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Will McClay: We drafted players that wouldn’t ‘pee their pants’ from the pressure of being a Dallas Cowboy
By Jon Machota
jmachota@dallasnews.com
6:07 pm on May 14, 2014 |
Will McClay received an impressive grade from his boss on his first draft as the Dallas Cowboys’ assistant director of player personnel.
Related
'Who is this Will McClay?' Cowboys' mysterious NFL draft consigliere builds savvy reputation
Jerry Jones gives assistant director of player personnel Will McClay an 'A' grade for 2014 draft
Will McClay: We drafted players that wouldn't 'pee their pants' from the pressure of being a Dallas Cowboy
Jerry Jones gave McClay an ‘A’ following the conclusion of last weekend’s NFL Draft.
The Cowboys drafted nine players, with five coming in the final round. Seven of those selections were aimed at improving the league’s worst defense.
What was different about the process this year? “We watched more tape than we’ve ever watched,” McClay said Wednesday during a DC Star Magazine radio interview.
McClay touched on several draft related topics, so I broke down the highlights.
– They had no interest in trading up to grab Anthony Barr, Aaron Donald or Ryan Shazier, their top three targets. The staff did several mock drafts and went through many scenarios to reduce the chances of being surprised when they were on the clock.
“I think it led to us making the right decision based off what was there,” he said.
– On selecting Notre Dame offensive lineman Zack Martin and not a defensive player in Round 1: “You’re never one player away,” McClay said. “You always want to solidify the team and we approached it with that strategy.”
– On trading a third-round pick to move up and draft Boise State defensive end Demarcus Lawrence: “There’s five million [trade charts],” McClay said. “There’s 10,000 ways to look at how you do the draft. What’s most important is that you have a vision for the player, that you know what you expect to get and what value do we place on that for what we’re trying to do. I think we were very well prepared to do the things we needed to do because we discussed them.”
– McClay’s thoughts on Lawrence: “With the amount of passing that’s in the NFL right now, and the way that we’re going to play defense, it’s important to play fast, to play physical and get after the passer,” he said. “Whether this guy starts and plays 60 plays a game, which we don’t plan on doing, or if he plays 30-40 plays a game, as he gets into learning the NFL game, as long as he does what we drafted him for, we got great value.”
– On drafting Iowa linebacker Anthony Hitchens in the fourth round although many projected him to be a late-round pick: “I think we got the right value for him because when you turn on the tape and you’re looking at a Mike linebacker that can also play Sam and Will, we talked a lot about football character, about competes and about work ethic,” McClay said. “If a guy has the physical traits, he has the desire to get better and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get there, that’s a great value for us because of what he’s going to bring to this team.”
– On all nine picks coming from big schools: “I think it was important for us to say,” McClay explained, “if we’re trying to build this thing and get to a point where we can win now, who has been able to handle the pressure of a big time program? Who will most likely be able to come into a situation like the Dallas Cowboys and the microscope that we’re under with all the games we play on national TV, and not, pardon the expression, pee their pants? We want grown men that are able to handle the situation.”
– McClay’s overall thoughts on the draft: “I like the fact that we have football players that exhibit the football character, the work ethic and the competes we talked about as a staff,” he said. “We wanted to find players that filled roles. We spent time with the coaching staff and the scouts went out, did the things and did the work that we asked. We came back with a good feeling for the guys that were on our draft board and the guys that we picked.”
By Jon Machota
jmachota@dallasnews.com
6:07 pm on May 14, 2014 |
Will McClay received an impressive grade from his boss on his first draft as the Dallas Cowboys’ assistant director of player personnel.
Related
'Who is this Will McClay?' Cowboys' mysterious NFL draft consigliere builds savvy reputation
Jerry Jones gives assistant director of player personnel Will McClay an 'A' grade for 2014 draft
Will McClay: We drafted players that wouldn't 'pee their pants' from the pressure of being a Dallas Cowboy
Jerry Jones gave McClay an ‘A’ following the conclusion of last weekend’s NFL Draft.
The Cowboys drafted nine players, with five coming in the final round. Seven of those selections were aimed at improving the league’s worst defense.
What was different about the process this year? “We watched more tape than we’ve ever watched,” McClay said Wednesday during a DC Star Magazine radio interview.
McClay touched on several draft related topics, so I broke down the highlights.
– They had no interest in trading up to grab Anthony Barr, Aaron Donald or Ryan Shazier, their top three targets. The staff did several mock drafts and went through many scenarios to reduce the chances of being surprised when they were on the clock.
“I think it led to us making the right decision based off what was there,” he said.
– On selecting Notre Dame offensive lineman Zack Martin and not a defensive player in Round 1: “You’re never one player away,” McClay said. “You always want to solidify the team and we approached it with that strategy.”
– On trading a third-round pick to move up and draft Boise State defensive end Demarcus Lawrence: “There’s five million [trade charts],” McClay said. “There’s 10,000 ways to look at how you do the draft. What’s most important is that you have a vision for the player, that you know what you expect to get and what value do we place on that for what we’re trying to do. I think we were very well prepared to do the things we needed to do because we discussed them.”
– McClay’s thoughts on Lawrence: “With the amount of passing that’s in the NFL right now, and the way that we’re going to play defense, it’s important to play fast, to play physical and get after the passer,” he said. “Whether this guy starts and plays 60 plays a game, which we don’t plan on doing, or if he plays 30-40 plays a game, as he gets into learning the NFL game, as long as he does what we drafted him for, we got great value.”
– On drafting Iowa linebacker Anthony Hitchens in the fourth round although many projected him to be a late-round pick: “I think we got the right value for him because when you turn on the tape and you’re looking at a Mike linebacker that can also play Sam and Will, we talked a lot about football character, about competes and about work ethic,” McClay said. “If a guy has the physical traits, he has the desire to get better and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get there, that’s a great value for us because of what he’s going to bring to this team.”
– On all nine picks coming from big schools: “I think it was important for us to say,” McClay explained, “if we’re trying to build this thing and get to a point where we can win now, who has been able to handle the pressure of a big time program? Who will most likely be able to come into a situation like the Dallas Cowboys and the microscope that we’re under with all the games we play on national TV, and not, pardon the expression, pee their pants? We want grown men that are able to handle the situation.”
– McClay’s overall thoughts on the draft: “I like the fact that we have football players that exhibit the football character, the work ethic and the competes we talked about as a staff,” he said. “We wanted to find players that filled roles. We spent time with the coaching staff and the scouts went out, did the things and did the work that we asked. We came back with a good feeling for the guys that were on our draft board and the guys that we picked.”
