Daryl Washington 2010 NFL Draft Quotes
4/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 23, 2010
2010 NFL DRAFT
ARIZONA CARDINALS SECOND-ROUND SELECTION
Daryl Washington, LB, TCU
2ND ROUND - 47TH OVERALL
LINEBACKER Daryl Washington (DW)
HEAD COACH KEN WISENHUNT (KW)
GENERAL MANAGER RON GRAVES (RG)
On knowing a lot about the Cardinals:
(DW): "I had a great feeling. I'm happy to be a Cardinal. I'm ready to get to work. I'm excited right now. I can't put it into words right now. I'm feeling pretty good."
On how he feels about the Cardinals trading up to get him:
(DW): "I didn't know what to expect and I was hoping for the best. I'm just so happy right now. This is the best feeling right now. "
On Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt talking about him doing the same things as Karlos Dansby:
(DW): "Karlos Dansby is a very aggressive player and a very smart player. He knows the game of football. Just to see him leave and go to Miami and for me to replace him means I'm going to have some big shoes to fill. But I'm going to get in there and work as hard as I can and be a better player than him, or just as good as him. (I have) much respect for Karlos Dansby and I just want to get ready to work."
On the talk about bulking up:
(DW): "Size won't matter but I expect to be at least 235 (pounds) during the mini camp. I feel really confident with 235 and will have more movement and speed. Coming in I feel really good and will just have to prove myself all over again. I'm excited."
On having a draft party:
(DW): "Everyone is just so happy right now. The phones are blowing up and I'm excited and everyone is excited for me. It's just a great feeling right now. It's a feeling I will remember for the rest of my life. I'm just thankful and I thank God. I know he's with me and my family is just so supportive. I'm just looking forward to the opportunity."
On feeling comfortable stepping into the role of Karlos Dansby:
(DW): "Yes sir. We definitely have some similarities in how we play. Obviously he's much bigger than I am but as far as athleticism and IQ for the game of football and passion for the game I think I'll just come in and fit right in and make some noise."
On if he was a linebacker as a freshman at TCU:
(DW): "Yes sir. I played linebacker all four years."
On what they see in Daryl Washington:
(RG): "We had Daryl in on a post-combine visit. We were struck by how intelligent the kid was and we feel like he had an excellent year. Certainly coach (Whisenhunt) can address the fact that he fits a need for us. Our guys felt like he was probably the most athletic linebacker in this year's draft. He was high on our board and we are just elated to have an opportunity to use that selection and pick up Daryl Washington."
(KW): "Even in a number of the mock drafts before, a few people had him coming to us with our first round pick. As far as where he was rated on our board, we had him one spot behind Dan Williams, he was 12th. So if you would have asked us going into this draft if we would get our 11th and 12th player on the board, since we were picking at 26th, I think we would have taken that. We talked about before the draft that we had two third round picks; this was a player that we felt could have been in consideration for us in the first round. We were concerned that there were other teams interested in him. As a matter of fact, we had one NFC team that contacted us after the pick that said they were going to take him a couple of picks later. So obviously we felt the time was right to do it. In losing a player like Karlos Dansby, who is a very athletic linebacker who did a lot of things for us on the field, we feel like we have addressed that with a young guy that can do a lot of the similar type things, and that's very exciting. I know he had an outstanding year this past season, which was one of the things that really excited us. I know his last game was in University of Phoenix Stadium so he should feel pretty comfortable there. But there were a number of things that we really liked about him. He is a very good athlete, like Rod said, great all over the field coverage, tremendous character. We were scheduled to meet with him at the combine and he missed our appointment because of a conflict so we brought him in and had an opportunity to meet with him and he was very impressive. We feel very good that we were able to get a player of his caliber, of his athleticism, that fits what we feel we need defensively, where we did, so we are tremendously excited about it."
On there being a lot of talk about his size and if they will want him to put on a few pounds:
(KW): "We get a chance to assess that. It wasn't a concern for us as far as our pre-draft evaluations. I think we all know the kind of job John Lott does for us and we'll certainly have a chance to see where he fits with his weight and how he grows into that position. But he played on a very good defense, the number one defense in college and was an important contributor with that. And that is very exciting because he has played at a high level on a very good team."
On assessing the fact that they have set themselves up with two draft picks right in the middle of the defense:
(KW): "Everybody wants to talk about the last two games for us, the two playoff games, and point the finger at the defense and obviously we said coming into the draft that was an area we wanted to look at. We feel like we got two of the top defensive players in the draft and it just so happens that they fit needs for us, so that's a bonus. I think from now on before every draft I am going to say we are going to draft the best available player for our need because so far it is two for two."
On if it was a hard decision to give up a third rounder in what some people say is a deep draft:
(RG): "For the player that we had the opportunity to get it was not as difficult of a decision. We feel like it was the right decision to go after him. We didn't think he would be there when we selected at our original position, so we felt like it was the right thing to do. We felt like we had an opportunity to be aggressive. As coach said, we had an extra third round pick and that was what it was going to take in order to move up to that area. We didn't debate it too long because we knew the quality of the player we were going after."
On how it works to trade up in the draft:
(RG): "After the draft started falling we thought maybe we would have an opportunity for him at some point. Then we started making calls to teams in that general area to see who would be interested in moving back and New England was really a prime candidate for us because they had three picks in the round."
On if Washington projects as an every down player:
(KW): "I think so. That is the reason that we felt so good about him. It is hard to find a linebacker with as much sub defense as we're forced to play because of the teams playing multiple receiver sets. It's hard to find a linebacker that can play all three downs and that was an area that we felt that we would like to address, our dime linebacker or our sub linebacker, and that is one of the things that he does very well. That's why he was attractive to us. As far as an every down linebacker, that is what the goal is, but you know us, he has to earn that. I certainly think it gives us a good young player that is fast and athletic. He will have some contributions on special teams as he works his way into play time, and that is the way you want it. Above all else we got a good young man, good character, which makes your team stronger and as a number of people have said he may have been the best athlete available in the whole linebacker crop, so that is very exciting."
