Ziegler's Secret Weapon: Rock Ya-Sin Talks Joining Raiders

HENDERSON, Nev.--Dave Ziegler has done nothing but impress since taking over as the new general manager for owner Mark Davis at the helm of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Ziegler has assembled an amazing team around him and started accumulating talent for an already deep roster. But, perhaps one of his signings is most underrated and could end up the Silver and Black secret weapon. That would be defensive back Rock Ya-Sin.

You can watch the entire Ya-Sin press conference above, or read the transcript below.

Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin

Q: How have the Raiders talked to you about where you fit in on this defense?

Ya-Sin: “I think they just want me to come in and compete, get better every day, bring intensity and competitiveness to the room.”

Q: I know you have kind of an interesting path to the league with your college journey and obviously you got a big opportunity with the Colts. What’s kind of your mentality coming into this new opportunity with the Raiders and kind of a new chance to prove yourself in another place?

Ya-Sin: “It's a fresh start. A chance to show my ability, a chance to compete, a chance to play with really, really good players and play for really great coaches. So, I'm looking forward to opportunity.”

Q: How would you characterize your development over the last few years? And how are you now compared to the player you were coming into the league?

Ya-Sin: “I feel like I've continued to get better. I feel like I've ascended each year and got better technique-wise. Just becoming more polished, professional, and I feel like I continue to get better and continue to become better and more polished a what I do.”

Q: I was reading up on your background and saw that you're the kind of guy that used to work out on your high school football field with your coach, with the headlights on. You got this background in wrestling. What kind of assets do you take from that background that you still apply to your game today?

Ya-Sin: “Just the work ethic. Nothing is given to me. I just come out and work hard every day. I try to be the hardest worker in the room because sooner or later it pays off. You might not see it right now, but sooner or later it'll pay off, and it's paid off for me throughout my career, and hopefully it will continue to pay off.”

Q: You got a chance to get a close-up look at the Raiders last year in kind of a playoff game back there in Indianapolis. Anything that stood out to you about the Raiders and how they fought in that game to help get themselves in the playoffs?

Ya-Sin: “Yeah, the Raiders, they play hard, man. They play hard for four quarters. 60 minutes. They continue to fight and fight and fight. We're never out of it. Raiders are never out of it, man. So, I'm looking forward to playing with those guys.”

Q: Had you discussed the possibility of being traded and did you find out about it?

Ya-Sin: “No, this was just yesterday, last minute. I got a call from the Colts GM letting me know that a trade went through and that I was going to be a Las Vegas Raider.”

Q: Just having played the Raiders the past couple of years, is there a certain player that you're really looking forward to going up against every day to get the most out of them and making you a better player?

Ya-Sin: “All of them. I feel like the Raiders have really, really good wide receivers, good tight ends, a good quarterback, a good offense and great coaches. So, I want to get out and compete against everybody and learn and get better competing against everybody.”

Q: I know you said that the trade was kind of a surprise, and it came out pretty quickly, but once you got to see that Chandler Jones was over there on one defensive end and Max Crosby rushing the passer on the other end, how excited do you get about the possibilities of what this defense could be all about?

Ya-Sin: “My first emotion wasn’t really shock; it was more excitement. I know the kind of culture that's here. I know the kind of players that are here. I was just looking forward to playing with these guys and winning a lot of games.”

Q: Obviously, it was a disappointing end of the year for you guys in Indianapolis. How have you kind of processed that and the fact that maybe there is like unfinished business left there? How do you sort of bring that here and make sure that doesn't happen to you guys again?

Ya-Sin: “I'm just going to be me. I’m going to come in and compete every day, work hard and try to get better. And that's all I can do, is do my part to come out every day trying to get better, compete and don't take anything for granted Just understand like last year in Indy we had opportunity to go to playoffs two games and we lost both of those games. I felt like we kind of became complacent and we let our foot off the gas. We won't do that here in Las Vegas.”

Q: Do you know much about this scheme that Coach Graham employs? And if so, what's your take on it?

Ya-Sin: “What I know about Coach [Patrick] Graham is that he's a great coach. Coach [Jason] Simmons, great coach. The whole defensive staff, offensive staff too. A lot of really, really great coaches. Really big names, guys who are well respected around the league. So, I'm just looking forward to learning from these guys. Whatever scheme we're playing, whatever defense we're playing, I'm just looking forward to learn from these guys and continue to get better.”

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