Detroit Lions Draft 2016: Bob Quinn Discusses Selection of Taylor Decker
By Zac Snyder
Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn met with the media after the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft to discuss the team’s selection of Taylor Decker.
The Detroit Lions have added the first member of their 2016 NFL Draft class, selecting Ohio State offensive tackle Taylor Decker with the 16th overall pick.
Bob Quinn spoke about the pick late last night; here is what he had to say.
On what position T Taylor Decker will play: “Taylor’s a player who has played both spots in college the last two years, the left tackle as a sophomore and he started at right tackle. So, he does have versatility and that’s one of the things we really like about him.”
On what his plan for Decker is: “We’re going to put him in the mix with the rest of the tackles on the roster and see who the best players are at the right positions. We’re not going to pinpoint him, now or until we’re ready to play a game, at what position, what side of the ball. He is a tackle, so he’ll either be right tackle or left tackle and that’s really to be determined.”
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On what about Decker’s game made him the right choice for the Lions: “Taylor is a very durable player, tough player, smart, really long player. (He has) good playing strength, good agility, good balance. I think he has good pass protection skills, good run blocking. I thought he was a really, really solid overall player that can really help the Lions. We spent a lot of time with a lot of the offensive linemen in the pre-draft process, including Taylor, and it really came across to us that he was clearly the best guy on the board at the time.”
On if he gave any consideration to other available players in the draft or if Decker was the pick when they saw he was still on the board: “Yes, we made it, I think there were four or five minutes left on the clock. We had a couple conversations with a few other teams leading up to that pick and we decided to stay and take Taylor.”
On if selecting an offensive lineman was based on need at the position: “Yes, I think this is a position of need. I think when you factor in those stats that you mentioned and along with, the way I look at it is evaluate the film and say, ‘Alright, well, how did the offensive line play?’ I think that was one of the areas we had to address and I felt like this was the best player at the right time to help us going forward.”
On how much of the draft surprised him early in the first round: “Yes, you know what, I’ve been doing this now for almost 17 years, nothing really surprises you because you’re really just trying to expect the unexpected. Laremy (Tunsil) is a good example of a player that probably fell a little bit later than people had thought of before and that’s something we were prepared to talk about and that’s part of the draft.”
On if he would have considered taking T Laremy Tunsil if he was available: “I would have considered it, but he wasn’t there so it didn’t really end up mattering.”
On if he was tempted to move up or down for a certain player: “I was tempted. I don’t think it was a situation where I felt the need to really go up and get one player because I think there was a cluster of players across the board that I would feel comfortable with at 16 from the offensive line all the way across as we looked at. So, there were guys leading up to the last couple days we thought would be there and Taylor was one of the guys we had hoped was going to be there and he was, so it was a good pick for us.”
On Decker’s size: “Yes, he’s over 6-7. I think he weighed in at 316 pounds or something. Yes, those guys don’t grow on trees, like we talked about in my pre-draft press conference. I think that’s one of the areas along the offensive line where it can maybe mask some deficiencies. Taylor is a very good athlete, but when you look at the skill set of offensive linemen, they’re usually blocking people who are smaller and more athletic. So, you have to have really good balance and I think one of the best things that Taylor does, even though he’s 6-7, he plays low. He plays with good balance, he plays with good knee-bend. I thought he was a really good fit for us.”
On where Decker ranked on his board: “He was ranked right where we took him. I’m not going to tell you exactly where he was ranked on our board, but he was the best player available for the Lions at that point in time.”
Related Story: Grades and Reactions to Taylor Decker 1st Round Pick
On how much pre-draft work he did with Decker: “We did extensive work on Taylor, just like we did with, I’d say, anybody we’d consider in the draft. Specifically, I’m not going to get into the, ‘Did he come here? Did we go there?’ You guys have a done a lot of research on where we’ve been and where we haven’t been and I think this is a case where if we start trying to predict who we’re drafting based on visits and stuff, you guys are going to be spinning your wheels, to be honest with you. We spent a lot of time, a lot of quality time and I felt comfortable.”
On if there was a point during the pre-draft process that Decker did something to convince him that he would be worthy of the pick:“Throughout the whole process. I mean, watching his film during the season, seeing him at the Combine, watching his Pro Day, all those things leading up to it. Every part of the process we came away impressed by him.”
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On if there was any consideration to select UCLA LB Myles Jack given his knee injury: “I’m not going to get into who was on or off our board, but Myles Jack does have a knee situation and I just felt at that time the tackle position was what we were going to go at and Taylor was our guy.”
On if he saw any signs of inconsistent effort from Decker in his film: “I did not.”
On how much Decker’s leadership abilities factored into selecting him: “I think that’s part of it. I think we want to acquire a lot of players that are team captains, that have good leadership because the NFL is a long season and we need guys that love football, that are passionate about it and I think Taylor fits that description. Especially for the offensive line, the more leadership we have in each room the greater the team can grow and hopefully we can win more games.”
On how closely he evaluated Decker to the three offensive linemen that were selected ahead of him: “We evaluated all of them and I think they were all, all of them had their different skill sets and I think the thing that Taylor brought (was) that he was really well-rounded. He can pass protect, he can run-block. I think some of the guys may be better at one or the other. I think Taylor was one of the more versatile tackles in this year’s draft.”
On what was different about this year’s draft as a first-year general manager: “It’s definitely a little more nerve-racking when you’re leading up to your pick. You’re sitting there hoping a guy is there and you’re not quite sure what’s going to happen the picks before you. In years past you kind of sit back and you’re a part of it, but at the end of the day it doesn’t stop with you and this year I felt very prepared. I thank my staff for that and the coaches and the scouts for helping me prepare for this moment and at the end of the day it wasn’t a hard pick. It was a guy we had talked about at length and really felt good about the pick.”
On if he did anything in the draft room to release anxiety: “I swung a baseball bat. I got a baseball bat as a gift a couple days ago and I had that kind of in my hand during the draft and kind of took my fidgety hands and spent the time that way.”
On what type of bat it was and who gave him the gift: “It was wood, it was nice too. Just a friend of mine.”
On the Decker pick seeming like a safe pick and if he would take risks high in the draft: “I think it’s circumstances. I think at certain times during my reign here there might be a certain time to take a risk, but I think the first couple years I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
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All Quotes provided by the Detroit Lions.