Rams Head Coach Scott Linehan and Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Billy Devaney
Press Conference
April 27, 2008
(On third-round draft pick OT John Greco)
Billy Devaney: “With the second pick in the third round we took a tackle from Toledo, John Greco. The thinking behind this pick was this guy was a four-year starter at Toledo. He played his freshman year at right tackle and when Nick Kaczur graduated, and went on to play for the Patriots, Greco moved over to left tackle and played the rest of his career at Toledo at right tackle. We view him as coming in right away to add depth on the offensive line. We’re going to line him up at right tackle, knowing that he gives us versatility. He can play guard, he can play both sides of the ball. He is extremely smart, extremely tough. When we had our draft meetings, we kind of put together a profile we were looking at, regardless of positions. We kept stressing to our evaluators that we want smart, passionate and productive players and this guy hits on all three. He is extremely smart, he is a great competitor and he has been very productive.”
(On how Greco will fit into the team)
BD: “We spent time with him at Indianapolis and you can tell this guy is all business. He is the kind of mentality that you are looking for on the offensive line. I think he will be a great fit for our guys. He is going to be receptive of learning from our veterans and I think he gives us a lot of versatility. When the injuries hit, especially the first-year guys, these kinds of guys are valuable that can play multiple positions”
(On what position Greco would play)
BD: “We are going to line him up probably on the right side. He has played both left and right but he is better suited for the right side. Knowing that, if need be, he can slide inside and play guard also. We also think down the road, this wouldn’t be right away, but we think he would be a heck of a center at some point in his career also.”
(On similarities between Greco and Nick Kaczur)
BD: “The traits are the same; smart, the toughness, the production. I would tell you that Kaczur could play on the left side and probably more of a natural left guy than John would be. But their traits are certainly the same.”
(On Greco’s size and ability)
Scott Linehan: “Well everybody gets caught up in these dimensions. You like your left tackle to have pretty long arm length and things like that if you were probably going to knock the guy, which immediately, that’s what people do. He has got the size and bulk and 49 starts at tackle and by size, he is probably their best lineman so he is pretty important in their offense. For us, he can play any position because he has done it. He played his whole college career at tackle and the whole idea is that because of his versatility we just feel him having the ability to start at right tackle, left tackle in a pinch, but certainly can be moved into guard. The center thing just comes up because of his intelligence and his ability to play the game and that’s really more where that is. Being that he played tackle his whole career, that has got to be the comfort level for him and for us it is a great pick because we needed some depth across there. I just want to touch on some of the things Billy talked about. This guy’s make-up is what you are looking for in a football player. We stayed with the philosophy of these guys coming out that were smart, compassionate and productive and this guy was A-plus across the board on all of that. It’s just adding that football character to this football team. This is really exciting for me. I just couldn’t be more happy with this guy’s make-up as well.”
(On still being available in the third round)
SL: “I don’t know what knocks him to the third. He was there in the third round today. I don’t know what it would be but we had him really up there on our board obviously. I went home last night hoping he was going to be there because we had one team ahead of us.”
(On Greco’s competition to start)
SL: “Well he is going to compete right away. We are just being realistic here. He is adding depth across the board on our line. I think the realistic part is he is going to be competing right away, whether it’s this year or part way through the year, I don’t know. It’s probably too early to say but he definitely has the make-up to compete sooner than later that’s for sure.”
(On the amount of tackles drafted)
SL: “There are a couple more but when you get past that I think you are going to see a little bit of a dry spell. Our goal going into it was we wanted to address the offensive line at some point. We really feel good about the progress some of the guys that were hurt last year are making. Signing Jacob (Bell) in the off-season and free agency and getting into the draft, we knew if there was a way in the first two or three rounds that we could address our offensive line and continue to bolster our O-line, that was something we were wanting to come away with and we are really, really happy with this pick.”
(On meeting with Greco before the draft)
SL: “Well we had him at the Combine and our visit with him actually out in the hallway at the Combine for quite a bit of time as he was waiting for our meeting, he came in on the pre-draft visit. It is nice to put that kind of time in with the players and get to know them as people because that is a big part of this process. When you meet him, you are going to know this is an offensive lineman and it’s important to him and he loves football. It’s just going to be a great addition to the group. I think he adds a lot of what we are looking for to this football team.”
(On Greco’s assets at tackle)
SL: “I’d say it is really one of his strongest assets. He is a physical player, he is strong, I think he is one of the strongest players at the Combine if I remember right, on the bench and all of that stuff. He has got a really strong lower body and he played out at tackle, the last couple of years at left tackle, but I think that is probably one the best things he does. That other thing with this right tackle, you want to have a physical guy there.”
(On Greco’s playing style)
SL: “It’s really a spread offense. He actually plays out of the two-point stance a lot which isn’t unusual anymore, it’s like quarterbacks and the shotgun. They run that, it’s kind of wide open but they run the ball and have a very good system, as a lot of these college programs do. You get to evaluate all of that. He is that kind of guy.”
(On picking Greco)
SL: “Yeah he was in the top tier of guys. To me, I think you are going to see a little bit of a dry spell. I don’t know what that means I just see how everybody sees it different. That’s how we saw it. We are getting down to where we needed to address this if we could and this was the guy. We were just hoping he wouldn’t go a pick ahead of us. It was unanimous. That’s just how it was, the way it was set up.”
(On if the team received phone calls about trading the third-round choice)
BD: “Yeah we did. But for the pick that you get in return to drop down 10, 15 spots, we didn’t think it was worth it. When we left the building last night, we restacked the board and it was a slam dunk we were going to take Greco. We were just hoping the pick before, whoever it was going to be, wouldn’t take him. There wasn’t any discussion. We came in this morning expecting phone calls and unless it was something really silly we don’t want to lose Greco. We got a few calls but it wasn’t anything of substance enough to make us want to risk losing this guy.”
(On the reaction of so many tackles being drafted)
DL: “We kind of thought that this was the year. That’s just the way it fell and that was the personality of this draft. No wide receivers but strong on tackles so it wasn’t shocking. We were determined to get a lineman and there was a group of guys that we had stacked and we thought about in the third round, with Greco at the top. It Greco would have gone first at the top of the third, we were still going to take a lineman. We felt that strongly about coming out with a tackle in this draft so it worked out good for us.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach Scott Linehan and Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Billy Devaney
Press Conference No. 2
April 27, 2008
(On fourth-round choice Justin King)
Billy Devaney: We selected Justin King, a corner from Penn State. Keeping with the theme that we set early in this process, he is a smart character guy. He is passionate and productive. This guy is a guy that meets all those requirements. Justin has good size and is a big time speed guy in the 4.37s. He’s got man cover skills. He is a smart guy. He graduated from Penn State this past December with about a 3.0 GPA. He has been a Dean’s List guy and a good character guy. We thought, especially in this point of the draft, to get a good sized corner, who can run and with that kind of smarts and character, obviously we feel really good about it.
(On King being raw)
BD: He was a wide receiver his freshman year and he went back and forth between DB and wide out. So, I wouldn’t say that he is raw, he has started every game his last two years at corner, but his background is on offense. So that’s the only thing we could think of and obviously we don’t view that as a negative because the way we look at it, he will only get better, the more he plays at corner.
(On how he compares to Jonathan Wade)
Scott Linehan: I think he made the move a little sooner than Jonathan (Wade). He has been playing corner since the end of his freshman year. He played a little bit his first year, but the last few years he has pretty much primarily been a corner. He has great speed and has got the size requirements you need for the position. The great thing about this guy is that he is making those steps that you want to see him make as far as improvement from his position in college. He is an early up player that’s all part of it, that probably it more than anything. The guy already graduated from the Dean’s List which shows you that he has got a lot on the ball as far as that goes. He is a very very top notch guy with talent. I think the biggest thing is that we are adding speed to our football team at the skill positions and really it is going to be vital to our ability to win. We’ve drafted two skill guys that can flat fly now.
(On King’s return ability because of his speed)
SL: He has done some returning. I think that he has a chance, but he has done some. It’s not going to be his primary position but he will definitely get a chance there, just like I think Donnie (Avery) will get some shots in there returning too, maybe kickoff returning.
(On King’s ability to play inside)
BD: He has been on the outside, but there is no reason he couldn’t. He is a tough guy and is smart and that is part of the requirements playing inside, so there is no reason, that if we lined him up in there, that he shouldn’t be able to play inside.
(On his physicality and his tackling ability)
SL: That is a big part of what we do. We use our corners in the run support part of things and he is a very willing tackler. He played at Penn State, so the first day of practice he was probably going through the West Point drill. He understands what’s required of corners. He is a sure tackler and he gets guys on the ground. The other thing is that I think last year he had 15 pass deflections which is a high number, which is good. He is a sticky coverage guy and is around the ball and that is a big part of his evaluation was that he had nice coverage skills.
(On how King’s speed ranked compared to other corners)
SL: He was one of the top speed guys at the position. I think he ran in the mid 4.3s in the combine. He’s got some.
(On King’s off-the-field character)
SL: These guys are all the top character grade you can get. All of them. Stay with that theme and I think we can win with that.
BD: We have been emphatic about that. When we started this process, we’ve had sort of a zero tolerance policy if you will, regardless of the level of ability. High-round guys, late-round guys, free agents, we aren’t compromising on that.
(On the King playing in the Big Ten)
SL: It always helps. The level of competition, fairly or unfairly, is always a big part of it. This guy has been playing in one of the best conferences in football and is playing at a high level. We just really think a lot of him.
(On the rest of the draft, addressing needs or best player available)
BD: It is a little bit of both. You want to stick to your board as much as possible now because it starts really falling apart and if you have a guy graded at a certain position even if it’s not a primary need position right now, the gap now becomes so big that you can really violate the process if you start drafting just need specific. We’re going to stick to the board as much as possible hoping that there’s options there of course, but we will stick to the board as much as we can.
(On why they chose a corner)
SL: I just think corners are a position that you really need to put yourself in good position with. You got to have four. You really have to feel good about having four corners going into each game, if there is such a thing. Sometimes you have to go with three but you’d like to start the year with five if you could. Corners are a commodity. We have a division that is challenging match up wise. You get guys that can that have good coverage skills and can do all the other things and can play, then that definitely helps us.
(On King being ready right away)
SL: I think that it is going to be a while. We will see. I always go back to other players. I thought Jonathan (Wade) started off very well last year and then took some development and came on to play better at the end of the year and really contributed on special teams. You don’t really set a time table for these young, skilled athletes. I think you’ve got to have a little bit of patience. It is unrealistic to think that he is going to do anything right away. I promise you that he will be starting off on core special teams and learning the position and when he is ready, we’ll put him out there. We have a little bit of depth there on the roster so we can be a little smart and patient with the guy. I think that is a luxury we have right now.
(On cornerback competition)
SL: There is going to be great competition. That’s the one comment I made upstairs. This is a great pick and we’ve got some great competition at corner. That’s never a bad thing, seeing your abilities when the competition heats up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rams CB Justin King
Conference Call
April 27, 2008
(On how it feels to be a Ram)
“I’m ecstatic. I’m very excited to get a new beginning and hopefully to contribute to the Rams organization.”
(On his disappointment in not being drafted until the fourth round)
“I’m a little disappointed, but I feel blessed that the Rams took a chance on me and I’m going to make them happy for their pick.”
(On what he brings to the table as a cornerback)
“I’m a competitor. I’m strong. I’m mentally tough and physically strong. I’m athletic and I feel like in no time I’ll reach the potential that I need to be at.”
(On if he had a draft party yesterday)
“No we were just at the house. We had close family and friends over, but no party.”
(On how fast he is)
“Pretty fast. I run 4.3s on a consistent basis and probably a 4.2 if I hit it well.”
(On his ball skills)
“I get to the ball. I have the technique in order to get close and work and make things happen like interceptions and things like that.”
(On if he has returned kicks and punts)
“I did my freshman year.”
(On if he would be willing to try returning kicks and punts with the Rams)
“Of course I would. It is something I have been looking forward to. I am good with the ball in my hands and I feel like I could do it. It is just a matter of opportunity.”
(On what made him come out a year early)
“I felt like there were a few things that I needed to get better at to be a good cornerback and I felt the best way to get that was to make the jump to the next level.”
(On what he got his degree in from Penn State University)
“I have my degree in Arts and Sciences. It is a division of the liberal arts college at Penn State.”
(On where he is from)
“I am from Pittsburgh.”
(On what specifically he wanted to improve on at cornerback)
“Technique, backpedaling and coming out of the break. I just want to continue to get better at what I do.”
(On if having his degree in hand made the decision to leave easier)
“It is always a tough decision. I love my family and Penn State. There were a few ways I felt I needed to continue to grow as a person and I look forward to playing. That’s what really pushed my decision.”
(On if he knew that the Rams had any interest in drafting him)
“No, I didn’t know. I talked to their defensive backs coach the first day of the Combine, but other than that I haven’t in too much contact with them.”
(On if he has ever been to St. Louis)
“No, I have never been there. I know they have the Arch. I look forward to seeing it.”
(On what he does when he is not playing football)
“I love going to the movies. It is a big thing for me. Sometimes I like to get away and just watch a good movie.”
(On what was the last movie he had seen)
“I just watched a movie yesterday called ‘Street Kings.’”
(On if it was good)
“Yes, it was good.”
(On what his favorite movie is)
“My favorite movie is probably Gladiator.”
(On who his agent is)
“Eric Metz.”
Press Conference
April 27, 2008
(On third-round draft pick OT John Greco)
Billy Devaney: “With the second pick in the third round we took a tackle from Toledo, John Greco. The thinking behind this pick was this guy was a four-year starter at Toledo. He played his freshman year at right tackle and when Nick Kaczur graduated, and went on to play for the Patriots, Greco moved over to left tackle and played the rest of his career at Toledo at right tackle. We view him as coming in right away to add depth on the offensive line. We’re going to line him up at right tackle, knowing that he gives us versatility. He can play guard, he can play both sides of the ball. He is extremely smart, extremely tough. When we had our draft meetings, we kind of put together a profile we were looking at, regardless of positions. We kept stressing to our evaluators that we want smart, passionate and productive players and this guy hits on all three. He is extremely smart, he is a great competitor and he has been very productive.”
(On how Greco will fit into the team)
BD: “We spent time with him at Indianapolis and you can tell this guy is all business. He is the kind of mentality that you are looking for on the offensive line. I think he will be a great fit for our guys. He is going to be receptive of learning from our veterans and I think he gives us a lot of versatility. When the injuries hit, especially the first-year guys, these kinds of guys are valuable that can play multiple positions”
(On what position Greco would play)
BD: “We are going to line him up probably on the right side. He has played both left and right but he is better suited for the right side. Knowing that, if need be, he can slide inside and play guard also. We also think down the road, this wouldn’t be right away, but we think he would be a heck of a center at some point in his career also.”
(On similarities between Greco and Nick Kaczur)
BD: “The traits are the same; smart, the toughness, the production. I would tell you that Kaczur could play on the left side and probably more of a natural left guy than John would be. But their traits are certainly the same.”
(On Greco’s size and ability)
Scott Linehan: “Well everybody gets caught up in these dimensions. You like your left tackle to have pretty long arm length and things like that if you were probably going to knock the guy, which immediately, that’s what people do. He has got the size and bulk and 49 starts at tackle and by size, he is probably their best lineman so he is pretty important in their offense. For us, he can play any position because he has done it. He played his whole college career at tackle and the whole idea is that because of his versatility we just feel him having the ability to start at right tackle, left tackle in a pinch, but certainly can be moved into guard. The center thing just comes up because of his intelligence and his ability to play the game and that’s really more where that is. Being that he played tackle his whole career, that has got to be the comfort level for him and for us it is a great pick because we needed some depth across there. I just want to touch on some of the things Billy talked about. This guy’s make-up is what you are looking for in a football player. We stayed with the philosophy of these guys coming out that were smart, compassionate and productive and this guy was A-plus across the board on all of that. It’s just adding that football character to this football team. This is really exciting for me. I just couldn’t be more happy with this guy’s make-up as well.”
(On still being available in the third round)
SL: “I don’t know what knocks him to the third. He was there in the third round today. I don’t know what it would be but we had him really up there on our board obviously. I went home last night hoping he was going to be there because we had one team ahead of us.”
(On Greco’s competition to start)
SL: “Well he is going to compete right away. We are just being realistic here. He is adding depth across the board on our line. I think the realistic part is he is going to be competing right away, whether it’s this year or part way through the year, I don’t know. It’s probably too early to say but he definitely has the make-up to compete sooner than later that’s for sure.”
(On the amount of tackles drafted)
SL: “There are a couple more but when you get past that I think you are going to see a little bit of a dry spell. Our goal going into it was we wanted to address the offensive line at some point. We really feel good about the progress some of the guys that were hurt last year are making. Signing Jacob (Bell) in the off-season and free agency and getting into the draft, we knew if there was a way in the first two or three rounds that we could address our offensive line and continue to bolster our O-line, that was something we were wanting to come away with and we are really, really happy with this pick.”
(On meeting with Greco before the draft)
SL: “Well we had him at the Combine and our visit with him actually out in the hallway at the Combine for quite a bit of time as he was waiting for our meeting, he came in on the pre-draft visit. It is nice to put that kind of time in with the players and get to know them as people because that is a big part of this process. When you meet him, you are going to know this is an offensive lineman and it’s important to him and he loves football. It’s just going to be a great addition to the group. I think he adds a lot of what we are looking for to this football team.”
(On Greco’s assets at tackle)
SL: “I’d say it is really one of his strongest assets. He is a physical player, he is strong, I think he is one of the strongest players at the Combine if I remember right, on the bench and all of that stuff. He has got a really strong lower body and he played out at tackle, the last couple of years at left tackle, but I think that is probably one the best things he does. That other thing with this right tackle, you want to have a physical guy there.”
(On Greco’s playing style)
SL: “It’s really a spread offense. He actually plays out of the two-point stance a lot which isn’t unusual anymore, it’s like quarterbacks and the shotgun. They run that, it’s kind of wide open but they run the ball and have a very good system, as a lot of these college programs do. You get to evaluate all of that. He is that kind of guy.”
(On picking Greco)
SL: “Yeah he was in the top tier of guys. To me, I think you are going to see a little bit of a dry spell. I don’t know what that means I just see how everybody sees it different. That’s how we saw it. We are getting down to where we needed to address this if we could and this was the guy. We were just hoping he wouldn’t go a pick ahead of us. It was unanimous. That’s just how it was, the way it was set up.”
(On if the team received phone calls about trading the third-round choice)
BD: “Yeah we did. But for the pick that you get in return to drop down 10, 15 spots, we didn’t think it was worth it. When we left the building last night, we restacked the board and it was a slam dunk we were going to take Greco. We were just hoping the pick before, whoever it was going to be, wouldn’t take him. There wasn’t any discussion. We came in this morning expecting phone calls and unless it was something really silly we don’t want to lose Greco. We got a few calls but it wasn’t anything of substance enough to make us want to risk losing this guy.”
(On the reaction of so many tackles being drafted)
DL: “We kind of thought that this was the year. That’s just the way it fell and that was the personality of this draft. No wide receivers but strong on tackles so it wasn’t shocking. We were determined to get a lineman and there was a group of guys that we had stacked and we thought about in the third round, with Greco at the top. It Greco would have gone first at the top of the third, we were still going to take a lineman. We felt that strongly about coming out with a tackle in this draft so it worked out good for us.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head Coach Scott Linehan and Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Billy Devaney
Press Conference No. 2
April 27, 2008
(On fourth-round choice Justin King)
Billy Devaney: We selected Justin King, a corner from Penn State. Keeping with the theme that we set early in this process, he is a smart character guy. He is passionate and productive. This guy is a guy that meets all those requirements. Justin has good size and is a big time speed guy in the 4.37s. He’s got man cover skills. He is a smart guy. He graduated from Penn State this past December with about a 3.0 GPA. He has been a Dean’s List guy and a good character guy. We thought, especially in this point of the draft, to get a good sized corner, who can run and with that kind of smarts and character, obviously we feel really good about it.
(On King being raw)
BD: He was a wide receiver his freshman year and he went back and forth between DB and wide out. So, I wouldn’t say that he is raw, he has started every game his last two years at corner, but his background is on offense. So that’s the only thing we could think of and obviously we don’t view that as a negative because the way we look at it, he will only get better, the more he plays at corner.
(On how he compares to Jonathan Wade)
Scott Linehan: I think he made the move a little sooner than Jonathan (Wade). He has been playing corner since the end of his freshman year. He played a little bit his first year, but the last few years he has pretty much primarily been a corner. He has great speed and has got the size requirements you need for the position. The great thing about this guy is that he is making those steps that you want to see him make as far as improvement from his position in college. He is an early up player that’s all part of it, that probably it more than anything. The guy already graduated from the Dean’s List which shows you that he has got a lot on the ball as far as that goes. He is a very very top notch guy with talent. I think the biggest thing is that we are adding speed to our football team at the skill positions and really it is going to be vital to our ability to win. We’ve drafted two skill guys that can flat fly now.
(On King’s return ability because of his speed)
SL: He has done some returning. I think that he has a chance, but he has done some. It’s not going to be his primary position but he will definitely get a chance there, just like I think Donnie (Avery) will get some shots in there returning too, maybe kickoff returning.
(On King’s ability to play inside)
BD: He has been on the outside, but there is no reason he couldn’t. He is a tough guy and is smart and that is part of the requirements playing inside, so there is no reason, that if we lined him up in there, that he shouldn’t be able to play inside.
(On his physicality and his tackling ability)
SL: That is a big part of what we do. We use our corners in the run support part of things and he is a very willing tackler. He played at Penn State, so the first day of practice he was probably going through the West Point drill. He understands what’s required of corners. He is a sure tackler and he gets guys on the ground. The other thing is that I think last year he had 15 pass deflections which is a high number, which is good. He is a sticky coverage guy and is around the ball and that is a big part of his evaluation was that he had nice coverage skills.
(On how King’s speed ranked compared to other corners)
SL: He was one of the top speed guys at the position. I think he ran in the mid 4.3s in the combine. He’s got some.
(On King’s off-the-field character)
SL: These guys are all the top character grade you can get. All of them. Stay with that theme and I think we can win with that.
BD: We have been emphatic about that. When we started this process, we’ve had sort of a zero tolerance policy if you will, regardless of the level of ability. High-round guys, late-round guys, free agents, we aren’t compromising on that.
(On the King playing in the Big Ten)
SL: It always helps. The level of competition, fairly or unfairly, is always a big part of it. This guy has been playing in one of the best conferences in football and is playing at a high level. We just really think a lot of him.
(On the rest of the draft, addressing needs or best player available)
BD: It is a little bit of both. You want to stick to your board as much as possible now because it starts really falling apart and if you have a guy graded at a certain position even if it’s not a primary need position right now, the gap now becomes so big that you can really violate the process if you start drafting just need specific. We’re going to stick to the board as much as possible hoping that there’s options there of course, but we will stick to the board as much as we can.
(On why they chose a corner)
SL: I just think corners are a position that you really need to put yourself in good position with. You got to have four. You really have to feel good about having four corners going into each game, if there is such a thing. Sometimes you have to go with three but you’d like to start the year with five if you could. Corners are a commodity. We have a division that is challenging match up wise. You get guys that can that have good coverage skills and can do all the other things and can play, then that definitely helps us.
(On King being ready right away)
SL: I think that it is going to be a while. We will see. I always go back to other players. I thought Jonathan (Wade) started off very well last year and then took some development and came on to play better at the end of the year and really contributed on special teams. You don’t really set a time table for these young, skilled athletes. I think you’ve got to have a little bit of patience. It is unrealistic to think that he is going to do anything right away. I promise you that he will be starting off on core special teams and learning the position and when he is ready, we’ll put him out there. We have a little bit of depth there on the roster so we can be a little smart and patient with the guy. I think that is a luxury we have right now.
(On cornerback competition)
SL: There is going to be great competition. That’s the one comment I made upstairs. This is a great pick and we’ve got some great competition at corner. That’s never a bad thing, seeing your abilities when the competition heats up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rams CB Justin King
Conference Call
April 27, 2008
(On how it feels to be a Ram)
“I’m ecstatic. I’m very excited to get a new beginning and hopefully to contribute to the Rams organization.”
(On his disappointment in not being drafted until the fourth round)
“I’m a little disappointed, but I feel blessed that the Rams took a chance on me and I’m going to make them happy for their pick.”
(On what he brings to the table as a cornerback)
“I’m a competitor. I’m strong. I’m mentally tough and physically strong. I’m athletic and I feel like in no time I’ll reach the potential that I need to be at.”
(On if he had a draft party yesterday)
“No we were just at the house. We had close family and friends over, but no party.”
(On how fast he is)
“Pretty fast. I run 4.3s on a consistent basis and probably a 4.2 if I hit it well.”
(On his ball skills)
“I get to the ball. I have the technique in order to get close and work and make things happen like interceptions and things like that.”
(On if he has returned kicks and punts)
“I did my freshman year.”
(On if he would be willing to try returning kicks and punts with the Rams)
“Of course I would. It is something I have been looking forward to. I am good with the ball in my hands and I feel like I could do it. It is just a matter of opportunity.”
(On what made him come out a year early)
“I felt like there were a few things that I needed to get better at to be a good cornerback and I felt the best way to get that was to make the jump to the next level.”
(On what he got his degree in from Penn State University)
“I have my degree in Arts and Sciences. It is a division of the liberal arts college at Penn State.”
(On where he is from)
“I am from Pittsburgh.”
(On what specifically he wanted to improve on at cornerback)
“Technique, backpedaling and coming out of the break. I just want to continue to get better at what I do.”
(On if having his degree in hand made the decision to leave easier)
“It is always a tough decision. I love my family and Penn State. There were a few ways I felt I needed to continue to grow as a person and I look forward to playing. That’s what really pushed my decision.”
(On if he knew that the Rams had any interest in drafting him)
“No, I didn’t know. I talked to their defensive backs coach the first day of the Combine, but other than that I haven’t in too much contact with them.”
(On if he has ever been to St. Louis)
“No, I have never been there. I know they have the Arch. I look forward to seeing it.”
(On what he does when he is not playing football)
“I love going to the movies. It is a big thing for me. Sometimes I like to get away and just watch a good movie.”
(On what was the last movie he had seen)
“I just watched a movie yesterday called ‘Street Kings.’”
(On if it was good)
“Yes, it was good.”
(On what his favorite movie is)
“My favorite movie is probably Gladiator.”
(On who his agent is)
“Eric Metz.”