2014 NFL Combine: Day 2 Press Conferences- Coaches and GMs
Byron Lambert, Rosterwatch.com

Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers
-Interviews are most important component of evaluation process at the Combine
-Johnathan Franklin a great fit in the offense- had a great game against Cincy- is learning special teams- need to get him the ball more next season- great worker and teammate w/ playmaking ability
-Going to be different on defense next year, particularly the front-4
-Want to get longer and faster, but primarily BIGGER
-Had the best depth on the offensive line depth since McCarthy’s been there
-Says they have to get Datone Jones on the field more
-Injuries didn’t allow the defense to implement all the schemed they wanted to
-Eddie Lacy to be a 3 down player, however they do want a better rotation (Franklin/Starks)

Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals
-Carson Palmer has plenty of gas left in the tank
-Don’t take Johnny Manziel’s instincts away from him
-Manziel is different than Brees, Arians says he brought Flutie up and it took him a long time to develop into a good NFL QB. Not a big fan of sub 6’ QBs
-Michael Floyd played through some injuries- overall very happy with his development- still has to improve his consistency
-Says he still likes Ryan Williams, and that last season he got buried in the depth chart due to injuries which made it very hard to emerge mid-season
-The TE in his offense is a BLOCKER first. It’s the WR job to catch passes- Heath Miller is the best TE in the NFL
-Andre Ellington has already gained 10lb
-Says Ellington is also a better WR than he could have every imagined
-Going to build the offense around Ellington in 2014

Trent Baalke, 49ers
-Completely fine with Frank Gore’s 6.5M cap number for 2014
-Quinton Patton loves football and is an extremely hard worker who can play in the slot and on the outside
-Tank Carradine having a “great offseason”

Pete Carroll, Seattle
-Anybody who used to say sub 6’ QB’s couldn’t cut it has been proven to be plain wrong
-Christine Michael is going to be very explosive

Ted Thompson, Green Bay
-Philosophy in free agency is to “keep their own”
-Still uses the old Jimmy Johnson trade chart
-Doesn’t draft for need but more for key contributors to the organization

Thomas Dimitroff, Atlanta Falcons
-Relies on personnel department AND media reports when projecting what teams will do ahead of them in the draft
-Uses positional depth and lots of analytics to build draft scenarios and contingency plans
-Pays attention to social media when evaluating prospects
-Views much of this process as hiring employees vs just drafting football players

Bill O’Brien/Rick Smith, Houston Texans
-Will implement power game, trap game, and blast game into rushing attack, will stick with some elements of the former ZBS
-Breaks ties in player value with need first, positional value second

John Dorsey, Kansas City Chiefs
-Best player available has historically been a more successful philosophy than drafting for need
-WR corps improved as the season progressed

Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts
-Rod Chudzinski will be the “special assistant to the head coach”
-Da’Rick Rogers flashed “wow plays” and creates mismatches
-Due to injuries, played 7 or 8 different offensive line groupings
-Bjorn Werner had low sack production, but battles some nagging injuries throughout the season
-Werner had some bright spots, he’s very smart, loves football, a gym rat, a grinder hangs on close to every word out of Robert Mathis’ mouth

Jeff Fisher, Saint Louis
-One of the main reasons he took the job was because of Sam Bradford
-Has proven they can rush the passer with only 4 men, but never has enough guys up front

Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers
-Looking for a dynamic WR who can contribute right away
-Wants a WR who can run the full route tree right out of college, and can lineup at different positions

Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins
-Wants a more diverse rushing scheme than the previous ZBS, will be implementing gap schemes and draws, will keep some outside zone