49ers
49ers HC Kyle Shanahan spoke about the team drafting RB Kaelon Black in the third round despite the possibility that he could have fallen as far as round six.
“We had him as the second-rated back on the board,” Shanahan said this past week on The Rich Eisen Show. “So, that’s just our evaluation, right or wrong that’s our evaluation. You got a guy who was not invited into the combine, so what does that mean? Man, maybe it means he’s going in the sixth round. But then you evaluate him, man, I think this is a third-round running back. But then you’re like he’s not going in the sixth round because he wasn’t invited to the combine and that’s what we were guessing. Well, let’s put him as a sleeper in the sixth round, which we do with a lot of guys, and we have a lot of success with those dudes. Then you start to watch the whole draft and the backs and evaluate all the backs together, and this wasn’t as deep of a draft as years past for running backs. It only takes one other team to look that way. If someone else has him as their second back, you’re gambling that they’re not going to take him as a second back right away. You think they’re going to try to do the same thing, ‘Hey, everyone is going to look at this as a fifth-round guy, let’s take him in the fourth.’ Well by the time the draft came, we feel everyone is looking at this guys as a fourth-round pick. And so, if everyone is looking at him as a fourth-round pick, man if we want him, I’ll take him 90 in the third. We’ll be alright [with] everyone hating on us and judging that as long as that’s what we feel like.”
- 49ers OC Klay Kubiak on QB Kurtis Rourke taking part in the 49ers’ upcoming rookie minicamp: “Love the arm talent — he’s a heck of a thrower.” (Barrows)
Cardinals
Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur said he’s excited about the quarterbacks on the roster, dispelling rumors that QB Aaron Rodgers might sign with them.
“Honestly, right now, we’re focused on the guys we’ve got coming in,” LaFleur said, via Cards Wire. “You’ve got the unit that we have with Gardner (Minshew) and Jacoby (Brissett) and (Kedon) Slovis, and then we drafted Carson Beck in the third round.”
Rams
Rams DE Jared Verse commented on the team’s aspirations of making it back to the Super Bowl given the talent they currently have on the roster.
“We keep beating ourselves,” Verse told DJ Siddiqi. “When you stop beating yourself up, you win, it’s easy to win. We have all the pieces we need. We got great DB’s, we got great linebackers, our defensive line is the best. We got amazing outside linebackers. If you ask me, we got the best outside linebackers. I’m a little cocky in that aspect, bro. We got amazing safeties, quarterback is the reigning MVP, amazing running back, O-line, wide receivers, kick returners, kickers, punters, snappers. I don’t care. We got the best of the best. The only thing that can stop us is ourselves. After the season, I told everybody once we got back, I said, ‘We gotta stop beating ourselves.’ During the first week back, everyone’s always ready and everything like that. This is the second week back, and I wanted everyone to tackle today, and it was harder than I expected the second week back, when we can really measure success and how hard you’re willing to go.”
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