DENVER BRONCOS 2012 NFL DRAFT QUOTES JOHN ELWAY, BRIAN XANDERS & JOHN FOX PRESS CONFERENCE (4/28/12)

On the draft Elway: “We’re excited about it. We filled a lot of needs and got a lot of good football players. When we look at the list, we feel great about it. We got some big‐play guys in [RB] Ronnie [Hillman] on the offensive side and [DT] Derek [Wolfe] on the defensive line, which, obviously, there’s a need for; [CB Omar] Bolden we think was a first or a second‐round talent, and we were able to get him in the fourth; [C/G] Philip Blake’s a big guy inside, and [DE] Malik Jackson will add competition at the end position, and [LB Danny] Trevathan at the linebacker spot. I think that when we look at it, it’s probably as good as it could have gone.”

On CB Omar Bolden’s knee injury Elway: “He missed last year, but [Head Athletic Trainer Steve] ‘Greek’ [Antonopoulos] said he was fine, even though he hasn’t played on it yet, but he went through workouts, and we felt with Greek’s blessing that it was a good pick for us in the fourth.”

On where C/G Philip Blake will play Fox: “I think the thing is, he’s a big, strong, guy that’s played all three spots, both tackle and inside at guard and center. He was at the Senior Bowl and had a good week there. He adds depth, and where he ends up fitting will be up to him.”

On drafting defensive players to fit Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio’s scheme Fox: “I think the thing I was most impressed was with our process. We talked it about last year, how the room was organized, the job our scouting department did. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not any kind of reflection of [Defensive Coordinator] Jack [Del Rio], but the Denver Broncos are going to do it their way. At the end of the day, we have a good process, and it’s our job as coaches to coach the players we bring in here, and we know Jack will do that.”

On comparisons between the Broncos drafting QB Brock Osweiler this year and QB Tommy Maddox in 1992 Elway: “In 1992, I was only 32. With Brock, we feel like he’s got a lot of upside. He’s a guy who’s athletic, tall and can throw it. I think when you look at this, and obviously one of the things that when we went through it with [QB] Peyton [Manning] in the process, he kept asking who the backup was going to be. We said we didn’t know. When we went and talked to Brock, I said, ‘Brock, are you fine sitting on the bench for three, four or five years, because Peyton’s going to be the guy?’ Hopefully, he’s going to get as many years as he can, and I think Brock was just excited about the opportunity to work with Peyton and see how it works, how he goes about his business. I think that part of the thought process there, too—not whether we’ve got Peyton for other three or four years—was too get somebody in here, instead of working one with him, to be able to work with him over time [so he] can really grow. Brock’s a junior, so that was a great opportunity for us as well as Brock and Peyton to be able to take him underneath his wing.”

On his personal relationship with QB Brock Osweiler Elway: “I think, No. 1, you get a feel for him. We saw him at the Combine, and also, we worked him out. So, you get a feel when you’re around him. I’d met him. [General Manager] Brian [Xanders] and I were down there at Arizona State during the season and watched him practice. You get a feel for a guy at that point in time, and plus, my son gave him the okay. He said he’s a good guy, which always helps.”

©2012 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On Osweiler being a good fit in Denver Elway: “I think that if you look at the guys that were picked in front of him…then when we got to Brock, the way that we looked at him, I think that he has a strong arm; he’s athletic. He was a basketball player coming out of high school. I think he was the Montana State High School Athlete of the Year, so he’s athletic. We worked on his release. When we worked him out privately, his release looked great, which was a little bit of a concern of mine before I went down there. He’d obviously done a lot of work on it, and it looked great. The bottom line is we got him on the board, we watched film and he’s an intelligent guy fit who we think will fit very well in our system.”

On if the draft fell the way they thought it would Xanders: “Yeah, we were ready for every pick. This is an 11‐month process. We have a great scouting staff. In each column underneath every position we try to work exactly where we would rank those guys within each group according to our grading scale and the board. We have a lot of great input from the coaching staff and coach Fox and John [Elway]. We felt good about each level. And that’s what happened when we got some trade calls or we traded up for [RB Ronnie] Hillman. We felt there were certain spots on the board where we needed to move back or move up to get the right guy.”

On if one defensive back addition was enough Elway: “I think that obviously when you go through the draft, you take the best available and that’s what we did, we stayed true to our board. Obviously if we had more opportunities we would have taken them. When we looked at our board with where we picked we picked the best guys on our board. We still think we got four good ones right now, or five good ones, there’s some competition there. Adding Omar, who we think is a first or second round talent that we got in the fourth round. [CB Tracy] Porter we have him for a year, [CB] Chris Harris had a great year, and obviously [CB] Champ [Bailey]. We’ll have competition with [CB} Cassius [Vaughn] and the other corners. From my perspective, I think we get one very good corner, and we’re very happy with that. You can never have enough, but we’re very happy with the one we got.”

On the decision to take Ronnie Hillman Elway: “First of all we didn’t think he would be there at the bottom of the third. With the phone calls we got after we moved up in the draft that proved itself to be true. The way we looked at Hillman, he was a guy that’s electric; when he gets his hands on the ball he has a chance to make that big play for you. And he’s a tough guy and he can run between the tackles too. He’s a great change of pace from what we have and the guy that makes that big play out of the backfield and we wanted to give that big play threat to Peyton to be able to get the ball in his hands and let him move.”

On the strategy behind trading picks and moving up and down in the draft Xanders: “It goes back to the phone calls. You have to be fortunate to get a phone call. Then you weigh that decision with who’s on the board and what value you can get from moving back and that happened this year twice. And then we did move up to get Hillman. The new rookie wage scale is different; I think there is a lot more trading going on in that first round. When we were picking [LB] Von Miller [last year] we had no phone calls but where we were this year we had multiple phone calls. We decided to jump back three spots and then another three or four spots and keep going back. The big picture is trying to see if you can gain some value and still get the same player a couple spots down.”

On who receives phone calls when offers are made during the draft Xanders: “We have three open lines. [Executive Vice President of Football Operations] John [Elway] has gotten a lot, I’ve gotten a lot. We usually put them hold or just say we’ll call back and discuss it and just see what’s best for the Broncos.”

Elway: “There was a lot going on with that 25th pick. They were coming in from all different directions.”

On how much time they have to make a decision after an offer has been made Elway: “Eight minutes. It’s quick. We have 10 minutes to make our pick. So the phone calls start coming in and you get some with six minutes to go. The cut off time is one minute to make sure we get the pick in.”

On if numbers at the Combine or production in college is more important Fox: “I think it’s a combination of both. I think that’s why some guys are selected higher or lower than others. No. 1, you want to find a productive football player—not a whole lot of one‐year wonders. It isn’t the Olympics, it’s the NFL. Height, weight and speed can vary on what round they go in. The bottom line is they have to be good football players. And you prefer smart, tough competitive guys.”

©2012 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On if the success of this year’s draft will be defined by DT Derek Wolfe Fox: “Personally I don’t think that’s fair or right. It’s going to take time. Going back to college and recruiting classes they can rank and the prognosticators you talk about stuff but at the end of the day it’s going to be who plays well. I think that’s too early to say for any draft, any team.”

On which draftees fans should be excited about Fox: “I’d say all of them because that’s how we feel.”

Xanders: “We’re excited to get all these guys.”

On where DE Malik Jackson will play Fox: “I think line him up at end and see how it goes. Again, these guys haven’t even had a practice yet, so we’ll have place for him on the depth chart and we’ll start the process. It will start with the rookie mini‐camp in a week‐and‐a‐half and kind of see where it goes from there. This guy has the measurable it takes to play in this league and where he fits, we’ll determine that.”

On what stood out about C/G Philip Blake’s Senior Bowl Fox: “He’s very strong. He’s experienced. He is a bit older than some of the guys coming out. He has played multiple positions, so he understands offensive line play throughout. I thought he was an excellent pass protector as far as when he got his hands on you, you weren’t going very far.”

Elway: “He’s very competitive, very tough. He finishes hard. As Coach said, he’s played tackle, he’s played center, guard. He’s smart.”

On filling out the remainder of their roster Xanders: “We just filled our roster with [12] college free agents. In the pro department, we still have a huge board of all the available remaining free agents. We monitor that daily, every day as players get released. We’re also understanding where we stand on the compensatory system, so we’ll evaluate the free agency market weekly.”

On how many more players will be added before training camp Xanders: “I think it’s a daily process. If we can improve ourselves, we’ll look to that. We’ll weigh guys that are available or come on the waiver wire versus releasing one of our own, but we feel good about our roster. We want to keep getting better and the pro department works hard at that.”

On whether John Elway felt more comfortable in his second draft as an executive Elway: “Yes, no question. On top of that, I think this staff has been together a year now so that’s probably the most important thing. We know each other a lot better than we knew each other a year ago. I think with the discussions we were having, we were able to put everything on the table and come out with the best decision for the Broncos. There’s no question I felt much better. Obviously a year of experience helped. I also I think a year together with this staff and understanding each other was very helpful and very beneficial.”

On the advantages of the staff’s familiarity with each other Elway: “Any time you know somebody better than you knew them a year ago, then you can have better idea of what they are thinking. No, there weren’t a lot of arguments again, and we didn’t really have a tough time coming to many consensuses. The bottom line is it was an open forum for everybody. [Director of Player Personnel] Matt Russell as well did a tremendous job, as well as the scouts. [National Scout] Adam Peters and [Assistant Director of College Scouting] Lenny McGill on the college side did a tremendous job with all the scouts and they were all in there. It was an open forum when we started getting to our pick and which direction we were going to go. Again, I thought it was a great process and we were able to all come to a consensus and get a player picked.”

On making the phone calls to players when they are drafted Elway: “They’re all excited. It’s amazing to hear the excitement in their voices. Obviously with what they go through these days with the combine and the wait and all the publicity that goes along with the draft now, it’s such a buildup. It’s almost a relief for them to finally understand where they’re going. The excitement that you can hear in their voice to know they’re going to be a Denver Bronco; it’s fun to have a chance to say hello.” ©2012 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On what kind of players the Broncos need to help win championships Fox: “First and foremost, you talk about smart and tough. The key to these guys is they have the God‐given ability, or otherwise they wouldn’t have a seat in this room when we report. What they do with that is the difference‐maker. That’s getting better every day, the kind of work ethic it takes, and the discipline it takes to get better every time you come into this building. Those are the guys that will have success. It will be in their court at that point and the cream always rises to the top and it will take a lot of hard work to get what they want to get. It’s one thing just to have a seat, to want to be a pro and be a special player, and that’s kind of the makeup that I referred to last night that kind of separates guys.”

On drafted players being able to compete for a starting job Fox: “That’s why you compete and that’s why you practice and that’s why you prepare. The best players are going to play, and whoever that proves to be, that’s the way we’ll do it and the staff will do it moving forward.”

On the importance of getting the right college free agents Xanders: “It’s very important because there are still draftable players on that board that we’re trying to get. We put them in A’s, B’s, and C’s. We’re trying to recruit those guys and have them become Broncos. We’ve had some success there and every team does. It’s an important part for us. [CB] Chris Harris is an example; last year he led all [rookie] DBs in tackles. You have [Britton] Colquitt who’s a good punter, and [LB Wesley] Woodyard. All the way through there’s been some historical ones. We hope they compete with these draft picks and try to create their own role on this football team. Coach is great about playing the best guys. So they have an opportunity for that and they’ve worked hard in their careers. There’s some guys who are still on our board.”

On getting pass rushers to combat the spread offense Fox: “This league is very trendy. I think a lot of people probably looked at the Giants’ success with creating a pretty tremendous four‐man rush. That hasn’t changed much over time other than they’ve accumulated those types of guys. I think a lot of people in the league did that in this draft because the best pass defense in the world is a pass rush. That’s not really new. All these things take time. They don’t fall out of the sky. I think we improved that a year ago and hopefully we improved that again this year.”

On evaluating LB Danny Trevathan Fox: “We had pretty good information about that. I think maybe some ‘draftnik’ cards and whatnot said that his speed might not appear to be as fast as he plays on the tape, so it definitely set him back because he was injured at the combine as well as his pro day, but we had pretty good info on what his real speed was.”

On Wolfe playing bigger than his size Fox: “I’d say so. He was a guy that was very impressive to us. I think he was very well coached; he’s a very technique sound player as far as it relates to his position. His tenacity, his motor is as good or better than anybody’s.”

On Brock Osweiler’s size Elway: “A lot has been brought up a lot about Brock’s size and height and how nobody his size has ever done it. He was probably the only one at the Combine who was trying to sneak down and trying to be shorter than he is. But there’s only ever been one guy who was that size and that was [Dan] McGwire at Seattle and I don’t think he was nearly as athletic as Brock. I really don’t see how the height can hurt you if you’re athletic enough, like Brock is, to move around and avoid people and have quickness because of his basketball background. To me, being a guy when you’re standing in a huddle behind behemoths, being able to see is always a benefit. To me, if you’re athletic like Brock is and you’re tall like he is, all that’s going to do is help him. I don’t think it’s going to be a hindrance to him.”

On Elway standing next Osweiler Elway: “It strikes me standing next to all these guys, how much bigger they’re getting year in and year out, bigger, faster and stronger. You look at my rookie year in 1983, Billy Brian, the center, was 255 [pounds]. [Keith] ‘Bish’ [Bishop] at guard was 260, and the tackles were 265. You look at the guys now, and if you’re not 300 pounds, you’re small. That goes to show how much bigger and faster these guys are getting. So, to see quarterbacks like Brock, even though Brock’s really tall, everyone’s getting tall. Peyton’s tall, and he came out later. Everyone’s getting bigger and faster. That’s the amazing thing. The athletic ability of these kids is unbelievable.”

©2012 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On not having a pick the first day Xanders: “You don’t want to give up your first round draft pick, but we stuck to our board. We got some good phone calls, and we were excited about adding value later, which helped us get some of these other players. We weight these decisions, and like John [Elway] said earlier, it’s fast. The time’s going down, and you’ve got to get a player on the phone, and you get more phone calls coming in; you weigh those decisions. Obviously, you want to have a first round draft pick, but we felt what we did was best for the Broncos.”

On if it was emotional trading out of the first round Xanders: “Just a little bit. It’s 11 months into this draft from start to finish on the preparation, but it’s one of those things where we felt good about what we did in the second round with [DT] Derek Wolfe. He’s a fierce, explosive competitor that has pass‐ rush skills. He’s got length inside. He can get bigger and stronger over time. He’s a very productive guy, so we were very excited about him.”

On if Wolfe’s story piqued their interest Fox: “A little bit. A story is a story, and when you interview people and you get to know people better—that’s the reason why you do it. I thought it was an interesting story. It told a lot about his determination and some of the things he’s been through and gotten through.”

Elway: “The way he plays, and the background—because, obviously, we have the background checks and all those things—you can see his background in the way he plays.”

Fox: “He’s really hungry.

Elway: “Yep, and you can see that’s what makes him the player that he is, and that’s what will make us hungry on defense. He’s going to rub off on a lot of guys, because he’s got a motor that doesn’t stop.”

©2012 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club.