Las Vegas Raiders GM Tom Telesco NFL Draft Day Three Recap Press Conference

The 2024 NFL Draft is officially over, and the Las Vegas Raiders' GM Tom Telesco spoke afterward and we have all he said for you.

Nov 4, 2018; Seattle, WA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers general manager Tom Telesco attends the game / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders, under the leadership of new General Manager Tom Telesco, concluded the 2024 NFL Draft today.

By all accounts, the Silver and Black had a tremendous draft, drawing accolades around the NFL world for the successful work of Tom Telesco and his staff.

As soon as the draft ended, Tom Telesco discussed the day's activity, and you can WATCH IT WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, or if you prefer to listen, you can do that WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Additionally, you can read the transcript below.

Day Three Press Conference with General Manager Tom Telesco
Q: It seemed like a heavy lean toward defense. Was that intentional or just kind of how the draft went?
Telesco: "It’s kind of the way it went. It wasn't intentional, but it's just kind of the way it went. I know in
the fourth round, the one thing we were talking about was whoever we're taking, let's get some speed no matter what position it is. And we were lucky enough to get the corner who has got some big-time speed, some length and size, and a really good athlete. But yeah, this is kind of the way it worked out the third day."
Q: You picked up the three guys this weekend who got major national awards; Jim Thorpe Award,
Rimington Trophy, and the John Mackey Award. But you also got a group of guys that are all kind of
sure of the mentality of 'dog in football' attitude. I'm just curious about how valuable was that in picking guys that fit that mentality?
Telesco: "Yeah, the awards not so much, but the mentality yes. Because when you look at our head coach and what he's looking for and his mentality, you got to kind of match that and fit that culture. And we feel like most of these guys have that. And I bet even some of the phone calls when you guys talked to the players, you could probably feel that already and you haven't even seen them yet. So, our guys feel the same thing. Our scouts who are on the road, they not only have to look at the football player between the white lines but everything else about the person that goes into it, and most of these guys fit those traits."
Q: In talking to Dylan Laube, he really emphasizes the pride he takes in special teams. Was that a big
thing for you on those last few picks?
Telesco: "Very big. Those guys, in order to make the team, you're going to have to be on special teams
first and then start developing at your position. So, he fits that. As a running back, as a receiving running back. He’s done kick returns, punt returns. He’ll be able to cover kicks, and he's a smart kid. He knows this is how l have to make the team. He’s going to have to do a lot of dirty work on special teams, but also, he does some returns, which is big. And especially with us trying to maneuver this new kickoff rule, we don't know exactly what it's going to look like. So, the kickoff return, we're looking at some different styles of runners. There is the running back style, receiver style to see what body types work best. But the fact that he can do some kickoff returns is a pretty big part of us drafting him late."
Q: Was there any thought about a quarterback in these last few rounds?
Telesco: "On the third day? No. Really not the second day either. First day, yes. But not after that."
Q: Was that just where the evaluations went?
Telesco: "Yeah, if we felt there was a quarterback out there that was better than we had, or could
potentially be better, certainly we would have done something out it. But it didn't line up."

Q: You didn't make many draft day trades with the Chargers, and you didn't make any this week. Is it
more of a philosophy thing, or is that kind of the way things fall?
Telesco: "Yeah, not necessarily. I mean, if you're in there, second round we were trying to go up pretty
hard. Even in the fourth round to come back in, we were trying to go up. But yeah, there's a little bit of a philosophy behind it that I wouldn't want to get into here. Maybe down the road I will, but it's certainly not a philosophy of, 'Hey, we're not trading up or down.' That's not it at all. But the one thing to do, we really stripped the board down pretty heavily in trying to increase the odds on the player that we take. So, we try and mitigate some risk by making sure we take some players off the board that just whatever – playability, scheme-wise, character, medical could impact their odds of making our team. So, we were in a lot of discussions to move up, move down. But most times it felt like when our pick was up, we felt good about the player that was there, and in the end you got to execute the pick and try to find the guy with the best chance to help you win. So, that's how it worked out this weekend."
Q: Tommy Eichenberg is Robert Spillane's clone just on the way he attacks and plays. Would you talk
about what stood out to you when you watched the film?
Telesco: "Yeah, some of those qualities. I mean, he's big, he's really smart and plays aware, hustle, motor, likes to hit, but he's all ball all the time. He runs very well straight line for a bigger linebacker, and he's been well coached through high school. St. Ignatius is a powerhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Well coached in high school, played against the top high school players in his area when he was there, and then obviously at Ohio State. So, we think he has big special teams value as well. That's important for all these guys as young players, you’ve got to come in and make a mark on special teams with Tom McMahon to come get a jersey on Sunday. And then keep working at your craft or whatever that position is to try and earn a starting job at some point."
Q: Not necessarily comparing Dylan Laube to Austin Ekeler, but between the run game and the pass
skill, it feels like there's a little bit of similarities there?
Telesco: "Everyone always said Danny Woodhead. We're always looking for comps, but as far as the
concept of style how they play, yeah, there'd be some similarities there. Obviously, Austin [Ekler] is a bigtime player in this league, so I wouldn't put him in that category yet. Same as Danny Woodhead, Danny who we had with the San Diego Chargers, he was amazing for us. But as far as a running back with receiving skills and Dylan [Laube] ran a 4.49 so he had some good speed but can do a lot of different things as a football player which those two guys had to do. With Austin Ekeler when we first brought him in, we signed him after the draft, obviously didn't know he was going to turn into what he turned into, we would have drafted much higher. But when we brought him in, he was an outstanding gunner for us and covering kicks. So, once we saw that in the preseason games, he started to get some more carries on offense, and then started to see more of what he could do and then turned into Austin Ekeler. So again, Danny Woodhead had a similar story when he was with the Patriots and Jets. So, if Dylan was smart, which he is, he's probably studied those two guys, and hopefully he'll have the same type of career."

Q: Do you have an overriding goal? Maybe a theme for the week that you guys kind of preached to each other and wanted to accomplish this week? And how close did you get to what you wanted to do?

Telesco: "Good question. I wouldn't say one big overriding goal, but I guess just trying to make sure we were drafting players that fit our identity. Obviously, there's needs we'd like to fill, I've told you before the needs kind of change. But depth is a need too, and you’ve got to have depth across your team, so that's a big part of it. But you're just trying to include everybody in the process. There's a lot of people, all the coaches, all the scouts, front office, even doctors and security, Bob Stiriti is a part of our draft process, He does all that background work for us. So, just a lot of people involved to get all the information together and make the best picks we can."

Q: With Decamerion Richardson, he has a lot of physical tools, 6'2, 4.3 speed. What kind of potential do you think he has to if he's able to put it all together?
Telesco: "Yeah, I mean, he's got a lot of potential. I wouldn't call him necessarily a project because he was a two-year starter in the SEC, but he does have some work to do at the position. But he also fits as far as he can make an impact on special teams with his size, his speed and he's an excellent tackler. Usually hard to find bigger corner that can really run that are actually really good tacklers as well. So, the fact that we get those three things with him, he's a really good athlete, so keep developing his game. He was relatively new to the position, he was a running back and mostly a safety in high school and then went to safety and corner in college and now playing corner. So, just a lot to work with there. But those are the type of guys we want to work with."

Q: If I would've told you Thursday morning that this is what your draft was going to look like, would you
have said, ‘Yeah, I'll take that,’ as you reflect on this?
Telesco: "Yeah, there's always guys on the board that you don't get that you would love to have, but you only have so many picks. So, you get a little bit greedy. But really, I'm happy with this group, I am. But there's just a lot of guys who - I just texted a GM earlier that there was a guy in the seventh round that would love to have, but you just can't get everybody you want. But yeah, it's a good group. It's a good starting point. Add this group to last year's draft class, and hopefully get moving."
Q: It's your first draft with the Raiders after 10 years with the Chargers. From an operational and maybe synergy standpoint, how did it go with these last three days?
Telesco: "Pretty similar. AP [Antonio Pierce] was great to work with through the whole three days. It's
kind of a long process, a lot of sitting around, talking, thinking, thinking out scenarios. Every pick you make could impact something else, so he's a great sounding board with that. He's got great perspective, which is great. And then even watching how Brandon Yeargan, Champ Kelly and JoJo Wooden all work together is really satisfying. And like I said, we're going to get a lot better over the next couple of years once we've worked with each other a lot more. Just the whole process will be better next year, and we'll start that tomorrow. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe Monday. But yeah, all in all, I was pretty impressed with everybody."

Q: I know you took the best player available approach or whatever, but you also target certain groups.
Like do you say, 'I want to hit these position groups,' before the draft starts? And do you look back and
say, 'I did, or 'I didn't do that'?
Telesco: "Yeah, so what I'll do sometimes, late in the process I'll look at the board and just say first-round
wise this is kind of where the players are. Because it's not like in the first round you've got every position
group we have a player to take and maybe a position group that's a little bit of a weak point here, so I'll
look up there and basically say, 'Hey, in the first round we're looking at these three or four positions more
than likely.' How does that line up with our short-term needs and long term needs. I'll do that the first
three rounds, after I really can't do that. But yeah, I'll kind of eye it up and then we'll do some different
things that if we take a certain position in the first round, how will that affect second and third. But that's
kind of how it rolls."
Q: You've talked a lot about finding the right characteristics for this team and I'm wondering in the
players that you did draft if you saw one common kind of characteristic that they all have that they can
really bring to this team?
Telesco: "I want to give you a good answer, but I can't really think of anything that's because we're always
looking for the same thing with all these guys as far as the work ethic, the preparation and the drive and
desire to be great players. So, they all have to have that whether it's Brock Bowers all the way down to
M.J. Devonshire in the seventh round. So, just trying to find players that fit the identity of the Raiders,
how we play and the identity of our head coach, so that was the goal."

Q: Going in, I think a lot of people on the outside said that you guys needed to address the right tackle situation. I know you got DJ Glaze, but where are you guys on Thayer Munford, because it seems like a lot of people forgot that he existed but he's obviously developing as well?
Telesco: "Have not forgotten. No, it's funny because last week - I've had a lot of time, because the players right now it's phase one so they're lifting and they're conditioning, there's not like football work. But I lucked out there this week and Thayer was doing some just some straight sprinting, some lead ups and some sprints, and you can see how athletic he is for a big man and what a smooth athlete he is. And I love the fact that he got some good snaps under his belt last year, so now we're really excited about where he can go as a player. We need to be eight to nine deep in that offensive line, and I think he can be a big part of that from what I've seen on tape last year and then just a little bit of watching him. You don't see big guys that can really move like that, so it's pretty exciting."

Q: As physically and mentally draining as it can be this whole weekend with the draft, how then on the
flip side is rewarding is it to make those calls and hear the voices and the emotions on the other side of the phone?
Telesco: "Yeah, there were some pretty good ones today, Dylan Laube, Trey Taylor. Trey Taylor was just
so thankful, M.J. [Devonshire] at the end. It's pretty neat. It's funny because when we do it, like with me, I'm making the call and I hate to say it but my mind's already thinking to the next one, because you're just kind of in this mode of just kind of keep working any you kind of forget that the kid on the other end of the phone that is getting this phone call its changing his life. He has a chance to be a professional football player, he knows what city he's going to go to and it's the Raiders, and what's better than that to get a call from the Las Vegas Raiders. So, especially these kids today, there was a lot of emotions on the phone, but it's a life changing journeys for these guys to be here. So yeah, sometimes - I hate to say it, we do this every year and it's part of our job and we kind of lose track of that, but it was kind of cool to hear that from the guys today."

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