Jerry (Reese) was just here and spoke to you about Linval Joseph. I will just tell you this, for another youngster, three-year player, he was 319 at his pro day, he ran 4.97, vertical jump 31.5 inches, he had a 20-yard shuttle that was very, very good under 4.7. He is an athletic young player, very strong - 39 reps on the bench. Stays down, very quick, you see a lot of athleticism and quickness in his play. You see more in terms of the tackles and the assists. He does have the ability to walk the offensive guard back. He doesn't have a lot of production in the sack game. He does have thrown for losses, tackles for loss, pressures on the quarterback. A big, strong defensive tackle that can play on the center or as a three-technique, and a young guy, again, that we can work with.
Q: Is that why he is so impressive, he looks like he has a knack to get beyond the line of scrimmage.
A: I think he has outstanding quickness and power, obviously. When he stays down, keeps his pads down, he is very difficult to keep from penetrating. He is a penetrator.
Q: He is a nose?
A: No, he can be either way. When you watch him play on collegiate film you will see that he has played on the guard a lot.
Q: The last guy that was that big and could move that fast that you had here was Fred Robbins last year. Does he remind you at of him?
A: I think Fred is probably a little taller than Linval is, but the same kind of initial quickness - yeah.
Q: When you had Fred doing that kind of stuff for you, what did it do for your defense - when he was really healthy, before that knee thing and was able to get that quick push?
A: What we were able to do was to penetrate and of course to keep people off the linebacker level. No one was being pushed back into the linebacker depth. That is what has to be re-established again - keep some people clean so they can go to the ballcarrier.
Q: Speaking of linebacker, do you think you need to address that position quickly?
A: Well, we will see. It would be great if need and the valuation were at the same level - high. And we have a few more picks to make so we will see.
Q: Your first two picks haven't come from big conferences. Any concern?
A: That is all taken into consideration when you put the grade on the player. I think there is some level of comp or number of years of service, however you want to say it, that may have been responsible for a tick or two being held back. But it still allowed the player to have an outstanding grade.
Q: Are you not surprised your first two picks were defensive players.
A: Am I surprised? Of course not.
Q: You are not surprised? This kind of makes sense?
A: I'm a part of the (process) ---- thank you.
Q: Did you speak with Skip Holtz about Linval?
A: Yes. We were at South Florida when Skip had taken that job.
Q: Can you share anything that he said?
A: About what I have just said - a real quality kid, first one in the weight room, shuts the lights out, hard worker.
Q: Since you have been here, has the Giants' philosophy been to look at Combine numbers as one of the more important evaluations?
A: It has always been - it is a part of it. It has always been a part of the total picture. By itself? No, of course not. They always have to go on the field and play. But all of the factors - the interviews, the Combine, the Combine numbers, the speed, the height, weight speed, the medical - they are all put together to give you a final grade on the player.
Q: Did you have this guy in for a visit?
A: No. We were at his workout, sure. He had a very good workout, by the way. He had lost some weight and I think he was 328 at the Combine and probably 319 at his workout.
Q: Where would you like him to be?
A: Big, strong and as powerful as he can be. Whatever the weight is where he runs the fastest and is the strongest.
Q: How are you liking your defensive line now?
A: We are coming; we are coming. Get some of these guys that are here healthy and competitive again; that is a good thing.
Q: Does this kid have the explosion to split doubles?
A: (East Carolina) had a pretty good defensive front now. They did, they had some nice looking... But he has that ability, yes. As I said, if his pads stay down, it is very difficult to move him because of his strength. If he gets up a little bit --- we all have issues.