Director of Player Personnel Adam Al-Khayyal (4.25.26)
Opening Statement:
“So started the day with four picks in five. Had to wait a little bit, took some patience, but really happy with how it played out. You know, we took Parker Brailsford, made one trade with Seattle to pick up a future four, took Justin Jefferson out of Alabama and then made another trade back in five to also pick up a future six. So, the whole net really pleased with that. Can certainly open up to questions on both Parker and Justin as you have them.”
So Parker’s like under 300 pounds, which is becoming unusual for a center. Was that the physical set you were looking for there?
“I wouldn’t say that. I think an athletic center, what he does really well is move in the run game. Got tremendous range, great finish. To be honest, if you didn’t know his measurables on his card, you wouldn’t say he plays like a sub 300-pound player. He’s strong, firm. So really like the skill set and really like how it fits with the offensive side scheme.”
I was going to say like what you just described, it seems like maybe the frame is similar to Tyler Linderbaum. And then with (Todd) Monken being there, was that something that we saw parallels to or was it kind of a different player?
“Yeah, I don’t want to directly compare them one to one with Linderbaum, but I would say that you have seen Coach Monken play with an athletic center with a range and do a lot of creative stuff in the run game and that certainly is appealing in terms of Parker and how we would deploy him.”
I saw that he had the fastest 10-yard split of any other line at the combine. How important are those movement skills, especially for you guys?
“Yeah, really important. I mean the main thing that they got to do is get on guys and get on guys quickly. And so, the guys with range who can climb to the second level, pull, move out in space, all of that’s predicated on having quickness, athleticism and range. So, guys who can move like that are really successful in the scheme.”
When you’re looking on day three, how much both these guys come from a program in Alabama, how much do you kind of look at the pedigree of where they come from, in terms of hoping to catch guys, maybe a little further along in the development for net to jump to the next level?
“Yeah, you know, I would say the interesting thing with both of them is they didn’t start their careers at Alabama. So, Parker starts off at Washington, transfers to Alabama. Justin started off in Juco, transferred to Alabama. Both those guys had a developmental curve and with Parker in particular, I think it’s…he’s playing against the best of the best in the SEC, so he is matching up against guys with size who he’s going to have to face in the NFL. And that is something that maybe if you have a small school guy who lacks size, you’re making more of a projection on how they’ll play out.”
Justin, what did you guys like about him and what do you kind of envision him adding to that linebacker room and it looks like maybe on special teams too.
“Yeah, really nice scheme fit, first and foremost. I mean, we have played with Devin Bush, we signed Quincy Williams. Both of those guys are around the same size, six foot, really fast, really athletic. So just a real clean vision for how he fits into the scheme. And then when you have guys who can run 4.4 and like to hit, that translates pretty well on special teams. So, I think, Justin, both on defense and on special teams will have a nice role.”
With the four fifth round picks, was there any effort to move up in the round?
“That’s something we discussed, yeah. And discussed moving up, obviously we moved back, with one of the picks and we moved out entirely with one of the picks.”
Kansas State center went a few notches ahead of your center.
“There was a run on the centers, but to be honest, Parker was the guy we had targeted all along.”
Can he get bigger or is 289s, is that his size?
“He played in the high 280s, low 290s. I think he is more than capable at functioning and playing where he’s at in terms of his weight.”
Obviously, you guys have devoted a bunch of resources to the offensive line in the last month and a half coming into the draft. How important or how much of a focus was it to add somebody at that center spot?
“I wouldn’t say there’s a focus at one particular spot. I think the focus was adding good players along the offensive line. I think it’s been noted we’ve added guys with positional versatility, that’s important. We know that you’re going into the year, you’re going to have your starting five, but the reality is you’re going to play with more than five. I think last year, if you played more than 50% of your snaps with your top five linemen, you would have been in the top 10 in the league. So, you’re going to have to cover,1,000, 2,000 snaps somewhere on the line with other guys, usually the way injuries go. So, I think we just were focused on getting good players who could play on the line and then figuring out the configuration from there.”
Do you think some positions easier for guys drafted later to succeed than others, such as getting Parker here in this round?
“I think there are certain positions within certain schemes that you might anticipate a quicker transition, you know, going from college to pro. But I do think it’s across schemes more than maybe necessarily across positions.”
We saw Andrew (Berry) trade out of the third round, then back in. Is that kind of what he’s doing with this trade down to the sixth round? Is he going back up or what? I don’t see the logic in that.
“No, I think we just got a really good offer to drop back in five and still pick up an extra pick nearby. So, 170 and 182, feel pretty confident that the same kind of set of players that we would consider there will be available a few slots later.”
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