Chris Grier – January 22, 2020
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Wednesday, January 22, 2020
General Manager Chris Grier
(I wanted to ask you about evaluating the quarterback position and I’m sure you’ve been asked this version or a similar version but I wrote it down. How do you personally weigh arm strength, mobility and things like that versus intangibles like presence and leadership skills?) – “I think when you’re talking about the quarterback position, a lot of the intangibles are what separates a lot of guys because you hear stories now even when they talk about – like they said Tom Brady coming out didn’t have great arm strength or Drew Brees. But those guys are some of the all-time best to ever play the game. You look at everything, everyone’s skillset at the end of the day. Do they win games? Are they leaders? Are they football smart? The intangibles, the character and stuff plays a big part at that position but also at any position. There’s a lot of guys that get overlooked – Zach Thomas is a perfect (example) … ‘Zach’s too small, too slow’ and stuff; but yet, he’s one of the best linebackers to play in the history for the Dolphins and being considered for the Hall of Fame, which is great for him.”
(This is the first time we’ve been able to ask you officially about Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa since he’s declared. To the best of your knowledge, where is he at physically and what does he need to show you guys to be considered in the first round?) – “We’re still so early in this process. We haven’t met him, haven’t sat down with him, talked to him. Our doctors haven’t seen him, so we know as much as you do right now. We see the media reports and things of that nature; but at the end of the day, we’ve got to get to know the guys and get in front of them just like any player. We’re very, very early in the stage with the fact that we haven’t even met the guy yet.”
(You got to see QB Tua Tagovailoa in person at least once. We know you were at the LSU game. What were your thoughts on him from purely a football standpoint, not taking into account the health, but the way he throws the football and runs an offense?) – “Yeah, I mean it’s – the way people are talking, he’s been a winner. I think the fact that he won the Elite 11 then goes to Alabama, has kind of storybook (story) coming off the bench and winning the national championship. Everyone always talks about his accuracy and they talk about the person as well – the intangibles that we talked about, so yeah, I’m looking forward to getting to meet him, just like a lot of players. There are a lot of good players in this draft and even some other quarterbacks he’s competing with, so I’m looking forward to the next couple months.”
(How important is the ability to get to evaluate these guys at the Senior Bowl, to see the Justin Herberts, the Jordan Loves and to get to meet them? And what are you looking for during this week from them?) – “For us, it’s always the first step. This is the first meeting you can actually sit down and talk to them and kind of begin to figure out who they are and what makes them tick. In terms of practice, it’s the competition. I love the fact that Herbert and Love and those guys have come down here to compete, just like in the past when Baker (Mayfield) and Josh Allen and those guys all came down. That’s the thing, you get to see them in a competitive situation. They’re all on equal footing. They’re all learning a new playbook and everything, so that’s the thing you like about the Senior Bowl and you appreciate those guys coming down here to compete.”
(When you’re doing a deep dive on a particular player and maybe a top-10 quarterback, like a really important player that you want to turn over every stone – I’m just curious, how many people that know that know that player might you and your colleagues touch before the draft?) – “I couldn’t give you a number, but it goes back well into their past. Their coaches – their college coaches, high school coaches – and people that know that player through family members. You’ll get people reaching out to you, too – especially the high-profile players. It’s a very interesting case study. Some day, I’m sure somebody will write a book on it and talk about their background, how they found some player and the work they did. (laughter) But we’ll have many, many people that will have or have had contact with those players over the years.”
(Where do things stand with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick?) – “I fully expect Ryan to be back and playing. He did a great job – the things he did with the young players, too, in the locker room, his leadership and just his enthusiasm. (laughter) I mean, you guys saw him, how he is and carries himself. He did a great job for us.”
(I wanted to ask you about the coaching staff and the changes to the coaching staff. Obviously you guys built a team that caters to the talent that Head Coach Brian Flores and this coaching staff wants to coach. How difficult will that be when you have a completely new staff – well not completely new, but new coordinators?) – “It’s a lot of communication. That’s always the important part. I think Brian and the staffs even previously have done a good job of when they all get here, we’ll get together, we’ll get in a room, we’ll talk about the traits and characteristics they want at each position, and we’ll go through it just like we always do. Again, you always have to make sure you’re on the same page of what everyone’s looking for and then that communication piece will be important. We have a couple months here, too, which is good. We’ll sit and we’ll go here and we’ll talk about the players here at the Senior Bowl and the other all-star games and then we’ll work through once we get to the combine, and we’ll do that again. So we’ll spend a lot of time talking and it’s communication like ‘does this player fit what you like? Is this profile the type of player?’ You’re right. The communication part of it is going to be huge.”
(So you have a profile for every position for what Head Coach Brian Flores wants?) – “Yes.”
(How different is that based on – You’ve been here 20 years. I’ve covered six coaches by the way. How different is that when you have to piece it together based on what you know and what everybody wants?) – “It can be a little challenging at times, but it’s also – You just have to learn to be able to adjust on the fly. When changes come and if you switch from whether it’s a 3-4 to a 4-3 or you want a zone scheme to a gap scheme. The good thing is we have a lot of veteran scouts that have been around and are good personnel evaluators. It’s just a matter of getting everyone on the same page as quick as possible. With all of the new coaches in, we’re meeting together as soon as we can with all of us in the room in early February and we’ll start preparing for the Combine and going through the types of players that they’re looking for.”
(How much do you and your staff have to communicate with other staffs around the league to identify and figure out what other teams want to do to try to get possibly ahead of you in the top five? Is that so important that you guys have to be aware of?) – “Yeah, I think every team is always monitoring what’s going on around the league. I think it works both ways. At some point, there’s a lot of misinformation going out. Teams are always trying to probe what you’re looking for. There’s a balance to it. But at the end of the day, I don’t think anyone’s tipping their cards right now until probably right up until draft day with what’s going on. But yeah, teams are always talking. Agents talk to people and stuff too, which is information again; but you don’t know who’s telling the truth all the time.”
(Is it impossible to forecast how much it would take to trade up, how much it would take to trade down?) – “Yeah, because every trade has been different. We look over the years at the value of what people do. You can always say you have an idea on place your value on it and then that other team may have a completely different view. And we’ve had that with other trades we’ve done in the past.”
(Do you feel like you have enough ammunition to move up if you needed to?) – “Yeah. I think we have more than enough.”
(How would you evaluate the QB Josh Rosen trade and what he’s done for you guys this past year? Is he part of your future plans?) – “Yeah, Josh is here. I think the trade, for us – we were always trying to upgrade that position. He’s a young player that had some talent and I think for us, the value knowing that we were going to have picks and a lot of picks going forward in the future and money available, it made sense for us to try and make that trade. We’re happy we made it. Josh has made huge strides like Brian (Flores) has talked about. It’s been fun watching him grow through the year. I know no one got to see it and everyone wanted to see him play, but he did a tremendous job growing. People always forget, like I said before, he’s had four straight different offensive coordinators and schemes. That’s hard for a young kid to keep with no stability. That’s hard. We were proud of him.”
(C Daniel Kilgore seems an interesting case. He’s a guy who loves Head Coach Brian Flores and Flores seems to love him. He’s a team captain, but he’s getting up there in age. I believe he’s 31. He was out all year. What are your thoughts on him and how he fits in next season?) – “Daniel is a tremendous locker room presence (and brings) leadership like you said. A veteran presence is what our team needed last year. I think he did a tremendous job along with ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) of steadying the ship early on when things were rocky. Like I said, we have tremendous respect for him. I love the guy and his energy in the building. For us, we expect him to be here, but we’ll see. We love him and he was great for our team.”
(Obviously, you have a very young team. You’ve got a lot of draft picks. That’s going to make the team even younger. How do you get leadership or how do you add leadership. I know QB Ryan Fitzpatrick contributes to that, but do you feel like you need more?) – “I think that’s a very important piece. Brian (Flores) and ourselves and the scouts and coaches have talked about that. It’s even with the young guys we bring in, we’ve got to make sure that a lot of those guys are leaders and understand – not necessarily captains at their schools, because we all know sometimes captains are appointed; but at the end of the day, (we) value leadership – leadership through all avenues whether it’s guys on the street, free agency or the draft – and just bringing in the right types of guys to help. Because you’re right, it’s going to be a young team. The good thing is that Brian and the coaching staff are tremendous teachers. I know when you were talking about a lot of the coaches and the guys we’ve had, and that’s the big thing. They’re teachers and motivators. You guys saw how the team played; but it is very important to have guys that have good leadership traits.”
(How badly do you sense that Stephen Ross wants to see an elite franchise quarterback added?) – “I think that’s from all of us. We’d like to find the right guy to be the quarterback. You see how important it is around the league. I wouldn’t just say it’s Steve. I would say it is Brian (Flores), myself, everyone – the coaching staff, scouts. We think it is important that we find the right guy to be the leader and the quarterback here for a long time.”
(What do you think about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s agent – Leigh Steinberg – honoring Stephen Ross with a philanthropy award before the Super Bowl?) – “That’s the first time I’ve heard it. (laughter) All last week we were in meetings all day and then we went right down here. Good for him. Steve deserves it and I’m happy (for him). But no, that’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”
(The trend seems to be the league is going towards more athletic quarterbacks, more guys who can move, more guys who can move the pocket. Is that just because that’s what college is delivering or is it just because that’s where the game is going? Or do you disagree that that’s the trend?) – “I think it’s probably a combination of both of those because nowadays, everything in high school – youth is 7-on-7. It’s get the ball out quick, it’s RPOs (run-pass options) and stuff. So the college game is producing a lot of it but the big thing is those guys are having success doing it. If guys were doing it and they weren’t successful, people wouldn’t be copying it. I think the game is evolving into that and I think quarterbacks that can run just add another dimension that’s hard for defenses to account for. It’s kind of an exciting trend to see the game moving that way and giving more guys that in the past you probably – not ignored but probably said ‘oh, he’ll be okay.’ Yeah, it’s an exciting thing for football and football fans.”
(Are you a fan of a quarterback running 150 or 200 times a year?) – “(laughter) I’m not sure how to answer that because I don’t want to – it’s been really effective for some players but it’s such a violent game, you always worry about injuries, especially if it’s your franchise guy. There’s some dynamic players that that skillset, for that team and those teams that use it, it’s what is spring-boarding them to winning, as well. You just have to understand what it is.”
(Since Adam Gase was fired and you were appointed as GM, QB Tua Tagovailoa has been linked to the Dolphins since that point. Do you think that’s kind of unfair that over the past two years that it’s been the case like that? Do you feel pressure to maybe evaluate him and draft him come April?) – “We’ll evaluate him just like every player. When people were talking about all of the stuff, we said we were never tanking. We were trying to win and build. To say one player was attached to us, you can’t control what fans and people in the media say. No, there’s no pressure for us (to draft Tagovailoa). The pressure for us is to find the right guy to be the quarterback for the Dolphins, whether it’s him or someone else. That’s the pressure of finding the right guy to lead the organization.”
(Some of the players that you drafted and have been a part of the process in drafting in recent years have found success elsewhere, such as S Minkah Fitzpatrick, T Laremy Tunsil, RB Kenyan Drake and QB Ryan Tannehill. I haven’t had a chance to ask you this but what is it like for you and how do you process that as a positive or negative? I’m just not sure how you process it.) – “At the end of the day, we did what was best for the Miami Dolphins. We always wish those guys success when they go on, but I’ve been so focused on trying to get here to build a winner here for us that – I’m happy for them; but at the end of the day, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying because there’s a lot of work to be done here.”
(I’m doing a story on Super Bowl memories, non-game related. What comes to mind with any of yours, whether it was a breakfast with the family or meeting with a different player? Anything along those lines?) – “Well the last Super Bowl I was in, we lost to Green Bay when I was in New England. I would say probably leading up to the Super Bowl, I think we had beaten the Raiders – no, that was the one before that. Memory-wise, I would say for me it was meeting Jerry Burns because my dad played at Iowa, so he knew Jerry Burns and meeting him and the Hilgenbergs, all of them before the game and talking about Iowa. It was kind of cool hearing them tell stories about my dad playing and stuff. Then the game Super Bowl memory was the Bears kicked our ass – excuse my language – in the game and I was sitting there and I had my Patriots jacket on and my head down, and then I got hit by a hamburger. Somebody threw a hamburger out of the stands and it hit my shoulder. (laughter) And I’m like, ‘Great, my dad is going to be mad, we’re getting killed and I just got hit by a hamburger because somebody was mad at my Patriots jacket.’ (laughter) That was my last Super Bowl memory.”
