Fisher, Snead … transcript, 4/30

Jeff Fisher & Les Snead Post-Draft Press Conference– April 30, 2016

(Opening Statement)

FISHER: “Well, here we are. Really, it seems like this thing has been going on for weeks now, but we feel like we had a very productive day today. Really excited about the way things went. Obviously, as you look, offense was the priority for us. Really excited to have the tight ends be in the situation where they were, where we could help to add depth to that position. Of course the two receivers are going to help that depth as well. Just really excited about how things went off. We go through this every year, where you got a guy up there and then all of the sudden he’s gone and then you have to maneuver and all of that. But, did a great job picking up the extra pick, so we got an extra play with that.”

(On if the plan today was to get QB Jared Goff more weapons)

SNEAD: “I think for the most part, but there were defenders on the board that you could have picked from but maybe they went before you wanted to pick them and things like that. So, there were some defenders definitely on the board, but we did know that it would be nice to help the offense. Like you said, the tight end position and the wide receiver position to add some weapons. And blockers – right – tight ends don’t just catch the ball.”

(On if there were any particular traits that they were looking for in wide receivers and tight ends)

FISHER: “Yes. We’ll just address the tight end position. We have three on the roster right now. (TE) Lance (Kendricks) is an extraordinary player for us. (TE) Cory (Harkey) does the same thing, he does a lot of things for us. (TE) Justice Cunningham is somewhat flexible. We’re looking for the future, on-the-line blocking tight end that can still get down the field and stretch defenses. These are the qualities that both of the tight ends have. They can get down the field. They can catch, they’re big, they can run. We’ve seen it – they’ve worked out well. Their workout traits, comparatively speaking, are very, very good.”

(On if they consider it a ‘win’ that they are bringing in skill players on offense to grow along with their rookie quarterback)

SNEAD: “Jeff and I talked about that after we did Hemingway because both…(TE Tyler) Higbee had fallen and (TE Temarrick) Hemingway was a guy we targeted and we got both of them. We were saying how nice it is when you do draft in clumps. We did it last year with OL; they can grow together. All of the sudden – a thin position…we came into this draft very thin at tight end, in terms of depth, and we come out of it where we feel good about it. Same when, we call it third day of the draft, even with the wide receivers – they both have a specific role or skill set. (WR) Pharoh (Cooper) in the slot, kind of a weapon role. (WR) Michael (Thomas) as an outside guy, who’s caught a lot of contested balls in his career. Those two guys kind of fit a role.”

(On what they like about Higbee and what reassurances did they get regarding his legal situation)

FISHER: “We did our research, obviously, as everybody does. We’re really no different. I spoke with him this morning on the phone. Les and (Chief Operation Officer/Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Kevin (Demoff) talked to his agent. We talked to a bunch of people. We got a great deal of information from (Director of Security) Steve Miller from a resource standpoint. It’s an on-going issue, but we’re convinced that it’s going to be resolved. As far as going into specifics, we really can’t because it’s a legal issue. But, he wouldn’t be a Ram had we had some concerns that it was going to be a problem down the line.”

(On if the allegations of Higbee’s case caused additional concerns in the draft process)

FISHER: “As I said, I can’t really comment on that until all the legal issues are all resolved, as far as specifics are concerned.”

SNEAD: “If I follow up, I’d say that when you go from college to become a professional there is behavior to clean up, and we expect that to happen. But, in this case, the research that we did, we did feel like he was a guy worth investing in for the long term. It’s a mistake; wish he had a do-over again.”

(On what qualities Fisher and Snead liked about each draft pick)

FISHER: “’Have you guys heard enough about our quarterback?’ (laughs) Tyler (Higbee) missed some games due to injury over the last couple years, but we watched him play and he just has that sense of urgency and that competitive drive. He’s a very physical player, dominant at times, at that level. We felt like he was going to create some match-up problems down the line. We’ve been watching ‘Coop’ (WR Pharoh Cooper) seems like for a couple years now, and he is their favorite player, their best player. They figure out a way to give him the ball. The statistics are obvious. You watch him and he is throwing the ball, his return skills, his run after catch, his ability to get open. He is a strong player. We felt like he would give us an addition target inside to uncover and do those kinds of things.”

SNEAD: “What is interesting about Hemingway, a guy that you like, is his tenacity on the line of scrimmage to block. Coming from a small school, but was light. Interesting digging into his background, how he has put on weight. There wasn’t a lot of nutrition early, so he has gained some weight and he’s got a skill set. He went to the combine and ran well, and did those types of things. He can block and also be a threat catching the ball and a match-up issue for the guys defending him. (LB) Josh Forrest, if we go there, he was basketball, wide receiver in high school. Kentucky signs him as an athlete. He probably starts as a safety, ends up at linebacker. He plays fast, didn’t run as fast at the combine, but has this tenacity to him. He will go up and hit you, for a former basketball player. Still a little while that we have to get to be a linebacker. (WR) Michael (Thomas) is a guy who played at Southern Miss, and played on the outside there. He ran a lot of routes for them and caught a lot of balls. What you notice about him is being able to catch the ball when there was a defender near him, and pluck the ball out of the air when somebody was covering him or draped on his back, per se.”

(On if the Rams’ 2016 draft class was selected to counter the personnel on teams in their division)

FISHER: “Well, it’s all in an effort to expand our offense. We started with the quarterback trade. Statistically, we weren’t anywhere close to where we should have been the last couple years. Last year, we built it from inside-out and we drafted six offensive linemen, so these guys are going to be together for a long time. We just need to get some additional players outside – that would include the tight ends to win, in the unlikely event that we are not running the football, we can get the ball outside. You get what I’m saying, it was important to us to build, and to build with youth so these guys can grow together. As far as competing in the division, we’ve shown we can do that. We think that we have created some match-up problems for the future.”

(On if they are expecting to have a big undrafted free agent class since they only had six draft picks)

FISHER: “I’ll just say, when we walked in, there were 30 picks left, so there are probably 20 picks left in the seventh round. We’re going to go back in there, and then the fun starts.”

SNEAD: “I wish you would have asked that yesterday when there were a lot of cameras here. Maybe we could have recruited a little bit. It’s an important process, obviously a larger subset of players come into the league through college free agency, but if you look at data, if a college free agent gets on the field and actually plays, let’s call it one percent of the offensive or defensive snaps. That player is going to go on and play just as much as any fourth rounder. So it’s important when you do find one to two to three to four a year that can get on the field, and if they do get on the field, they usually go in to play just as much or more than like the fourth rounders, fifth rounders, sixth rounders. Even though it’s less sexy, it’s still an important part of the process. We’re itching to get back in there to start it and complete it.”

(On the plan for rookie orientation and if it will be the same as in the past)

FISHER: “It’s very, very similar. Some teams are going to take them on the field, get them to full speed twice a day on Friday and Saturday, and we choose not to do that. We call it an orientation. We’re going to bring them in and just introduce the National Football League to them. Just bring them along slowly over the period of a couple days, that includes walk-thrus and meetings. We’re going to find out where they are physically, from a conditioning standpoint, and then we’re going to get them caught up with our vets that have been working for a few weeks now.”

(On any updates with QB Nick Foles and the fact that there are four quarterbacks now)

FISHER: “No, nothing to add. There’s speculation, but nothing to add.”

(On how many undrafted free agent spots they have)

FISHER: “We’re right at about 20. Somewhere between 18 to 20, I think, right now.”

(On if there were any positions that they wanted to shore up, but weren’t able to)

FISHER: “Well, we were looking at depth at some positions. You know depth in the secondary, options in the secondary, so that will be a major focus of ours with the college free agents.”