Las Vegas Raiders GM Tom Telesco spoke from the podium at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, and we have it all for you.
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00:00 >> We feel like- >> Vinny, you start.
00:03 >> [INAUDIBLE]
00:13 >> I think the one thing that jumped off,
00:15 kind of doing a deeper dive is how tough a football team it was.
00:20 And I would say that on offense, defense, and the kicking game.
00:23 But tough, resilient, and really committed to the process,
00:27 just watching the whole situation, how the season played out, how it started.
00:32 And then your head coach is no longer there, and
00:34 then how you finished it with the new head coach.
00:37 But a really tough-minded, mentally tough football team.
00:40 So that's what kind of came out the most.
00:42 When you talk about both sides of the ball,
00:44 like offensively, we have a lot of work to do.
00:46 I think that's pretty easy to see.
00:48 I kind of liked even watching how Eden O'Connell kind of handled the situation.
00:52 You're talking about a guy, a rookie, first of all, coming and playing.
00:56 By the time he started playing a lot,
00:57 he no longer has his head coach who's also the offensive coordinator.
01:00 So it's a new offensive staff, essentially, he's kind of working with.
01:04 And then we had some injuries late in the year with the left tackle, and
01:06 even Josh Jacobs being out, seeing how well he played late in the year.
01:09 But we've got a lot of work to do on offense there.
01:11 And then defensively, I think a lot of it's probably from the continuity of
01:14 their playing the whole year, how well it played.
01:16 And what a great job Patrick Graham did with the group on a day-to-day basis.
01:22 But then how they played on the field on Sundays, and
01:24 the mentality that they played with, which is a lot of what you see on defense.
01:27 And the special teams, we have some pretty elite guys in that,
01:31 as far as long snapper, punter, and kicker, which is, believe me,
01:35 it's great to have.
01:36 So, but we've got work to do on all three, but
01:39 I like what I saw, the toughness of the football team, that's there.
01:42 >> Tom, for you, when you come to the combine, what's most valuable to you?
01:46 Is it the interviews?
01:47 Is it getting the actual real numbers on a guy's size, height, speed?
01:51 What stands out to you?
01:52 >> A couple things.
01:54 One, for me, I love being around our guys at the combine.
01:56 We're talking about our guys, our personnel staff,
01:59 especially right now, to get to know them better.
02:02 So I spend a lot of time just talking football with all the scouts,
02:05 all the personnel people.
02:06 I love that part of it, because we're with each other all day long.
02:09 I mean, I've been in some different committee meetings the last couple days,
02:11 but starting tomorrow, be with our guys every day.
02:14 So that's a big part of it.
02:15 Next part of that, I'm not a part of, but the medical process is huge.
02:20 We really need that.
02:21 I'm not part of that at all, but that's the most important part of the combine.
02:25 And then all the measurable data that we receive,
02:28 that's very important to me to have.
02:30 Do I necessarily have to watch it all the time?
02:32 Not necessarily.
02:33 I don't need to see somebody get weighed in and see how tall they are.
02:36 I don't need to see them do a broad jump.
02:38 But that data to us is very important as we make decisions.
02:42 So those are probably the most important things.
02:43 The interviews are nice, but in the end, in a 15 or
02:47 20 minute interview, there's not a whole lot of new ground that's broken.
02:51 Our scouts have already done so much background work on the players.
02:54 So we already have that information.
02:56 You get a little feel for their personality.
02:58 But in the end, you need to spend more time with the kids in just 15, 20 minutes.
03:02 So the interview is nice, but it's not a huge part of it for me.
03:06 >> [INAUDIBLE]
03:11 >> I'm trying to hear the back end of that.
03:12 >> [INAUDIBLE]
03:18 >> From what I've seen, he's a very good player.
03:20 He has size, he has speed, he has some nice vision,
03:23 has some production late in the year.
03:24 But the way we're gonna play and
03:27 the way a lot of teams play is you need more than one back.
03:29 I don't really see a lead back type thing.
03:32 You gotta have more than one.
03:33 You need to have two, you need to have three.
03:35 They all have different roles with the team.
03:37 The way this game is played, it's hard to put that all on one person.
03:40 >> How do you remember when you mentioned mental tough?
03:43 >> Well, unbeknownst to most people, including all the local beat writers,
03:49 I've been subconsciously playing tough.
03:54 >> Well, I mean, you'd always want toughness.
03:57 No, but that's a good question as far as,
03:59 there's not always a lot of carry over from one year to the next.
04:02 We think there is if there's not, but there are certain things that are in
04:05 the culture you've built part of that and that toughness is part of that,
04:08 which Antonio is already kind of instilled in the football team.
04:11 So that we can really build on moving forward.
04:13 I've got everybody here today, look at this.
04:16 But yeah, that's something we can't build on.
04:19 But that's something we're looking for anyway.
04:20 This is a tough move.
04:21 You got to have that element no matter what.
04:23 >> [INAUDIBLE]
04:33 >> Hey, with like any position as you age,
04:40 you sometimes get a little bit better at it, right?
04:42 Your technique is, but a lot of times college players at every position,
04:46 sometimes you're so much more talented than the player you're gonna play against.
04:49 Your athletic ability can just kind of take over.
04:51 Cuz at the college level, you're not always playing against another pro prospect.
04:56 And then you get in this league and your ability can only take you so far.
04:59 A lot of it's fundamentals and technique to try and raise that game.
05:02 So it's not always a bad thing getting older.
05:05 Now with every position, you gotta try and see where the decline starts.
05:09 But the receiver position, you can still have some success in this league,
05:12 just on route running, adjustment hands.
05:14 And maybe not quite as fast as you were when you're 19, 20, 21 years old, but
05:19 still be very productive.
05:20 >> About 80% of it.
05:24 >> How many do I get?
05:25 >> [LAUGH] >> There's a lot of different ones.
05:26 >> Yeah.
05:27 Yeah.
05:28 The two for me are probably leadership and toughness.
05:31 I think you have to start with that.
05:33 There's gotta be some way that when you're in the huddle, and
05:35 those players are looking you in the eyes, that you can lead that group.
05:40 And you gotta have that.
05:41 So those are two most important things for me.
05:44 And then it kinda goes into preparation skills for
05:47 that position is like none other.
05:48 Probably no other sport in professional sports.
05:51 So talking about leadership, toughness, preparation skills.
05:54 And then we get to the physical abilities.
05:56 Then you start having sliding scales for different things.
05:58 Cuz there's no perfect players.
06:00 You have to realize that.
06:01 But I would start with leadership and toughness, work my way from there.
06:05 >> About 80% of my funding rate, what are some of the things that cause concern?
06:10 >> That's a good question.
06:11 I think- >> Causing concerns when you're
06:13 valuing a quarterback?
06:14 >> Yeah, some of the things we make are very,
06:18 there's a layering.
06:21 And although results are- >> Yeah,
06:24 it's probably like I was just saying before.
06:27 Preparation skills in this league are so important.
06:30 Everybody's so talented in the NFL.
06:32 You gotta find your edges.
06:33 And at that position, the work you do Monday through Saturday is just as
06:36 important as Sunday.
06:38 So if you had a prospect at that position that really didn't like the process,
06:41 maybe didn't love the game of football, didn't like preparing,
06:44 just wanna go out and just kinda wing it, that would be a big concern for me.
06:48 >> About 80% of the quarterbacks are transfers.
06:51 Does that impact at all in your evaluation?
06:54 And now is it less than maybe it would have been ten years ago?
06:58 >> Yeah, it's probably less now.
07:00 There are just so many transfers right now.
07:02 You just have to deal with it.
07:04 If this was 15, 20 years ago, sometimes a little bit more of a red flag.
07:08 It really isn't anymore.
07:09 So it does take us a little bit more time as we do our background and
07:13 research cuz you gotta go to multiple schools, talk to multiple scouts.
07:16 It takes a little extra time to put it together.
07:18 But I don't see that as a red flag for kids transferring.
07:21 >> How willing might you be to move up the board if there's a quarterback you
07:25 really like?
07:26 You should be able to assess the whys.
07:29 How willing might you be to move up the board if there's a quarterback
07:35 that you just absolutely love?
07:37 >> Yeah, since we're in late February,
07:40 I really wouldn't take anything off the table as far as going up back, yeah, so.
07:44 >> Yeah, so first of all, I know you have a window into
07:49 the true depth of someone's coaching ability.
07:56 >> It was pretty late in the process, I think, when we brought him in.
07:58 I think I just met him last week for the first time.
08:02 So I think Antonio was looking for
08:06 someone with a playing background, not necessarily a pro player.
08:09 But the fact that he's a pro player, I think, helps in that room.
08:11 He's got some great experience at Auburn, both as a conditioning coach and
08:16 as a head coach, that's always nice to have.
08:18 So I haven't got a chance to really get to know him yet, but I love his background.
08:21 I like what his resume looks like.
08:22 >> [INAUDIBLE]
08:32 >> The only thing I'll say is this,
08:34 there's really no consensus for us, at least since I've been in the league,
08:37 there isn't.
08:38 You got 32 different teams that look at things 32 different ways.
08:42 So our ranking may be different than other rankings.
08:44 I don't know if there's necessarily a top three, an X2, or an X3.
08:47 I'm not gonna go down my list with you now, but
08:50 I don't even really have a list at this point right now.
08:52 So we'll work through it like we do all the other positions.
08:55 But there's just not a consensus of what the ranking is.
09:00 Could be a little bit different for everybody,
09:01 depending on what you're looking for.
09:02 >> [INAUDIBLE]
09:10 >> Yeah, I'm gonna be honest with you.
09:12 I'm not really one that needs to sit down and go eye to eye and
09:14 then walk away in 15 minutes and say, I know if you can play or not.
09:17 I'm not that good.
09:19 But what I really get from right now is talking with all of our scouts that
09:22 have really spent a lot of time watching these players.
09:25 And then as we move into the next month,
09:27 talking to our coaches as they evaluate these players.
09:30 And I'll have my own opinions as well.
09:32 We'll kinda take all the information in and
09:33 then try and make a decision on whatever position it is.
09:36 >> [INAUDIBLE]
09:40 >> You know what, there's just all
09:41 different personalities.
09:42 So it's not like we're looking for one personality.
09:44 There are all different personalities for different positions.
09:46 I certainly would never grade someone's personality.
09:48 I just wanna know, are they committed to football?
09:52 Do they love to play?
09:53 Do they wanna get better?
09:54 And we can all give those answers, but a lot of it is we need to see examples of that.
10:00 And a lot of those examples happen in the last three or
10:02 four years with these players.
10:03 Whether from the recruiting into college all the way through college,
10:06 you're trying to get some information that way as far as experiences.
10:09 More so than somebody just gonna tell me what I wanna hear.
10:11 >> [INAUDIBLE]
10:18 >> He's a raider.
10:19 >> Different spaces.
10:20 >> [INAUDIBLE]
10:23 >> Yep.
10:24 >> The space that you have to throw in the pocket, the space down the middle.
10:29 >> Yeah, I mean, as a G, we never wanna take anything off the table, but
10:33 I don't anticipate using that tag this year.
10:35 >> How important is it for you to give back since you mentioned having
10:37 running back Mike Fede again?
10:38 What do you think?
10:40 >> Yeah, I mean, he's a high level player.
10:43 And I do wanna establish a philosophy with the Raiders that we like to resign our own.
10:46 Doesn't bother me that I didn't draft him.
10:50 He's a Raider, and he was drafted by a Raider.
10:51 So he's a high level player.
10:53 So yeah, we're gonna explore it pretty hard to see if we can bring him back here
10:56 and kind of go from there.
10:57 But he's, as far as a player, running game, pass game,
11:00 pass protection, really help you with these.
11:03 >> [INAUDIBLE]
11:11 >> Yeah, I've worked with JoJo for a long time, my whole tenure with the Chargers.
11:16 I always thought he came up the right way.
11:17 He was with the Jets for a long time, came up in that Parcells philosophy.
11:21 He knows football really well.
11:22 He's just really well experienced, both in college and pro scouting.
11:26 He's really experienced in how my style of working.
11:29 And he has a great reputation in the league.
11:32 So even when he came in our building, he knew a lot of the Raider staffers already.
11:36 They know him well.
11:37 So the transition's been really smooth.
11:39 And it's just adding another person that really knows the game well,
11:42 has great people skills, can really work with coaches well.
11:45 It's comforting on our staff between JoJo and Dwayne Joseph and Champ Kelly.
11:50 We have people that could be GM somewhere and
11:53 most likely will be GM at some point.
11:55 So I need that help around me.
11:57 I need those ideas from people like that.
12:00 And we have some younger crew people coming up that may fit that criteria as well.
12:03 >> How important was it for
12:04 you on Champ Kelly to be able to help you get familiar with the current roster?
12:08 >> Yeah, I think his institutional knowledge is really important.
12:10 But aside from that, he's really good at what he does.
12:13 And there's a lot of good people in the building right now.
12:15 So it's always good to have.
12:17 >> [INAUDIBLE]
12:22 >> Yeah, it's been so much different.
12:32 I guess it's probably different by position.
12:37 Like the quarterback position,
12:38 I don't think it's a bad thing if you come out a little bit older.
12:40 And maybe even a better thing.
12:41 You've got more experience on your belt, more maturity at that position.
12:45 Other positions, it may or may not matter.
12:49 I don't, it's just something we have to deal with.
12:52 But I think after we get through this COVID group of kids that come through,
12:55 we'll probably really come back to normal a little bit as far as the normal ages
12:58 of kids coming out.
12:59 Typically, as a scouting staff, we always say we like a younger player because he
13:03 has a chance to develop, maybe has a little bit more ceiling.
13:06 Is that true or not?
13:07 I'm not really sure.
13:08 But I do know that we're gonna have some players coming in the league that have
13:11 good experience, maybe ready to play a little bit earlier than maybe in times past.
13:14 >> How much impact does Mr.
13:15 Davis have on the current level of our teams?
13:17 [INAUDIBLE]
13:22 >> Yeah, I mean, he's been in the league a long time.
13:24 He knows football very well.
13:26 He's the owner of the team.
13:28 But he's got this great, it's actually good conversations, great feedback.
13:32 It's a great person to bounce ideas off of.
13:34 But yeah, he's got a very big say in kind of what I'm doing and
13:40 what Antonio's doing.
13:41 And it's a pretty good process so far.
13:43 >> [INAUDIBLE]
13:48 >> I guess we're gonna find out,
13:49 cuz I haven't turned the card in yet.
13:50 >> Have you talked about that yet?
13:52 I mean, just- >> No, I'm pretty sure he hired me to do
13:56 a job.
13:57 But part of my job is explaining, hey, this is what we're doing.
14:00 This was a thought process behind it.
14:02 Usually those discussions happen way before.
14:04 I don't think anything like when the clock's ticking down behind me and
14:07 I'm holding a card in my hand and someone says, hey, I don't wanna do that.
14:11 I got a bigger problem going on.
14:12 So no, it'll be a pretty smooth process.
14:15 >> I'm sure you guys thought it just got impossible to use the card.
14:18 And I'm sure it happened just for perfect, you may not have been able to do.
14:20 And that's when the quarterbacks, and
14:22 then we have the ones in the quarterbacks by so far it's obviously been private.
14:26 >> I'll say this, and the way we've always scouted,
14:30 we scout every position like our roster is empty.
14:33 So just because at the last team we had a quarterback doesn't mean I didn't look
14:35 at quarterbacks.
14:36 I mean, we look at everything.
14:37 You never know what's gonna happen in this league.
14:39 So yeah, so I've seen most of them.
14:42 It's a pretty deep class.
14:46 The last five or six years, especially skilled positions for
14:48 our receivers and quarterbacks.
14:50 They've been very deep classes and
14:51 they've been coming in the league and contributing earlier than they used to.
14:54 I think a lot of it has to do with high school football and summer seven on seven.
14:59 Fact that teams throw the ball so much more in high school than they used to,
15:02 as well as in college.
15:03 So we're getting players coming this level,
15:05 quarterbacks, receivers that are really pretty skilled.
15:08 So I think that's a positive, but I think this year's class is relatively deep.
15:11 I think next year's class is really early on, but
15:15 there could be some depth there as well.
15:16 >> [INAUDIBLE]
15:26 >> Now, that's a pretty in-depth question.
15:35 Certainly we love players that are coached well.
15:38 And there's a lot of programs like that.
15:40 And even starting from high school to college and college to pro,
15:43 their base may be a little bit higher.
15:45 But I think just cuz you're coached really well in college doesn't mean that
15:49 you're tapped out and you get to this level and
15:50 you won't be able to have any more gains.
15:53 So, yeah, look, there's some great coaches around there.
15:56 Georgia has a tremendous program.
15:58 You're already getting pro-ready players,
16:00 along with some other programs as well.
16:01 But that doesn't necessarily put a ceiling on them at our level.
16:05 >> Do two more, guys, two more.
16:06 >> [INAUDIBLE]
16:10 >> Yeah, it's been really cool.
16:11 And it was nice having the Super Bowl in town, so
16:13 I got a chance to spend a little bit more time with them.
16:15 What I thought was really, really neat with him was watching him go through
16:19 the process of hiring the assistant coaches.
16:21 Cuz I've been through that process before, and
16:22 sometimes it gets a little bit hectic.
16:24 Sometimes you do some moves a little bit too quickly, where you might hire a good
16:29 coach, but maybe it doesn't necessarily fit maybe the vision or
16:32 philosophy you're looking for.
16:33 And he really took his time, he talked to a lot of people, did a lot of research,
16:39 took in a lot of opinions, and put his staff together, and took his time doing it.
16:43 I mean, really, we didn't fill the staff until probably last week.
16:46 I think we filled it right there.
16:48 But to see him work through that process, I'm like, you can say he's the first time
16:53 head coach, but man, he handled that like a pro to me.
16:54 So I thought that was just a great sign to see.
16:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]
17:00 All right.
17:01 I thought I was done.
17:02 >> What do you think of the running back market this season?
17:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]
17:10 >> Yeah, market I don't know, but I do know there's a lot of backs that are
17:14 available this year.
17:14 So I guess it remains to be seen what other people think, but
17:20 the talent pool at that position in free agency is relatively high.
17:23 >> Thanks, everyone.