Mike Mayock Conerence Call Highlights

Recently Mike Mayock had a conference call, the full transcript is here, but here are some things that were particularly interesting to me.

This is all directly quoted from that link, so much interesting stuff. Seriously the stuff I have copy and pasted here is only about 2.5 to 3 of the 21 PDF file pages there were. Enjoy.

I’m curious what you see from Whitney Mercilus. Obviously, he had a big year, but do you think he projects staying in the four-three and the three-four linebacker? What does he have to kind of show teams to get in the first round where a lot of people think he might be?

MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, he’s a fairly gifted kid. He’s got some natural pass-rush ability. Because he’s an underclassmen, we have no official measurements of him, that’s number one. So we need to see how big the kid is when you talk three-four versus four-three and what positions.

What’s he weigh? How long is he? What’s his arm length? All those things we’ll find out next week. As far as what I’ve seen on tape, he’s a little bit of a one-year wonder. People are going to want to know where he was before this past year again, natural pass-rusher.

I don’t think he’s stout at the point of attack. I’m anxious to see what he weighs. I think he’s one of those borderline, late 1 to mid 2 type guys. I think where he will be helped though is that there aren’t a whole lot of real strong defensive ends and outside linebackers in this draft. So that could push him up a little bit.

Can you give me your impressions of where you think the Lions are right now as an organization and maybe some of the things that they need to be targeting in this year’s draft?

MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, I think they’ve done a great job. I think the marriage at head coach and general manager has been phenomenal. Offensively you could probably make the case that they’re not too dissimilar from the New Orleans Saints at the skill positions. Their quarterback is very good. Their wide receivers that they have match-up with the New Orleans wide receivers.

They’ve got a tight end, actually, two tight ends that can play. Maybe not one of them as good as Jimmy Graham. But they’ve got a couple different tight ends that can play.

The running back situation is one where it’s a little different than New Orleans, but hopefully with the return of injured players like Michael Leshore and Jahvid Best, that should be accomplishable also.

But I think what you’re looking for is a left tackle. Backus is older. You have to protect your quarterback, and if you talk offense, that’s where you need to start. However, what they need to do is continue to get better on defense. I would be looking at corner and linebacker, because you have to feel pretty good, especially if you can re-sign Cliff Avril about your front four.

The popular belief is that after Luck and Griffin, it will be hard to find a pro quarterback. Do you agree with that?

MIKE MAYOCK: It’s kind of interesting, after last year we had Ponder and Locker, go in the first 12 picks and I think we were all surprised. I think the same thing could happen with Tannehill this year, the kid from Texas A&M. He’s coming off a foot injury and will not throw at the combine. I think he’s going to throw at his pro day late in March.  He’s got everything you want. He’s got size, arm strength. He’s a really good athlete. All you have to do is look at his tape as a wide receiver a year ago. He’s a big, strong, fast kid with a really good arm.

What I don’t like about him is he waits for routes to develop before he throws the football. In other words, he lacks anticipation, and because of that he throws late in the coverage and makes mistakes. Now, that’s not atypical for a lot of young quarterbacks in college football, especially ones that only have a year and a half of starting under their belt.

So he hasn’t started as many games as I’d like to see from a typical first round NFL quarterback. You’d typically like to see at least 25 minimum starting assignments in college. But I think he’s going to be a first round guy. Then after that, people will start to evaluate Brandon Weeden from Oklahoma State.

When you look at Weeden, there are two negatives. One is his age. Everybody knows he’s 28 years old. You have to decide as a franchise how much of a negative that is. The other thing is I think he struggles when he has to reset in the pocket. He’s got to quicken up all the process in the pocket, feet, arms, decision making, everything.

He’s 28 years old, and you have to ask yourself at what point is he going to be our starting quarterback? If the answer is immediately, somebody might take him late one. But I think he’s more like a second round pick.

Q. Speaking of Vontaze Burfict, do you see any way, given the liabilities that come with him, he gets taken in the first round and in that, assess maybe how badly he hurt himself with his final year at Arizona State?

MIKE MAYOCK: I think some of the attention throughout the media with all the penalties and all those issues, I think they’re a little bit too much. I just watched a bunch of his tape the other day, and I said forget the penalties and all is that stuff that surrounds him. What kind of football player is he? And I came away unimpressed.

From my perspective, if he gets a chance at a blow-up hit where he can just knock somebody into the next century, he’s going to take it and it’s going to look really good. That’s where he’s impressive. When he sees something and comes downhill and blows it up, it’s really good.

However, the other major percentage of the time is his instincts aren’t good. He gets enveloped by big bodies. He runs around end blocks. For a big, strong guy, he’s nowhere near as good at the point of attack as I thought he would be. So that’s even before you factor in all the other elements.

So from my perspective, I don’t see first round at all.

Mohamed Sinu, would you put Reuben Randle into that same category? I’m curious about receivers who are going to be available to the 49ers at pick number 30?

MIKE MAYOCK: I think Reuben Randle is going to run. I don’t think there is a question about what he’s going to run. I think he’s going to run well. When I say a big bodied wide receiver he’s listed at 6’4″, 209, I believe. I think he’s going to run just fine. I’ve got a first round grade on him.

I have Blackmon, Kendall Wright, Michael Floyd, and Reuben Randle with first round grades. I think they’re the four wideouts that should go in the first round.

From my perspective, Randle should go in the second half of the first round, somewhere in that 20 to 30 range. If he comes into the combine and runs 4.38 at 208 pounds, that might change some things. He might go higher. But he’s extremely well thought of. He’s a guy that could fit for the 49ers depending on how this process plays out.

In all the tape you watched, the All-Star Games you’ve covered and all of that, can you give us maybe five to ten kids off the top of your head who need the combine to up their stock more than most?

MIKE MAYOCK: I think a guy like LaMichael James from Oregon, an underclassmen who we’ve seen in one style of offense. Love to see him come out and what kind of movement has. Not only in the 40, which I expect him to be exceptional at, but also in the cone drills and football drills. It’s a change of pace.

I think he’s a guy that could come in here and people go, wow, that’s pretty good. We’ve already talked about two or three wide receivers. For instance, Michael Floyd at Notre Dame he cleaned himself up on and off the field. Exceptional year. Didn’t play in the Senior Bowl, which was a disappointment to me. He needs to run well. He needs to catch a football. I hope he does everything. I hope he doesn’t put everything just on his pro day at Notre Dame.

From the wide receiver category, Alshon Jeffrey, and Mohamed Sinu for sure all need big combines. The other one Jeff Fuller from Texas A&M had a poor year and another one of those big body guys that struggles to separate.

All of those tight ends, I don’t have a first round tight end. They’re all kind of the build up speed guys. The quick, Hernandez type people where they’re not in line blockers. So there is not a lot you can do at the combine if you’re a tight end except run fast.

Then you get on the defensive side, I mentioned Luke Kuechly from Boston College. If he runs 4.7 in that range, he’s a top 15 pick. If he runs 4.8 or worse, there is going to be a problem. So it’s important for him.

Then you get to the defensive backs where, again, the combine is all about speed and quickness. A guy like Leonard Johnson from Iowa State, I think he plays better than he will time.

If he times poorly, he could be a fourth round pick instead of a second round pick. Trumaine Johnson from Montana, he’s a long, physical corner. Is he a corner or a safety? He might be Malcolm Jenkins.

Harrison Smith from Notre Dame, lot of people think he’s not going to run well. I think he’s going to surprise people. He’s a really good football player. I’ve got a second round grade on him. So off the top of my head, there are probably six or eight guys that this is an important week for.

I have a question about Riley Rieff from Iowa. You had him initially first and now he’s second among your tackles. Did you look at the tape? Is that part of the reason why he slipped is this what do you see out of him and where do you think he could go?

MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, it’s a good question. When the juniors come out, plus or minus January 15th, I have not seen any tape on them. Basically I have to put my first Top 5 list out there the week we do the East-West game, which is in that timeframe. So I’m scrambling to watch tape of juniors at that point.

But I’ve only probably seen a game or two on any of them. So I put the list out there, and over the last month, I’ve had an opportunity to watch more tape. I still like Riley Reiff a lot. I still think he’s a starting left tackle in the NFL. I just don’t think his upside is as high as Matt Kalil who is also an underclassman.

However, when you start looking at the top ends of this draft, from a talent perspective, I don’t think Riley Reiff should be a Top 10 pick, but I think he might be when it’s all said and done. He’s a really, solid, good technician.

When they come out of Iowa, they’re always well coached, especially the offensive linemen. You can plug him in day one. I think he’s a better player right now than Bulaga was when he came out. And Bulaga started right away in Green Bay at right tackle.

To me, his talent would dictate getting drafted somewhere plus or minus 20. But because of the value of the position and where we are in this draft, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was a top 10 pick.

I was wondering about the draft status of Darius Fleming at Notre Dame. I was wondering if his tape at Notre Dame helps him or hurts him? And how important is the combine for a wildcard like him?

MIKE MAYOCK: Yeah, he’s an interesting guy. Because I do those games, I’ve had a close look at him. I’m surprised he’s be not higher rated. The interesting comments I’ve gotten back from NFL people is he doesn’t have a high rating. But once teams put the tape on him, they come back and say, wow, there is something here.

Part of the problem is he’s a tweener from a size perspective. Where do you play him and how do you play him? He’s not long enough or big enough to be a four-three defensive end. He’s been a three-four outside linebacker, not real long again. Can he stand up and play inside in the three-four?

There are all kinds of questions surrounding him, but I think that’s good for him, because they’re asking those questions. They’re trying to find a spot for him. This is what I do know: He has natural pass-rush ability. So no matter where you line him up, hand in the dirt or standing up, there will be value to NFL teams.

To me, he’s a draftable defensive end/outside linebacker/special teams player, and I think he’ll probably look better than people think at the combine. I think he’s going to surprise some people as we get closer to the draft

Q. Mike, could you evaluate Florida’s Chris Rainey?

MIKE MAYOCK: Interesting guy. You have to figure out where do we line him up? Don’t care where he runs, because we know he’s fast. He might run 4.25, who knows what he’s going to run. We know he’s quick, explosive, and fast. He catches the ball well.

So the question is going to be with his size, how do you evaluate him? With the value perspective, it comes down to what your plan is as an organization. If you’re going to draft this kid, how many snaps a game are we going to get, and what do we expect in return games? When you answer those two questions, you come up with a value. A lot of people have a value for him in the third or fourth round, depending on how you answer those two questions.

Q. I’m curious about the process in the film room and the combine. How important do you think that really is? Especially for a guy like Griffin who is playing in a different style of offense in college?

MIKE MAYOCK: I think at the quarterback position, after you evaluate him as an athlete with arm strength and footwork and all the rest, I think the meetings are critical. It’s not only the meetings at the combine. It’s the meetings at the pro day, they come down to your school and spend a whole day with you. When you are talking about a potential top ten pick at the quarterback position, get done all the measurables, get done all that stuff, what’s most important to me is the kid has to have a passion for the game of football. He’s got to have a football IQ, and he’s got to have an unbelievable work ethic.

Those are the three most important things after you’ve evaluated all the measurables. You need to find that out about Robert Griffin. You need to find out how much he loves the games. Is he going to be the first one in the morning, the last one to leave, what is his aptitude to learn, put the tape on, can he learn?

This is what we call this route and how it reads. Then you put the tape on and say this is what we do. How quickly can he put that tape on and spit it back to you?

So I think a lot of this not just for Robert Griffin, but Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden, it’s critical to get in the rooms and resonate confidence, look people in the eye and show them you can be a leader, and basically the face of your franchise.

Q. You hear all the Cam comparisons to RG3. Is that fair? Or does it even make any sense to do that?

MIKE MAYOCK: No, to me it makes no sense at all. I think this kid’s — the similarities are that they’re both play makers. That part of it is fair. They’re both play makers.

I think RG3 is a more natural thrower of the football, even though Cam was also. I think RG3 looks down the field and throws more routes. I don’t think we have any of the off the field issues that we had with Cam.

So from my perspective, you’re looking at a clean kid, and trying to evaluate the football piece of it. So to me, it’s a completely different animal.

Q. Jordan White, the receiver out of Western, he has huge numbers but the knee surgeries. Is he draftable?

MIKE MAYOCK: It’s a good question. As a matter of fact, it’s a note I have. A lot of it depends on the medical. That’s the same thing I’m going to be asking NFL teams, because I don’t know where the medical is. Wish I could help you more.