|
Mike Shanahan Quotes on Cutler 4/30/2006 Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan On selecting Vanderbilt QB Jay Cutler in the first round of the NFL Draft “Very seldom are you in a position to get a quarterback of his quality. To get a guy like Jay, we were very excited. We weren’t really sure when he was going to go. We were hoping that he would go a little bit later than earlier, and we feel very fortunate to get him. We feel like he’s a guy that can make all the throws, he’s an excellent athlete as well and he’s done a great job throughout his collegiate career. We’re excited. It’s always tough to get those quarterbacks, especially with that type of ability. We’re looking forward to him coming in.” On if the Broncos spoke with Cutler leading up to the draft “We don’t talk to them (prospects) because sometimes when you talk to them, you give it away. I had a chance to talk to (Titans Head Coach) Jeff Fisher a number of times, and Jeff was working out all three quarterbacks and spending a lot of time with all three, and Jeff thought the world of him (Cutler). Obviously, I liked what I saw on film. He can make all the throws, and I liked the way he handled himself and I liked the way he played. Jeff had a chance to spend a lot with him right there obviously in the same city and didn’t feel like he had any flaws. Jeff and I have been close through the years, and I didn’t have to give something away, so that’s always nice.” On creating competition at the quarterback position with the selection of Cutler “All you like to do is have competition. You try to create competition. We’ve been very fortunate the last couple of years. Obviously Jake (Plummer) is in his 10th year and took us to the AFC Championship Game and played quite well on a Pro Bowl level. He’s (Plummer) an athlete, he’s playing at a very level and won a lot of games, and hopefully we’ll continue to do that with Jake at the helm. But when there’s an opportunity like that, you don’t want to pass it up because you know you are one play away from an injury. We’ve got a quarterback in that situation that can come in and throw, and we’ll get a chance to evaluate him and are just excited to have him.” On where he had Cutler ranked among the draft’s top three quarterbacks “Obviously we had him at the first pick.” On Cutler’s success at Vanderbilt “Being in the SEC, being at Florida (as an assistant coach in the early 1980s) and understanding the quality of play in that conference, for him to be a player of the year speaks for itself. Very few times can a quarterback at a school be the MVP where they don’t have the same type of athletes that some of the schools have in the conference. He’s done some spectacular things throughout his collegiate career, but more importantly, I like the way he handles himself. He’s an athlete. He runs quite well, is very strong and has been healthy. I’m just looking forward to him being with the Denver Broncos.” On competition at quarterback on the Broncos’ roster “Jake understands that there is competition. If we didn’t draft (a quarterback), it could have easily been in the second or third or in free agency. Regardless of where a guy is picked, the guy has to come in here and compete. Jake understands the nature of this job. Jake has a lot of confidence in himself.” “There is a lot of competition, and everyone is playing for a job. Jake had the same situation in Arizona. That’s just the nature of the job. There’s always going to be competition. There’s always going to be great players. If you back away from competition, you shouldn’t be the guy anyhow. That’s just the nature of the National Football League.” On trading on draft day “We go through scenarios like this all the time, but usually we are not in position or we don’t have enough draft choices to make the moves that we did today. Getting a first-round draft choice this year from Washington (in a trade last season) and trading that pick for No. 37 and No. 68 gave us some flexibility with the 15th pick. Normally, you don’t have that opportunity to move up like that. We talked to a number of teams about moving up and moving back. But we were happy it worked out. It was a great opportunity for us, and I thought it worked out well.” On finding a team to trade with to move up in the draft to select Cutler “We talk all the time, but to be honest to you, that (St. Louis) was the first team that would actually? The other teams, regardless of the offer, were very happy where they were. They (the Rams) were the first team that would actually talk about possible compensation.” On discussing trade scenarios to move up in the draft with other teams “We started early in the draft. I think we started with San Francisco and worked our way up. You never know. Sometimes, a team will have somebody targeted, sometimes they’re willing to back up. We talked to Detroit and Buffalo, and we thought there was a possibility there, but they were very happy with their pick. We really didn’t talk about compensation–They were very happy with their pick. That’s the nature of the business. We do that all the time. When you pick in the latter part of the first round, very seldom do you get a chance to make some of these trades. We were very fortunate to have No. 15 and an extra second and an extra third to do some of the things we did today.” On if this is the happiest he has been after the draft’s first day “I think we’ve got some big-time impact players. The only time you get some big-time, impact players, usually you lose about 12, 13 games, and that’s not a lot of fun as a head football coach. To be able to have the type of season we had and still be able to get some quality guys that I think can help our football team is real encouraging.” |
