Detroit Lions draft 2017: Bob Quinn comments on selection of LB Jarrad Davis
By Zac Snyder
Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn met with the media following the pick of Jarrad Davis in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Here’s what he said.
Opening Statement: “Jarrad Davis, felt really fortunate to pick Jarrad as our 21st overall selection. He’s a guy we spent a lot of time evaluating going back to our spring scouting last May and June and all the way through the process. From fall scouting, to the postseason, to an individual workout we had with him back in March, so it was a really good, thorough process. I thought everyone contributed from the area scouts, to the regional scouts, to the Director of College Scouting (Lance Newmark). It was the whole gamut with this guy and I felt like we did a really thorough job and got a player that’s really going to help us.”
On the possibility of trading the 21st pick during the first round: “Yeah, there was a few calls. Nothing really got too, too serious on that. I wouldn’t say it was more than any other time when we’ve been on the clock. A couple teams wanted to come up. I’m not sure what they were looking for, but we did field a few calls.”
On how much the players selected before the 21st pick influenced the Lions’ draft selection: “That’s definitely part of kind of what we looked at in terms of having our eyes on a certain guy and how many players at the other side of the ball are going to go. So when we started seeing those receivers go off the board it was a good thing to see. But you never know how it’s going to go. There was a run on defensive players before we took Jarrad, so like I said, we’re very fortunate to get him.”
On where he sees Davis playing on defense: “He’s a guy that we feel can play MIKE and WILL (linebacker), so we’re going to put him in the mix with all the guys we have on the roster and just kind of figure out what’s the best way to use him, but he definitely has position flexibility.”
On why the Lions selected Davis instead of former Alabama LB Reuben Foster: “The whole evaluation between all the linebackers, we just came up with Jarrad Davis as the top guy at that time.”
On the importance of a player’s character when making a draft selection: “It’s a big part of it. We talked about this in my pre-draft press conference. When you take someone with a few character flaws—and none of these kids are perfect. That’s the thing. None of them are perfect, so I felt like you kind of minimize risk when you take guys without some issues. I feel real comfortable with the guy we took.”
On how he defines a player with high character: “It means when you go to the school and you’re a scout and you talk to the trainer, you talk to the equipment manager, you talk to the position coach, the head coach, anybody you can talk to as a scout and they gave the guy glowing remarks in terms of intelligence, work ethic, toughness, leadership, all of those things. It was one after another. It wasn’t just one source or one coach. It was everybody in the entire building. To solidify it, we went down there, myself and a few others. We had a long talk with him and spent a number of hours with him and felt real comfortable.”
On if the linebacker position need fit the best player on his draft board at the time of the 21st selection: “It did actually, yes. That’s pretty accurate. There was a number of players that were kind of definitely up there that we were kind of looking at about five picks before and it was going to be a tough decision. But the board fell the way it did, and like I said, it’s a player we targeted and it’s a player that we wanted and we were fortunate to get him.”
On how drafting Davis impacts TE Eric Ebron’s contract situation: “It doesn’t really have any effect on it.”
On the injury concerns with Davis: “Listen, these guys play college football for a number of years, so none of them are perfect medically. We did extensive work like we do on all players on the physical part of it, the medical side of it. He passed our physical at the Combine and don’t have any issues going forward.”
On what he likes about Davis and where he can improve as a player: “I’d say he’s a passionate football player. He’s got very good playing speed, very good tackler, good blitzer, good coverage player. This guy’s a really well-rounded linebacker. As a freshman he was a special teams player of the year for Florida when he was a backup linebacker, so he’s got four-down value. I think he’s a really well-rounded guy that has position versatility.”
On if he was surprised at the number of offensive players drafted before the Lions’ selection: “No, we had those guys graded probably about where they went, but I was a little bit surprised about how fast some of those offensive players went just to be honest. We were expecting a few more defensive players to go in the 20 picks before ours.”
On if he was tempted to select some of the ‘marquee players’ still available at the 21st pick: “No.”
On if he considered trading up in the first round at any point: “We called a number of teams. I mean, that’s just what you do during the draft, but nothing ever came too serious about moving up.”
On how much priority he placed on the linebacker position after releasing LB DeAndre Levy: “It’s a position that we had trouble with last year, keeping guys healthy first off. And it’s a position where I think you really need a guy in the middle of your defense that can be looked upon to call the defense, hopefully become a leader in time and really be that gel between the secondary and the defensive line. So it was a position of need for sure.”
On how the first-round selection affects the rest of the draft: “Day two will be exactly like day one. It’s follow the board. Take the best player available and mesh it with what your needs are and that’s the way we’re going to go about it.”
On if the draft room was excited to see the number of offensive players drafted before the 21st pick: “Yeah, I mean, I kept going back, ‘Alright, how many offensive players is that?’ It just kept growing. We didn’t expect that many, but it worked out for us and I’m happy with our pick.”
On if Davis was graded above some of the linebackers Detroit could have selected in later rounds: “Yeah, I think he stood out amongst the linebacker crew this year. Linebacker is a position that you normally don’t have a large number of them on your draft able board just because in college football a lot of linebackers are undersized. They’re playing at 215, 220 pounds. So to get NFL-size linebackers with the speed and athleticism and all the stuff that goes into evaluating linebackers, he stood out.”
On if he views Davis as a three-down linebacker: “Yes, sir.”
On if red flags placed on players are something NFL teams must continue to evaluate: “You have to. You have to evaluate not only the player on the field, but you have to evaluate the person that comes along with it. It’s a total package and different positions and different players you can do different percentages of on-the-field stuff, off-the-field stuff. You’ve got to blend it together. You’re drafting the whole player. You’re drafting the whole person. You’re not just taking a guy and you guys are going to see him out there on Sunday. He’s going to be a guy that has to be in this building, has to be in this community, so it’s the whole package.”
On the rapid evaluation process of former Ohio State CB Gareon Conley after this week’s news: “That’s exactly how it went. Something like that comes up, you’ve got to get on the phone. You’ve got to get people in your building making calls, doing research. Unfortunately, it’s a very unfortunate situation that happened and we just try to do the best we can in the limited amount of time to evaluate that situation.”
*All quotes provided for by the Detroit Lions.