HENDERSON, NV– The Las Vegas Raiders selected wide receiver Jack Bech with the 58th overall pick in the NFL Draft and cornerback Darien Porter with the 68th overall pick. John Spytek and Pete Carroll had a productive first two days of the draft.
Carroll spoke to the media after Day Two of the NFL Draft. Here is a partial transcript of his remarks.
You can watch the entire press conference below:
Q: When you look at your resume, everywhere you’ve been, you’ve tremendously picked running backs. Is there one quality that you and you’ve had different styles of running backs? But is there one quality you look for? What is it that has gifted you in identifying running backs?
Coach Carroll: “Well, I appreciate you saying that, that’s nice. It’s the commitment to the running game first, as it affects the overall play of your team, that is what drives me to have always been focused on the running game and the running backs. But I’m always looking for special qualities, unique things that they’re able to do with their vision, with their body control, with their toughness, and their burst and their speed. Just some guys are just different than others, and he is not a guy that’s going to just run into the wall, he’s going to find his way for the most space available with this marvelous creativity that terrific running backs have always shown to me. And so, now I was thrilled to be part of this one and all the way through it, and it was fun to go back and watch this film again. I’ll just give you a little quick one. To figure out Reggie Bush back in the day, Reggie scored so many touchdowns from so far out on the film that the film would run, and he’d be the only guy on the field. You couldn’t see him, and I couldn’t tell. ‘Well, how good is he? It’s too easy, he’s scoring from so far out.’ But I watched the same film about 50 times, and I tried to figure out, ‘I think he’s got like everything you could want in a running back. So, it’s just gone back a long ways, and it’s looking for the unique, special qualities that guys have that makes them those wonderful players.”
Q: Obviously, it’s no secret that the Raiders have had their quarterback struggles over the years, but at the combine, you were talking about how a running game can be a quarterback’s best friend. So, from your experience with Geno Smith in Seattle, how can Ashton Jeanty help Geno Smith?
Coach Carroll: “Yeah, that’s not really a novel thought in coaching circles over the numbers of years. But this is precisely- and it won’t be just Ashton [Jeanty]. It’ll be the running back group that’ll contribute to make this happen. Because it takes a good three guys usually in the rotations to make that happen. But it’s the consistency of the emphasis that you place on the defense, that they have to continue to try and stop the running game, and that allows all of the opportunities for Chip [Kelly] to do his magic.