Day 3 press conference, Fisher & Snead (vid & transcript)

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher, General Manager Les Snead – Post-Draft Press Conference – May 2, 2015

(On if he spoke with RB Zac Stacy before trading him to the New York Jets)

Fisher: “You know, I talked to Zac this morning actually, and we had a really good conversation. Looking back over the years, I don’t know if I remember a player that handled the circumstances that he handled last year, with in essence what we’ll refer to as a demotion, better than Zac from a team standpoint. We talked about that. He’s an outstanding young man. He’s a great teammate. We got on the same page this morning. I told him that we’re going to try to go ahead and make a move, but we don’t know what that looks like – whether that was going to be today, or tomorrow, or training camp or whatever. But we were going to try to do that. He was very appreciative of his opportunity here and everything. When we put it together in the seventh (round), I got in touch with Zac before we actually turned the trade in. He was very excited. We’ll get together before he leaves. He’s been one of my favorites. He’s an outstanding young man.”

(On if they received other calls requesting Stacy in a trade)

Fisher: “We talked to a number of teams. This just happened to be the best fit.”

(On if the trade resulted because Stacy got beat out by Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham)

Fisher: “You know, it was a combination of things. I think last year it was a combination of what we were doing offensively. It was a combination of the change in the quarterback play and everything and then giving Tre an opportunity and then we had the explosive plays and things like that. I mean, you guys saw Zac work on the practice field after Tre took over and he did an outstanding job. He’s going to be fine up there. It’s a good place for him. He’s a competitor and obviously (Jets Director of Player Personnel) Brian (Heimerdinger) has a pretty good feel for him. He was really high on him when we drafted Zac.”

(On if the offensive tweaks were a little different for Stacy last year)

Fisher: “Yeah.”

(On how they feel about the offensive line now that the draft is over)

Fisher: “I feel good, yeah. I feel real good. It’s been a long time coming, particularly because of the needs and what we’ve done together over the last three years. The Todd (Gurley) pick was great and then our focus went to the big guys. For us to be able to say that we came away with the three and then of course our last pick today, it was pretty impressive.”

Snead: “Like Coach said, we sat here on, what was it, Thursday night? And of course, ‘Hey, when are we going to help the OL?’ Looking at it, obviously Todd is, as we’ve said, a once in a while talent so that helps everybody. But just looking at a lot that…we studied OL as hard as any position this year and just with what some of the data says, most starting left tackles, the average round you get those guys, average is second. But obviously, you get that position in the first and we kind of addressed that last year. But you take the guard spot, the center spot and the right tackle spot and the average round of all starters in the league is about 3.6. So we felt like in rounds two, three, four we could address the OL and get some guys that have a chance to come in and help us.”

(On OL Andrew Donnal and Cody Wichmann)

Fisher: “They do a great job up there…(Iowa Head) Coach (Kirk) Ferentz and his son (Offensive Line Coach Brian Ferentz) do a great job coaching that offensive line. So, he’s very well coached. There’s flexibility there. I think he was perhaps a little bit overlooked because of their left tackle, but we saw some really good things and felt like we would have a chance for him. He’s got as we talk about the ‘flex’ – the guard, the tackle flex – but he’s very well coached. Then Cody’s just one of those guys who’s just a self-made guy that just plays hard all the time. He’s very athletic. We’ve got four guys that we feel like can play.”

(On if the team is increasing its odds of players working out by stockpiling so many bodies at the offensive line spot)

Fisher: “We didn’t throw darts, now. We think these guys can play. So, we’ll have a much better idea once we get them in and get going, but we feel like they can all come in and contribute.”

(On having a suite visit with Donnal at the combine and if they’ve had their eye on him since then)

Snead: “At the combine you get about 60 interviews max. I don’t know if we maxed them out. Most of the time we do, but when you do 60 it gets old sometimes. Sometimes we go 50 to 60. This year at the combine we did a lot of the offensive lineman there and if they passed the test there, because obviously like Rob (Havenstein) and (Andrew) Donnal, they didn’t come in to the Top 30. But, through vetting them in the interviews at the combine, passed, got the thumbs up and so we didn’t have to bring them in.”

(On if they first noticed Donnal watching Brandon Scherff or on his own right)

Snead: “Obviously when the scouts go in, you’re going to evaluate the draft-eligible players. So he was going to get evaluated one way or the other. But last year he played guard. This year they moved him out to right tackle. Did some left tackle a couple times when Scherff went out, he got banged a couple times, so versatile. So you just knew his versatility and then through the combine process tested relatively well for a tall, big man.”

(On how they kept Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams at bay during the draft after drafting seven consecutive players on offense)

Fisher: “I told him, it might’ve been yesterday, ‘See what happens when you have back-to-back shutouts.’”

(On was it tough to keep passing on defensive players)

Fisher: “It was not hard at all, no.”

Snead: “Maybe late in the draft. There was one time where he said, ‘Let’s just look at this side of the board.’’’

Fisher: “No, we’re fine. Every team’s different. Every situation’s different. The drafts are different. But we clearly entered this draft collectively feeling that we were going to come away with some solid offensive lineman. Todd (Gurley) obviously is quite the bonus, so we feel good about it.”

(On how many potential starters for the offensive line he felt he had to get out of this draft)

Fisher: “I don’t look at it…I don’t want to say they’re options, but they’re real players. These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted, it’s solid. They’re durable. They’re smart. They’re well coached and they’re going to fit in.”

(On drafting WR Bud Sasser)

Snead: “You noticed Sasser this year, obviously they had a lot of wide receivers there in the last few years and then a couple of them that graduated. Two of them had shots at camps. We all know the story on (former Mizzou WR) Dorial (Green-Beckham), so this year with Mauks, the quarterback that they have you, just notice, hey him throwing the ball up and that guy going to get it and high pointing it. He was a big part of their offense. I think the stats show that he probably more than tripled his numbers this year. But long story short, we like the size and if you want to call it the arm length and just catch radius. Strong hands.”

(On if he knew LB Bryce Hager’s father Britt)

Fisher: “Yes, it’s a great story. Yes, I know him very well. Actually, he was a draft pick of ours in 1989 when I was coordinating in Philadelphia. It made me feel old today. (laughs)”

(On if Britt Hager played for Fisher and what kind of player was he)

Fisher: “Yes. He was an outstanding player. The story is this: I was asked by the head coach at the time to evaluate this one linebacker from Texas. His name was Britt Hager. So I watched four or five games, went down the hall and reported my opinion and the head coach told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. So I said, ‘Fine,’ and then two days later in the draft, the head coach, that being Buddy Ryan, he traded away (rounds) 7-12 in 1989 to get a three to draft Britt Hager.”

(On Coach Ryan telling him he didn’t know anything)

Fisher: “That was how Buddy operated. (Laughs) I think I was just some reassurance that he wanted Britt. Yeah, do the research. We drafted Britt. He traded away our whole draft.”

Snead: “He’s a grand coach. (Laughs)”

Fisher: “His dad was a good football player. He played really hard.”

(On if he sees any similarities between Britt and Bryce Hager)

Fisher: “Oh yeah, sideline-to-sideline. That’s how his dad was, sideline-to-sideline. Texas, University of Texas, Odessa-Permian. He ran and played special teams and was a great teammate. That’s the same thing you see out of Bryce. Bryce was really productive. They speak very highly of him there at Baylor and he should have an impact from a special teams standpoint. Beyond that we’ll see how it goes. He’s well coached and a very talented young man.”

(On if Hager ran a 4.5 at his junior day)

Snead: “He did, that’s confirmed by the combine on his junior. He came back and probably ran a…I think he probably ran a 4.6 at the combine this year. Probably in the 4.5s at his pro day. He has always timed well and he plays fast, plays urgent. Instinctive kid.”

(On drafting DE Martin Ifedi)

Fisher: “He was on the board there for a while and (Defensive Line Coach) Coach (Mike) Waufle very high on him. His staff was high on him, the scouts liked him. I don’t know if he was 100 percent this year, but the production was still there. We feel like there’s a big upside there with Martin.”

Snead: “The year before, I forget which year it was, he was probably the nation’s sack leader.”

(On if Ifedi had a knee injury early on)

Snead: “Good point. Don’t want to confirm that right now, but he played this year. I want to go back to when he was leading the nation in sacks, I want to say it was probably ‘12 or ‘13, ‘14. But he’s been a guy that in a defense has played defensive end, five-technique, rushes from the inside. So a guy they played all over the field depending on the defense there at Memphis.”

(On if he is Memphis’ leading sack leader and if they play a good schedule)

Snead: “Yes.”

(On if the lineman drafted Saturday match the Rams style of offense)

Fisher: “They do, yeah they do as well. (OL) Andrew (Donnal) – all of them finish and that’s the thing that we really like. They’re down field, they’re pushing people over piles. They’re aggressive and they’re finishing. As Les said about (OL) Cody (Wichmann) if you’re somewhere in the vicinity, he’s going to hit you. There’s some contact involved and that’s kind of the mindset that obviously we need to carry forward, but it’s also not something that we have to teach. It’s something that, that’s the way they play right now.”

(On if they remain open to re-signing OL Joe Barksdale)

Fisher: “Still a possibility, yes.”

(On the process of working the undrafted free agent process and if their approach is different because of the number of players on the roster)

Fisher: “That’s a really good segue into us going upstairs.”

Snead: “Really it affects the numbers, how many players you need. So obviously we need less when there’s more under contract presently. Post-draft, instead of signing 30, you may only need 15, so that’s really all it does. Then from there it’s hey, the draft is, ‘Hey, are there good free agents or are there not.’ And this draft is probably a little less deep than last year. Last year, you get a Marcus Roberson in free agency, I don’t know if we’re getting a Marcus Roberson this year in free agency.”

Fisher: “Or a Rodney McLeod.”

(On how they approach the situation involving LSU OL La’el Collins)

Fisher: “I think across the board I think everybody had interest in him because he was a good college football player, but I think now we just have to let things unfold and see what happens. It’s very, very unfortunate, whether he was involved or not in the incident. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that happened that’s very, very unfortunate.”

(On if they made a conscious decision as an organization not to draft Collins)

Fisher: “That’s correct and I think most people did it. Extraordinary circumstances. They’re very, very difficult and we just have to wait now for the legal process to work itself out.”