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Normally, when teams give press conferences before the NFL Draft (and, I suppose, in general), they issue a lot of platitudes. There isn't normally much information to be learned from these public sessions. I thought Mike Maccagnan gave a good amount of actual meaningful information without going over the line and just giving away all the team's secrets.
Maccagnan says the draft is a balancing act between judging a player's ceiling versus risk. Similar to evaluating stocks.
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan said he likes idea of getting more picks. Hint at trading down? (Who's to say?)
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan adds that he's not opposed to trading up. But prefers to try to get additional picks.
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan intends to evaluate what it might take to trade up in the coming days. Stressed that doesn't mean a trade up is happening.
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan says factoring in need is when teams make mistakes in draft. Says it can skew perceptions. (He's said this before, actually.)
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan said draft board has changed since combine. Not "huge swings." More like "adjustments." Pre-draft process allows for interaction.
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
More Maccagnan on players' character: "It means a lot. It's not the be-all, end-all."
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan says Jets' draft board has 285-290 players on it. Team had evaluated about 1,400 or so players.
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan said he's studied Steelers' past ability to create a pipeline of 3-4 edge rushers.
— dom cosentino (@domcosentino) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan: If you're a 3-4 team, you'd like to get a young outside LB every year. Takes time for those guys, especially if they played DE.
— Darryl Slater (@DarrylSlater) April 24, 2015
Mike Maccagnan says he wanted to watch film in a group with his scouts, so he can see how they evaluate players.
— Darryl Slater (@DarrylSlater) April 24, 2015
Maccagnan again says pro free agency is the best place to fill roster needs. He prefers to take "best player available" approach with draft.
— Darryl Slater (@DarrylSlater) April 24, 2015
Mike Maccagnan says he will reach out to every team ahead of the Jets, simply to gauge value. Doesn't mean they'll trade up, he says.
— Darryl Slater (@DarrylSlater) April 24, 2015
Mike Maccagnan says he was an economics major in college. He says the draft process initially struck him as being like the stock market.
— Darryl Slater (@DarrylSlater) April 24, 2015
I think the most interesting tidbit from here is the section on outside linebackers. The team has brought in a considerable number of OLB prospects for private workouts, but hasn't signed one in free agency. So it's interesting to me that he seems to want to create a pipeline, when the team hasn't drafted an outside linebacker since the team hasn't really drafted one since 2008.