Here’s what Eliot Wolf had to say following Friday night’s selections:
(Note – the broadcast was cut off at the beginning, so I’ve included the available text based on what I could transcribe.)
On his thoughts on Wallace:
“So, he was a guy that we felt was athletic enough to possibly make the switch over on the left side. Really good pass protector. Really took a big step forward this year as a four-year starter. Athletic, can bend, strong, powerful, tough, can possibly play guard. Think he can be a four position guy but definitely feel like he can play on the left side.”
On his thoughts on Polk:
“Yeah, he’s a guy that we had our eye on for a while. Really good fit in our offense. He’s really tough. He’s strong He can run all the routes, play inside, outside, he’s a good blocker. Really competitive, both for the ball in the air and as a run after catch player. Really just kind of a versatile do-everything type guy. He ran a little bit faster than a lot of people expected, but when you turn the tape on, you see him running by people. So definitely excited to add him to the mix.”
On if he sees Polk playing X receiver in the offense:
“Yeah, that’s more of a question for coach Mayo and Van Pelt, but the system that I come from, we never really talk much about X, Z, slot. We just try to add really good receivers, and it would end up working out for us, so we feel like he’s a guy that can play all the positions.
On the influence Tyler Hughes may have had on the Polk pick:
“Yeah, definitely didn’t hurt. Tyler knew him well. All those Washington guys, it was a good hire for us. Tyler’s wealth of knowledge as a former head coach, and also being able to provide info on one of the best teams in the country last year at the University of Washington. We spent time with Ja’Lynn at the Senior Bowl, at the Combine, didn’t bring him in for a visit because there were really no other questions that we had about him. But obviously, Tyler was a proponent of all those guys, and it just kind of helps having that familiarity.”
On his mention of shoring up the offensive line and adding weapons and how happy he is in being able to do that:
“It fell really nicely for us. Polk was a guy we had targeted. Wallace was a guy we had targeted. We had some exploratory conversations about possibly moving back from 68 and then it was just kind of like, ‘Well, why? This is the guy we had wanted all along.’ So, sometimes it doesn’t fall for you. It fell pretty nicely for us today.”
On what his experience has been when he’s talking to a team that’s close to him, whether it’s in the Division or the Conference in terms of if it can be an additional challenge when trying to execute something:
“I think it can be at times. It depends on your relationship with the people that you’re talking to and we feel like we have, actually, good relationships with all our division teams. Have a lot of respect for Brandon Beane (Bills), Chris Grier (Dolphins) and Joe Douglas (Jets) , so that hasn’t been a roadblock for us so far.”
On from a competitive standpoint if it’s a situation where he’s found he doesn’t want to help them, or if teams don’t want to help them out:
“I think that’s something that can happen. Again, that hasn’t happened yet for us so far. So hopefully that doesn’t happen tomorrow.”
On if he can walk them through the trade with the Chargers and if he’s surprised at the run of tackles at the end of the second round:
“Yeah, so we felt like Polk was the player that we were going to pick at #34, and we felt based on some of the info we had from other teams, that we would be able to trade back a little bit and still get him. So we made that deal and were able to move up to the fifth to the fourth with the Chargers. And then your point about the run at tackles is a good one. That’s part of the reason we decided not to move back. it was just kind of like, ‘Well, let’s not chance it. This is the player we had targeted all along anyway, let’s just pick him.”
On if they’re done for the day, or if they’re exploring coming back into the third:
“We’re still going to do some exploration depending on how the board holds up. Obviously not keeping track of that right now, which has me pretty antsy, but we’ll see how it goes.”
On the fact they have both Mike Onwenu and Caeden Wallace and if they’re looking to flip either player to the left:
“Yeah, we feel like Caedan has the athleticism to play over on the left side. Really, his teammate, Olu Fashanu that the Jets drafted was the reason that he played on the right. So, athletically there’s no reason why he couldn’t make the switch over there. He’s a really smart dedicated kid that we feel like can handle that.”
On what stood out about Wallace from an intangible standpoint to him:
“Just from the intangibles, we brought him in for a pre-draft visit, and he’s a really impressive kid. He comes from a great family, brother is, I think one of his brothers is a oyster scientist or something like that? But he was someone that we just got really comfortable throughout the process. He’s kind of a low key guy. Not real high energy until he gets in between those white lines and he goes after people.”
Here’s the full video:
(Editor’s Note: This transcript is done via the available footage and is subject to typos. If you spot something, please take a moment to let me know in the comments below.)
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