Ron Rivera and Martin Mayhew explain their Day 2 picks and how they fit in the team

Wrong number for Ricky Stromberg:

Back-to-back DBs:

Rivera: “Well, I’ll say it was a big point of discussion. A lot of, because of the fit for us. They were very highly rated on our board, first of all, to begin with. But then secondly, the fit. When we got to that point and we’re looking at what the options were, we really felt we could solidify that depth that we need in the secondary and actually have a guy that’s also come in and compete to start at nickel and gives us some safety value as well.”

Quan Martin's flexibility:

Mayhew: “Yes, very flexible guy, position flex. He can play free safety. He can play nickel. He probably play a little bit outside corner. Guy’s been a very productive guy in college. They had a really strong secondary and he was a big part of it there. We’re excited about him. I spent some time with him when he came for a 30 visit as well. He’s from Florida. We talked about Fort Meyers and some pretty good DB’S came out of there. One guy you guys know for sure, Deion Sanders came out of there. So we talked about Prime a little bit. I’m excited to have him join us. Another guy that’s gonna fit in really well in that room too.”

Rivera: “And to Martin’s point, he does have some position flex. He did end up having to play corner. I think it might have, was it Michigan game? Yeah, he played corner. So the guy’s shown that he can do all those things and he has more than just a safety skillset set. He can come down and play corner for you or the nickel for you.”

Slot corner:

Rivera: “Well, this is a great question because one of the things that we talked about is in the Buffalo package or our sub-page, you know, you can do it a couple of ways. You can do it using three safeties. You can do it using three corners. And what Quan gives us is an opportunity to use it really with kind of a hybrid guy. I mean, that’s really what it is. We listed him as a safety slash nickel and he’s a guy that has that kind of ability and flexibility for you. We played sub last year, I think it was almost 60% of the time, but it was a different type of subpackage, whether it be sub with three safeties or sub with three corners. So we have a lot of flexibility right now to do things.”

Ricky Stromberg:

Mayhew: “Yeah, Ricky man, big, smart, tough four year starter in the SEC. He won the award I think the Jacobs Award for the best blocking offensive lineman in the SEC last year. We had a really great visit. Another very, very, highly football intelligent guy. We talked a lot of ball, watched tape together. He’s gonna fit in really well here. He can play center, he can play guard as well. He brings a lot to the table.”

How Stromberg fits into the type of offense he wants to run:

Rivera: “Well, Ricky’s going to compete. He has some position flex, he played guard as well. So he’s a guy that we really think is going to come in and add some quality depth and we’ll see how things go. But he is a very bright, very smart guy. And I think Martin got a really good sense because like I said, I think Martin was the guy that spent most of the time with him.”

Mayhew: “Well, the offense is still coming together with Eric [Bieniemy] being new, but he’s very versatile. He can play guard center the way Coach said. The kid is very smart. I don’t think he’s gonna have a hard time catching up to NFL football, NFL terminology. I think he’s gonna pick things up very quickly and the guy’s powerful. He’s strong. He’s athletic enough. I think he’s gonna help us pretty soon.”

Center competition:

Travelle Wharton:

Cutting high-priced veterans after the draft:

All three picks mentioning how much they enjoyed their 30 visit:

Rivera: “I like to hope it’s something that we do. And what we try to do is we get everybody involved. You know, one of the things that we do is a little bit different too, we have everybody from our interns to all our coaches give some sort of report. And so when an intern picks you up at the airport and takes you to the hotel, he’s going to write down how you treat him. We want to be very deliberate in everything we’re doing and we’re trying to gather as much information as possible. And so we want these guys to feel welcome.

We want these guys to understand, you know, what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it. You know, when they come in to eat, we’re not taking ‘em out to a restaurant for breakfast, we’re bringing ‘em here into the facility. They’re eating downstairs, they’re seeing all of our people around. You know, we have people from the different departments, and our cafeteria is open to everybody that works here.

So it doesn’t matter who the employee is, they’re downstairs and they’re going to interact with our people and how they treat those people who are important to us as well. I’d like to say that, and just know that that’s what we’re doing. And then when Martin’s guys are here, the interns take him out or take him to dinner. That’s one place that is different, you know, they do take him out to a nice restaurant, get an opportunity to get to know them a little bit, and we get a written report. We get a hey, this guy was great. He was a lot of fun to talk with, you know a little something about his family. They write it in there, a little something about their character, the way they act. I mean, all these things are very intentional, and we are trying to just gather information. And at the same time, we’re trying to let them see what kind of environment they’re coming into.”

Adding a Day 3 QB:

Rivera: “Well, talking to Martin earlier we decided we’re not gonna tell you who we’re gonna look at. But yeah, I mean we’re taking into consideration all the positions and again, it’ll be something that we most certainly will talk about as we get into each round. And again, because being where we are, we’ll end up having to react to what happens in front of us.”

Jartavius "Quan" Martin

Natural:

Ricky Stromberg

Insane draft experience:

Virginia:

Visit felt right:

New OL coach Travelle Wharton:

Hyped: