Raiders' GM Tom Telesco From NFL Combine
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Las Vegas Raiders are invading the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week on a hunt to find the next great Silver and Black players.
New General Manager Tom Telesco spoke from the podium to media worldwide about the Silver and Black, and we have it in its entirety.
You can watch the entire press conference above and read the transcript below.
While he has only been in the desert briefly, Las Vegas Raiders GM Tom Telesco has done an excellent job so far with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
General Manager Tom Telesco On his evaluation of the Raiders since he has arrived...
General Manager Tom Telesco: "I think the one thing that jumped off kind of doing a deeper dive is how tough a football team it was, and I would say that on offense, defense and the kicking game. But tough, resilient and really committed to the process. Just watching the whole situation, how the season played out from how it started and then your head coach is no longer there, and then how you finished it with a new head coach. But it's a really tough-minded, mentally tough football team. So, that's what kind of came out the most. And then you're talking about both sides of ball, offensively we have a lot of work to do, I think that's pretty easy to see. I kind of liked even watching how Adian O'Connell kind of handled the situation. You're talking about a rookie first of all, coming and playing -- by the time he starts playing a lot, he no longer has his head coach, it was also the offensive coordinator, so it's a new offensive staff essentially that he's kind of working with. And then we had some injuries late in the year with the left tackle and even Josh Jacobs being out, seeing how well he played late in the year. But we've got a lot of work to do on offense there.
"And then defensively, I think a lot of it is probably from the continuity of playing the whole year, how well they played. And what a great job Patrick Graham did with the group on a day-to-day basis, but then how they played on the field on Sundays and the mentality that they played with, which is a lot of what you see on defense. And then on special teams we have some pretty elite guys as far as long snapper, punter and kicker, which believe me is great to have. We've got work to do on all three, but I liked what I saw, the toughness of the football team that's there."
On what part of the combine is most valuable...
Telesco: "A couple things, one for me, I love being around our guys at the combine. When I talk about our guys, like our personnel staff. Especially right now to get to know them better. So, I spent a lot of time just talking football with all the scouts, all the personnel people. I love that part of it because we're with each other all day long. I've been in some different committee meetings the last couple of days, but starting tomorrow I'll be with our guys every day, so that's a big part of it. Next part of that I'm not a part of, but the medical process is huge, we really need that. I'm not part of that at all, but that's the most important part of the combine. And then all the measurable data that we receive, that's very important to me to have. Do I necessarily have to watch it all the time? Not necessarily. I don't need to see somebody get weighed in and see how tall they are. I don't need to see them do a broad jump, but that data to us is very important as we make decisions. So, those are probably the most important things. The interviews are nice, but in the end in a 15- or 20-minute interview there's not a whole lot of new ground that's broken. Our scouts have already done so much background work on the players, so we already have that information. You get a little feel for their personality, but in the end you need to spend more time with the kids than just 15-20 minutes. So, the interview is nice, but it's not a huge part of it for me."
On Zamir White and the Raiders running back room...
Telesco: "From what I've seen he's a very good player. He has size, he has speed, he has some nice vision, had some production late in the year. But the way we're going to play and the way a lot of teams play, is you need more than one back. I don't really see a lead-back type thing. You've got to have more than one, you need to have two, you need to have three. They all have different roles with the team. The way this game is played it's hard to put that all on one person."
On the toughness of the Raiders in the last half of the 2023 season and if that's something that can carry over to this season...
Telesco: "Well, I mean you always want toughness. But that's a good question as far as -- there's not always a lot of carryover from one year to the next. We think there is, but there's not. But there's certain things that are, and the culture you built is part of that and that toughness is part of that, which Antonio [Pierce] has already kind of instilled in the football team, so that what we can really build on moving forward. But yeah, that's something we can build on, but yeah that's something we're looking for anyway. Like this is a tough league, you've got to have that element no matter what."
On evaluating wide receivers' ages in the draft...
Telesco: "Like any position, as you age you sometimes you get a little bit better at it, right? Your technique is better. But a lot of times college players at every position, sometimes you're so much more talented than the player you're going to play against, you're athletic ability can just kind of take over, because at the college level, you're not always playing against another pro prospect. And then you get in this league and your ability can only take you so far. A lot of it is fundamentals and technique to try and raise that game. So, it's not always a bad thing getting older. Now with every position, you've got to try and see where the decline starts. But the receiver position, you can still have some success in this league just on route running, adjustment, hands, and maybe not quite as fast as you were, when you were 19, 20, 21 years old, but still be very productive."
On what characteristics he wants in a quarterback...
Telesco: "How many do I get? The two for me are probably leadership and toughness. I think you have to start with that. He's got to be somebody that when you're in the huddle and those 10 other players are looking you in the eyes, that you can lead that group and you've got to have that. So, those are the two most important things for me. And then it kind of goes into preparation skills for that position it's like none other, and probably no other sport in professional sports. So, talking about leadership, toughness, preparation skills, and then when you get to the physical abilities, then you start having sliding scales for different things because there's no perfect players, you have to realize that, but I would start with leadership and toughness and work my way from there."
On some things that could cause concerns when evaluating a quarterback...
Telesco: "It's probably like I was just saying before. Preparation skills in this league are so important. Everybody is so talented in the NFL, you have to find your edges, and at that position, the work you do Monday through Saturday is just as important as Sunday. So, if you had a prospect at that position that really didn't like the process, maybe didn't love the game of football, didn't like preparing, just wanted to go out and just kind of wing it, that would be a big concern for me."
On the quarterback draft class being mostly transfers and how it impacts his evaluation...
Telesco: "Yeah, it's probably less now. There are just so many transfers right now, you just have to deal with it. If this was 15, 20 years ago, sometimes a little bit more of a red flag. It really isn't anymore. So, it does take us a little bit more time as we do our background research because you have to go to multiple schools, talk to multiple scouts. It takes a little extra time to put it together, but I don't see that as a red flag for kids transferring."
On how willing the team is to trade up in the draft...
Telesco: "Since we're in late February, I really wouldn't take anything off the table as far as going up, back."
On his first impressions of new running backs coach Carnell Williams...
Telesco: "It was pretty late in the process I think when we brought him in. I just met him I think last week for the first time. So, I think Antonio [Pierce] was looking for someone with a playing background; not necessarily a pro player, but the fact that he's a pro player I think helps in that room. He's got some great experience at Auburn, both as a position coach and as a head coach - that's always nice to have. So, I haven't got a chance to really get to know him yet, but I love his background. I like what his resume looks like."
On the rankings of the quarterbacks in the draft class...
Telesco: "I guess the one thing I'll say is this, like there's really no consensus boards at least since I've been in the league there isn't. You've got 32 different teams that look at things 32 different ways. So our ranking may be different than other rankings, so I don't know if there's necessarily a top three and a next two or a next three. I'm not going to go down my list with you now, but I don't even really have a list at this point right now. So, we'll work through it like we do all the other positions. But there's just not a consensus of like what the ranking is. It's going to be a little bit different for everybody, depending on what you're looking for."
On the primary things he's looking for when sitting down with quarterbacks at the combine...
Telesco: "Yeah, I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not really one who needs to sit down and go eye-to-eye and then walk away in 15 minutes and say: 'I know if he can play or not.' I'm not that good. But what I really get from them right now is talking with all of our scouts that have really spent a lot of time watching these players, and then as we move into the next month, talking to our coaches as they evaluate these players, then I'll have my own opinions as well. We'll kind of take all the information in and then try and make a decision on whatever position it is."
On what he can gather from a meeting with a prospect personality-wise...
Telesco: "There's just all different personalities. It's not like we're looking for one personality. There are all different personalities for different positions. I certainly would never grade someone's personality. I just want to know are they committed to football? Do they love to play? Do they want to get better? Look, we can all give those answers, but a lot of it is we need to see examples of that. And a lot of those examples happened in the last three or four years with these players, whether from the from their recruiting into college all the way through college and try and get some information that way as far as experiences more so than somebody who is just going to tell me what I want to hear."
On whether wide receiver Davante Adams is available for trade...
Telesco: "He's a Raider."
On if he plans on using the franchise tag...
Telesco: "Yeah, I mean as a GM, you never want to take anything off the table, but I don't anticipate using that tag this year."
On how important it is to bring running back Josh Jacobs back and what he means to the team...
Telesco: "Yeah, I mean he's a high-level player, and I do want to establish a philosophy with the Raiders that we like to resign our own. Doesn't bother me that I didn't draft him, he's a Raider and he was drafted by the Raiders and he's a high-level player. So yeah, we're going to explore pretty hard to see if we can bring him back here and kind of go from there. But as far as a player in the running game, passing game, pass protection, he can really help you win games."
On what the hiring of JoJo Wooden as Senior Director of Player Personnel means for the team...
Telesco: "Yeah, I've worked with JoJo [Wooden] for a long time, my whole tenure with the Chargers. I always thought he came up the right way. He was with the Jets for a long time, came up in that [Bill] Parcells philosophy, knows football really well. Just really well experienced both in college and pro scouting. He's really experienced on my style of working, and he has a great reputation in the league. So even when he came in our building, he knew a lot of the Raiders staffers already, they know him well. So the transition has been really smooth, and it's just adding another person that that really knows the game well, has great people skills. He really worked with coaches well. It's comforting on our staff between JoJo, Dwayne Joseph and Champ Kelly, we have people who could be a GM somewhere and most likely will be GMs at some point. So, I need that help around me. I need those ideas from people like that, and we have a younger crew people coming up that may fit that criteria as well."
On how important it was to keep Champ Kelly to be able to help him get familiar with the current roster...
Telesco: "Yeah, I think his institutional knowledge is really important, but aside from that, he's really good at what he does. And there's a lot of good people in the building right now, so it's always good to have."
On if he factors in the age of prospects with the number of players who spent extra years in college due to COVID-19...
Telesco: "Yeah, it's been so much different. I guess it's probably different by position. Like the quarterback position, I don't think it's a bad thing if you come out a little bit older, and maybe even a better thing. You've got more experience under your belt, more maturity at that position. Other positions, it may or may not matter, it's just something we have to deal with. But I think after we get through this COVID group of kids that come through, it'll probably really come back to normal a little bit as far as the normal ages of kids coming out. Typically as a scouting staff, we always say we'd like a younger player because the guy has a chance to develop, maybe has a little bit more ceiling. Is that true or not? I'm not really sure. But I do know that we're going to have some players coming in the league that have good experience and may be ready to play a little bit earlier than maybe in times past."
On how much impact Mark Davis has on selections and wanting to know what the staff is doing...
Telesco: "I mean, he's been in the league a long time, he knows football very well, he's the owner of the team. But it's great because there's actually good conversations, great feedback, he's a great person to bounce ideas off of. But yeah, he's got a very big say of kind of what I'm doing and what Antonio [Pierce] is doing. It's a pretty good process so far."
On if he and Mark Davis have discussed how the selection process will go in the draft room...
Telesco: "No, I'm pretty sure he hired me to do a job. But part of my job is explaining, 'Hey, this is what we're doing, this was the thought process behind it.' Usually those discussions happen way before. I don't think anything like when the clock's ticking down behind me and I'm holding a card in my hand and someone says: 'Hey, I don't want to do that.' I've got a bigger problem going on. So no, it'll be a pretty smooth process."
On if having a franchise quarterback with the Chargers affected the time he has spent scouting quarterbacks in college over the last few years...
Telesco: "I'll say this, the way we've always scouted, we scout every position like our roster is empty. So, just because at the last team we had a quarterback, doesn't mean I didn't look at quarterbacks. I mean, we look at everything. You never know what's going to happen in this league. So, I've seen most of them, it's a pretty deep class. The last five or six years, especially skill positions as far as receivers and quarterbacks, they've been very deep classes and they've been coming in the league and contributing earlier than they used to. I think a lot of it has to do with high school football and summer 7-on-7, the fact that teams throw the ball so much more in high school than they used to, as well as in college. So, we're getting players coming to this level, quarterbacks and receivers, who are really pretty skilled. So, I think that's a positive, but I think this year's class is relatively deep. I think next year's class -- it's really early on, but there could be some depth there as well."
On how he evaluates players coming from college that are coached really well and the ceiling they may have versus players that may not have been coached as well...
Telesco: "Now that's a pretty in-depth question. Certainly we love players that are coached well, and there's a lot of programs like that and even starting from high school to college and college to pro. Their base may be a little bit higher. But I think just because you're coached really well in college doesn't mean that you're tapped out and you get to this level and you won't be able to have any more gains. So look, there's some great coaches around there, Georgia has a tremendous program, you're getting pro-ready players along with some other programs as well, but that doesn't necessarily put a ceiling on them at our level."
On how the relationship building has gone with him and Head Coach Antonio Pierce since he's been there..
Telesco: "Yeah, it's been really cool, and it was it was nice having the Super Bowl in town, so I got to spend a little bit more time with him. What I thought was really, really neat with him was watching him go through the process of hiring assistant coaches, because I've been through that process before and sometimes it gets a little bit hectic. Sometimes you do some moves a little bit too quickly where you might hire a good coach but maybe it doesn't necessarily fit maybe the vision or philosophy you're looking for. And he really took his time. He talked to a lot of people, did a lot of research, took in a lot of opinions, and put his staff in and took his time doing it. I mean really we didn't fill the staff until probably last week, I think we filled it right there. But to see him work through that process. I'm like you can say he is a first-time head coach, but man he handled that like a pro to me. So, I thought that was just a great sign to see."
On what he thinks of the running back market, especially after what happened last year...
Telesco: "Market, I don't know, but I do know there are a lot of backs who are available this year. So, I guess it remains to be seen, what other people think, but the talent pool at that position in free agency is relatively high."
The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.
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