaping up, and we’re not kidding anybody, this process started a long time ago and t= here are thousands of names going back to September and through the course of the year you whittle that down and eliminate people and you meet and you start stacking people into rounds and then start narrowing that down and who fits your needs and hopefully you get to the point that you have a couple of pla= yers that are graded close enough that you can take a specific player that fills= a need. I think we’ve been fortunate, and you know the players involved that we’ve been talking = about, I think that’s definitely the case. They are high rated players, they’re all lumped together, they’re very close, and at the end= of the day or at the end of the night tomorrow night we just have to come to a conclusion which guy fits for us.

(On if the three pla= yers that the media thinks that the Rams are interested in are closely rated)

DB: Absolutely. That’s why we’re still talking about them. If there = was a gap between one guy and the other two then he would have been eliminated already. = That’s why all three are right there clumped together.

(On if the decision = is still based on a consensus opinion)

DB: That’s how we’re going= to arrive at the pick. Absolutely.

SL: You guys know how it has worked he= re and it’s always been a team effort. I think the great thing about how we involve everyone in the whole picture when you start going with the scout as well and the coaches and everybody that has done all this hard work up until now, all the real hard = work has been put in and I think the draft is the fun part for all of us. Obviously that is where you see th= e work executed. I think the fun part about it is the scenarios that can happen and I think the Rams have been as active in being on the phones as anyone.&n= bsp; We’ll listen to anybody about anything. The bad thing is that we end up wi= th really great draft picks this year, but the great thing about it is that we= have great choices and they’re going to be outstanding football players fo= r us for the years to come. I think the momentum of all of our goals for next ye= ar can really get jump started with a great draft and we really feel comfortab= le with obviously not trading this pick at No. 2, and No. 33 and so on.

(On if the team is a= ctively looking for trade offers for the first-round choice)

No. Like we said, it sounds like a bro= ken record, but any of those three guys that we have been zeroing in on we̵= 7;d be thrilled and it would take something really exciting to get us off of th= at. We’re not being active looki= ng to trade out of there. If someth= ing presents itself and we think it makes us a better team and we have good opt= ions to move back then we would think about it, but right now we’re excited about those three guys.

(On if the team is a= llowed to negotiated with potential selections since Miami signed Jake Long as the No. 1 selection)

SL: No, that has been decided. Basically we’r= e on the clock and we’re No. 2 and there are no negotiations or anything at all.

(On if the team is comfortable with the medical status of LSU DT Glenn Dorsey)

BD: We cross-check with other teams. We had Dorsey in about a week ago = and we had him checked one last time. We were at his pro day and we met with three or four trainers and doctors down= in Baton Rouge and th= ey presented all these tests that had been performed by a variety of experts around the country. We’= ve exhausted everything and the guy played every game last year. We’ve completely signed off = that he’s healthy and it’s not a concern.

(On what the team li= kes about Dorsey, Virginia DE Chris Long and Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston)

SL: They’re al= l great players. Honestly, I don̵= 7;t mean to generalize too much, but they’re all very effective at the positions they play and are a handful for the opposing team to block whether it’s Dorsey at tackle or the other guys at end. You can’t go wrong with any = of them.

BD: That’s why we’re still talking about them. There are strengths and weaknesses to each. Character-wise, and this is what makes it great, they are off the ch= art in a positive way, all three of those guys. You can’t go wrong character-wise. As players, a= ll three of them bring different things to the table. We’re trying to figure out j= ust which fits best with what we’re looking for at this point. Like Scott said, we feel like we can’t go wrong. We̵= 7;re going to get a great player and a great guy that is great for our organizat= ion.

(On if the team woul= d have made a decision on a pick already if they had been able to negotiate with potential selections)

BD: No. It kind of makes it academic that = we were told that we couldn’t because we’re not even at that point. We wouldn’t have= been near starting negotiations, because, like I said, we haven’t figured = out which way we’re going yet.

(On where DL Adam Ca= rriker will line up for the majority of plays next season)

SL: His versatility probably creates s= ome confusion for the whole process. Adam is a great football player. For him to from playing college defensive end to playing nose guard last year, and playing very well, says pretty much all that you need to say about Adam. Adam, across the line, can play re= ally good defense for us. I don= 217;t know that nose is his natural position, but he played very well for us and = our run defense really did show great improvement from the year before, because= he really added to what we were missing on the inside. The guy was an all-American defens= ive end so he could play out there and we wouldn’t have any problem with = him playing some end as well. I think you’re going to see him playing across the board. I think tackle is really his best position, but there’s no reason he can’t play anywhere on our l= ine to be honest with you.

(On if Linehan likes= not having to worry about as many scenarios because the team is picking high in= the draft)

SL: It makes it a lot easier. We can count to two a= nd now we’re just counting to one. It gives us a lot of time to discuss the pluses and minuses of the g= uys we’re looking at now. <= o:p>

(On if there are gro= ups of people advocating for different players as the team’s selection)=

BD: No. I think what’s made it really enjoyable is that there are personalities here, but at the end of the day people state and make their evaluation, but they always end it with ‘whatever you guys think is t= he best player that helps us the most I’m comfortable with that.’ That’s not always the case in places that I’ve been. = It does make it difficult and that’s not the case here – be in sco= uts, position coaches, coordinators or what have you. Of course there are going to be differences in the way people see players but since we started this it̵= 7;s always been at the end of the day whatever you think is best just get the b= est player.

(On what happens if = there is a difference opinion among the decision makers)

DB: I’ll give an example. Obviously so much speculation is s= pent on the first round pick, but we’ve been spending a lot of time and ha= ving differences about fourth and fifth round guys also. I got with the scouts yesterday an= d we said there are two guys that we are kind of off on – and we’re talking about maybe fourth round guys.&nbs= p; I said, ‘the coaches see it this way let’s go back and l= ook at these guys again.’ We divided up into groups so it was more objective and we met at the end of the day and quite honestly we said ‘We can see what they’re saying. For these reasons we = can alter it. If it came down to = these two then we should go with the way the coaches had them ranked.’=

(On if those discuss= ions are limited to players that are ranked very close to each other)

BD: Ideally you stic= k to the board. In this case there was= a sizeable gap, but there was a difference of opinion. That’s why for the most part we’ve been in agreement. There haven’t been many of those discussions where we’ve said we better go back and lot at this player because we’re way off on this guy. There have been one= or two guys where there have been a sizeable gap and we’ve had to go back and redo. <= /p>

(On if having Jake L= ong off the board has helped in the decision making process or if there is still confusion)

SL: I wouldn’t= call it confusion. That’s just = how the draft works. I think bein= g at 11 or 15, that’s a problem because you don’t know which guys are going to come up. Wouldn̵= 7;t you love to know that whoever you’re picking is going to be a great <= span class=3DGramE>player. I’m not sure you can say that about mid-round guys. And I’m sure there have been top-round draft picks that haven’t panned out based on expectations.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I think this is kind of an unusual= year, because like Billy said, these guys carry the traits that we’re looki= ng for regardless of the position. Then they bring that intangible factor in there and you say ‘t= his is really what we need.’ To be honest with you, there’s no downside with whoever we pick.

(On if some players = have been removed from the draft board due to character concerns)

BD: It’s more than four. I promi= se.

(On if Arkansas RB D= arren McFadden is also a possible selection at No. 2)

BD: We’ve talked about McFadden = as part of one of the hundreds of scenarios that we’ve laid out if certain things happened. Is he a candidate if we stay at two, if we go back to five or seven and heR= 17;s still there? That’s all= I can tell you. He’s been tal= ked about and he’s still very highly rated on our board.

(On if the later sta= rting time to the draft on Saturday gives the team more time to discuss trade options)

BD: It means you can go for a longer r= un in the morning and not worry about getting back for the draft.

(On if defensive phi= losophy dictates who is selected)

SL: I can answer that really easily. Obviously the tackle fits 4-3 as a three-technique. He’s a= great player there. And the other t= wo guys are defensive ends in our mind. I’m sure they could play in a 3-4, both kids, and I’m su= re Dorsey could be a heck of a nose guard in a 3-4 or a five-technique. You could make that assessment if = you were a 3-4 team. In our case, all three of them fit our defense. That actually probably adds to why they’re all still in the mix.

(On if there is any = interest in trading some of the team’s picks away for future draft picks)=

BD: No, not for futures. We want players now.= They’re right towards the to= p in every round and we expect a good player to be there in the second round. The third-round pick is the start = of the second day now and as a rule after the first day of the draft teams go back= and look at their boards and they start looking and there are some guys on the board where they say ‘this our last chance to get a tackle’ or ‘this is our last chance to get a receiver’ so guys kind of get pushed up. We’ll get a = lot of phone calls for that third-round pick just for that reason.

(On how deep this dr= aft is as far as players picked in the third and fourth rounds that could be start= ers)

SL: Some of those guys could be starte= rs and some of them are a ways away. It just kind of depends on the position.

BD: I’m pointing the finger at personnel people. I hear R= 16;Our first-round pick has to come in and start.= Our second-round pick, we want starters.’ It’s hard to start in this l= eague when you’re a rookie. First-round guys, wherever you’re drafted, this is hard. To say that in the fourth or fifth= round realistically that you’re going to come away with a starter is really stretching it. If you get you= r first-round pick on the field and he’s starting that’s great. If you get your second-round pick = and he’s starting you’re doing pretty good.

(On if the team is l= ooking for a quarterback in this draft and when they may draft one)

SL: Yeah, and maybe it’s just be= cause of my background, but it’s really something that you’d like to do. We’re very comforta= ble with our quarterback situation. Getting a young guy that you could develop is always part of it. It’s really difficult though because there’s less of them than there ar= e of others. Regardless of whether= we drafted one or signed a free agent that could be competing with Brock (Berlin), that would be fine too. I would be fine with either scenario. I’ve always got my eye on some guys personally and we’ve= got some really good quarterback evaluations within our staff and personnel department. We were just talk= ing about maybe we need to go hit the arena league circuit and drum up another = Kurt Warner somewhere. You never k= now.