Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel – April 27, 2024
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Saturday, April 27, 2024
General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Chris Grier:
(What do you feel like you guys achieved in Day 3 of the draft?) – “I feel like we’ve added good football players – guys that we’ve targeted at positions and felt good about to contribute, guys that we feel have upside and again, the most important thing that we always talk about is competitive guys that love ball, that won’t blink coming in here and will jump into the fray and be good teammates. It will be fun watching these guys battle it out during training camp.”
(How much do you feel this draft helps the team win in 2024?) – “We always feel that way but it remains to be seen. Nobody is given anything here. We have some good players on the roster here and these guys are going to have to work to beat them out and earn spots, but yes, we selected them because we feel they have a chance to contribute. But again, they have to earn it. Nothing is given. I think Mike (McDaniel) and his staff have shown that over their two years here that you earn your playing time here.”
(Trading up for a running back in RB Jaylen Wright, you worked hard to get those compensatory picks next year. Why are you confident in using one now here?) – “Well, you can’t use the compensatory picks until this time next year, so the ones we anticipate were all protected. But it gave us some flexibility to move around, as we talked about us being active and trying to move up in the draft previously. For us, we had Jaylen (Wright) in on a 30-visit here and enjoyed spending time with him here. We spent a lot of time getting to know him and obviously his explosiveness on the field and what he does as a running back. His toughness again, he’s another guy that when Mike (McDaniel) started really watching him, he was excited for, as well as our scouts identifying him. It was the ability to add a good football player. Everything is about competition. It’s a good group of guys and they understand that. So for us to add a good football player that we really liked and valued there on the board, it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”
Mike McDaniel:
(How fierce of a competition do you plan to have at running back?) – “I think all players benefit. There’s supreme urgency to do right with the ball if you deserve to have it. Yeah, the competition is fierce. I’m fired up because we have a group of competitors that will satisfy the thirst for them. It will be fierce. Depth comes into question each and every year, so you’re always looking for a full roster. I was excited that Chris (Grier) was excited to trade and add a player to the class and the competition, really across the board for our team.”
(A question about the team’s composition. You added more speed. Do you think you have the necessary physicality and toughness? Did you add it in the draft? Did you add it in the offseason? How much of a factor do you think that is?) – “It’s interesting to me that a component, the fast guys that we have on our football team – yes, we like the fast guys, but it starts as football players. There’s a lot of football players we like and when we have opportunities at different areas of the draft, our starting point isn’t speed, but covering space in a limited amount of time, how fast you play on the football field. When the opportunity presents itself and Chris (Grier) asks if you want to trade for Tyreek Hill, you do that. You draft players because they’re football players, and if they’re fast, that’s cool.”
(How do you envision WR Malik Washington fitting into the offense?) – “I think he is competing. The part of Malik that we like the most is there are some professional football players in that room that he’s going to have to compete against to get opportunities. We identified him as a person and an athlete that would be up for the challenge and that’s a tall task. So you know that when you’re looking at these guys and that’s one of the reasons we felt he was a fit to be here.”
(On his reaction to that pick on TV) – “(laughter) It’s always confusing because everything on TV is on a delay and every single time, 100 percent of the time when we make the pick, that’s when the pick happens. So it is always the footage of what I’m doing after we make a pick maybe four minutes later. It was probably something hilarious that Chris Grier said that was my reaction. But yeah, we did a lot of homework. It was a cool orchestration of us as coaches and me with my working relationship with Chris for three years, you could feel it manifest itself where we had conviction and knew and had talked through all of the scenarios. We had conviction at each and every spot. I’m really excited for the entire draft class just because there was a lot of work put into it and we had a lot of conviction in each and every pick.”
Chris Grier:
(Can you explain what goes into the process now of looking into the undrafted guys, obviously once the seventh round is done and the draft is over?) – “It’s a lot of work that the coaches and the scouts do together. At that point, Mike and I, really a lot of it is the front board as people call it, of the draft board. But the back end of the draft, you guys have always heard, it is the scouts’ Super Bowl. So working with that and the coaches, that’s where the coaches and scouts take pride in the work on the back end of trying to figure out the players who aren’t fortunate enough to get drafted, figuring out how they fit onto your roster and needs. Again, some of that is always determined by positions you’ve selected. There will be some people that won’t send certain players to different teams because they’ve drafted a couple of players at that spot. So it just makes it challenging when you go through it but everybody deals with it. It’s a lot of relationships and communication and fits when you do it. But it’s the collaboration with the scouts and the coaches – and those guys deserve a lot of credit for the back end players and the free agents.”
(Can you talk about your success in that area recently? CB Kader Kohou, CB Nik Needham, you know the list. What goes into that and why have you guys been so successful with the undrafted guys?) – “It’s the collaboration, and that’s always been very important. Over the years, we’ve done well there. I think that’s the scouts and coaches. They put a lot of time into it. This isn’t something everyone is just getting together right now on at the end of the draft. This has been going on for weeks of the scouts communicating and talking with Mike (McDaniel) and I and going through it. A lot of credit again goes to the scouts and coaches for grinding those back end guys and free agents for how they fit for our team and how the coaches want to work with them and develop them.”
(What is it about LB Mohamed Kamara that intrigued you guys to kind of double down at that position?) – “We were kind of surprised he was there. It’s just how physical and how fast. The guy has a tremendous motor. When you watch him play, he just plays hard. He’s relentless, his motor and just loves football. Someone showed Mike (McDaniel) and I some quote that he was talking with you guys and you feel that passion in him. This guy loves football and is very prideful and feels he’s better than some people that were selected in front of him and he made it known. He’s very excited to be here and that we took a chance on him.”
(The first two picks in particular, LB Chop Robinson and T Patrick Paul, they’re both extraordinary athletes who aren’t really fully formed according to the scouts. When you’re sitting there thinking, “OK, it’s been a long time since we won a playoff game. Everybody wants to be in win now mode.” How do you process “I think this guy can be a Pro Bowler in two or three years,” versus, “Maybe this guy is a little more ready to help us in 2024 right now.” Take me into that mindset and process.) – “We don’t really worry about what other scouts and other people say. It’s about dealing for the Miami Dolphins and how we feel where the player is at this stage and what he needs to do to develop as a player and what he can contribute and do. We’re always talking about how we think the player fits in and what he can contribute this year possibly. There’s no guarantees or absolutes, but we feel strongly in the players and believe in them. We’re still trying to win this year. This is not about worrying about two, three years down the line. We’re all about having the best team possible this season.”
Mike McDaniel:
“And just because the player has an upside – we had a very deliberate approach to the entire draft on getting guys on the team that would compete and make us better right now. Some guys are determined by other people that they have a higher ceiling or whatever. We just get the guys in the building and let them prove that themselves.”
Chris Grier:
(Chris, you’ve been tied with WR Odell Beckham Jr. obviously in the past. We’ve talked a lot about that. I was curious, Dalton Risner the guard and Tyler Boyd the wide receiver, has there been contact with their agents? Is this going to be a time now where you go and target key veterans at starting positions?) – “We always look at opportunities and work through it. We’re always looking to add to the roster and have the most competitive roster we can to make the team better, as we’ve always talked, competition is what breeds excellence. For us, we’ll keep looking like we’ve said post-draft like we’ve done here in the past. We’ll keep looking and talking to people and see what happens.”
(Have you had conversations with Tyler Boyd or his agent?) – “I think early on in the process at one point, yes. We’ve talked to him.”
(Have you had any updates on Connor Williams’ situation and where he stands? I know he was going to take care of his rehab first before handling free agency.) – “He’s working on his rehab, taking care of himself and getting himself healthy. So that’s the only update we have. We’ve heard he’s doing well. I know a couple of our guys saw him recently. He’s doing well, but he’s focused on his rehab right now.”
Mike McDaniel:
“When I talk to him, it’s more about being healthy and deciding that when he feels good, but it’s more just about spending time with his family and getting his body right. So he’s in great spirits.”
Chris Grier:
(We’ve heard from multiple guys that you’ve drafted that this is the place they wanted to be. I think T Patrick Paul mentioned that, RB Jaylen Wright mentioned that. It seems like an obvious benefit, but I’m curious to hear from your perspective how beneficial that is the guys that want to be here are now here?) – “Our whole point has been trying to create some place that is a winning culture, winning environment that players want to come to play and win and be developed. It all starts at the top from Steve Ross and what he’s done here with the facilities and everything he’s provided us. The multiple agents and players, even in the free agency process for the pros, have mentioned being the No. 1 in the NFLPA rankings, about being No. 1 in everything. And that’s been brought up multiple times just from people that are paying attention to what we’re doing. I think Mike (McDaniel) deserves a lot of credit for the environment that’s been created by the coaching staff and what they’ve done and how they’ve handled players and the development they’ve done. Yeah, it’s cool. Like you guys heard Jonnu (Smith) when he signed here, he said it was Hard Knocks he watched and he thought it was cool seeing how close the players were and everything we did. It’s important, and I think when you hear players that want to come play here and do it, I think it says a lot for Mike and the coaching staff, as well as Mr. Ross.”
Mike McDaniel:
“It was kind of revitalizing, too, in terms of just today, the last couple of days, each and every player we talked to the emotional exuberance and you could feel the passion in every single one of these guys’ voices. It was pretty cool, so I think that speaks to what you guys are going to be presented with when you’re in front of those guys in the near future.”
Chris Grier:
(I wanted to get your feedback on Patrick McMorris, the safety that was just recently drafted. What does he bring to the team? And do you see yourself as safety light before that selection?) – “We feel good about the players there. Obviously, I think we could add more depth there, and I think adding him was a player that the coaching staff and scouts have kind of identified, focusing on. So they were blowing up Mike (McDaniel) and I here before that pick like, ‘Get this guy. Get this guy.’ And they appreciate how he’s a smart player, he’s competitive and plays hard. I think we feel good about where he is in his development coming in here and competing for a spot.”
(On Day 3 of the draft, is Special Teams Coordinator consulted more than Days 1 and 2? And is special teams a consideration for the picks?) – “He’s consulted all the way through on it still, because special teams – you’re always looking at that even when you’re drafting players, whether they’re returners or what they can contribute on special teams. Because in this day and age, you have to be a pretty special player if you’re just doing your job and you’re not, if you’re a backup player and you can’t play on (special) teams, it’s a hard thing to do in terms of the roster and the way the injuries are in the game. Danny (Crossman) is consulted with us all the way through, and he works tremendously hard for us, giving Mike (McDaniel) and I more lists than we can look at.”
Mike McDaniel:
“We are well aware of where he stands on each and every player.”
Chris Grier:
(Did the new kickoff return rules affect you guys in this draft? Was it a consideration, I should say?) – “Yeah, it was a consideration. You have to account for it, because it’s still a little bit of an unknown of how it’s going to happen. It’s either you may have guys getting tackled inside the 10-yard line every time, or the ball may be out to the 40-yard line or more every time. So yes, that’s definitely something we’ve talked about a lot.”
Mike McDaniel:
“We could have Chop Robinson on the kickoff team, you never know.”
(I know you’re allergic to timelines for injured players, but LB Jaelan Phillips and LB Bradley Chubb, any chance we see them on the field this spring for the on-field stuff?) – “I’m excited about where they’re at today, and I’m very, very encouraged for the prospect of their tomorrow. (laughter) I’m telling you; I don’t do timelines. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t make sense. It’s like a hex –it used to be you put pressure on a date and you wish it not to exist, so I’m not doing that.”
Chris Grier:
(Are there any “Jaylens” left on the board?) – “(laughter) That’s what we talked about when we took him, we’re just going to keep collecting Jaylens.”
Mike McDaniel:
(You have one more pick. Do you guys want to break any news for us?) – “That’s an interesting draft strategy. (laughter) No, just tell everyone that way if anybody else likes them, they can get ahead of you. We can’t wait to see…”
Chris Grier:
“We have no idea who’s been picked since we’ve been in here. Right now, we may have guys we liked and they’re gone, so we have no idea.”
(Does QB Tua Tagovailoa lobby for his brother – QB Taulia Tagovailoa?) – “He’s on our board.”
Mike McDaniel:
“Tua lobbies for the person and the player, but Tua is not a hoarder of his family members. He wants him to go in the best situation. He’s a good kid.”
Chris Grier:
(How many players were on your board?) – “We ended up with a total – we backloaded a little bit, it was like 140-something.”
