COLLEGE SCOUT COLE PROCTOR
(opening statement on Jamie Harper)
Jamie Harper—big back, been in a rotation there the first two years. He's a junior coming out, the first two years he played behind two great backs, C.J. Spiller and (James Davis) the year before—two good guys and he spotted duty with them and they split time with the back this year. He's a big back, he's an inside runner, has good hands, has power, can get yards after contact; he's just going to be a good, solid player for us and bring more size and inside running ability for our team.
(on whether they see Jamie Harper coming in as a big running back or a potential fullback)
Coming in I think he's going to be more like (LeGarrette) Blount, but he could develop into more of that lead-block type.
COLLEGE SCOUT JOHNNY MEADS
(opening statement on Karl Klug)
Karl Klug, Iowa defensive tackle that is a high-effort, high-motor Iowa guy that is going to play hard all of the time. He is a Minnesota kid who came to Iowa as, well he wasn't a running back, but he played running back in high school and developed into the effort player that he is there at Iowa. With the defensive line that they had, he was in that rotation, did a good job, he's a guy that plays well with his hands. He moves well, he's one of those guys that seems like a Kyle Vanden Bosch kind of high-effort, high-motor type of guy that is going to give you all he has and do a good job that way. I never saw him playing as a defensive end but Tracy (Rocker) mentioned that he's a guy who could possibly play a defensive end for us and push down to the defensive tackle spot as a rush guy. He's a guy who is going to give you some versatility and a guy who is going to give you effort.
(on Klug being compared to Mitch King because of his effort)
Exactly, definitely—those type of guys that come here. It is a smaller type of guy, but he is definitely going to give you the effort. He makes up for that size with the effort that he gives.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JERRY GRAY
(on how he sees Karl Klug fitting into the Titans' Defense)
Yeah, he gives us some versatility to play strong side defense. If we find a team that is trying to run the ball to the tight end he can actually move out and play five technique. We know he can play over the top of the tight end, a guy being 6'3" and about 275-280. That gives us some more bulk out there. We know he plays great with his hands. He can play three technique. He's done that. He's been in a real tough system, playing at Iowa. They are going to try to run the ball on him. I thought with him being one of the three good defensive linemen at Iowa, they have been taught to stop the run. That is going to be real good for us when he gets here.
HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on if he is looking forward to having another high-effort guy on the team in the mold of former Titans defensive lineman Kyle Vanden Bosch)
That part excites you. He's a nuisance. He's one of those guys that irritate offensive linemen because the guy is going hard every play. You can't relax on him. When you get him in rotation and move him around he's comfortable inside. He'll have no problem adjusting outside. He's one of those guys that is a great fit to us on defense.
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JERRY GRAY
(on the defense possibly playing a 3-4)
Well to me again, what we are doing is kind of putting the puzzle together. We knew what we had and we know now where we're drafting. When you get those guys in, hopefully we can eventually get them in and we start working. They'll come and let you know what they can do well and it's my job to make sure along with the other coaches that we put those guys in position to win and find out what they're comfortable at doing. To me, I think again just being an ex-player, anytime you put me in position to do something, I'm going to do well, I'm going to really do it and really excel. I didn't mean I wasn't going to do the stuff that I didn't like but the faster we can figure out what these guys can do, the faster we can get the defense going in the right direction. Yeah, of course, you've got guys that have played here that have done a really good job and you can say, 'Hey, they're 4-3, they're 3-4.' But you look at teams like New England, those guys play 3-4 and 4-3 every week so it really doesn't matter. They go through their roster and say, "Hey, do we want to play 3-4 this week? Do we want to play 4-3?' And they get the best out of it so to me it depends on what hand you're dealt and that's what you play.
RUNNING BACKS COACH JIM SKIPPER
(on wanting to have a one-two punch at running back like he did in Carolina)
Well, yeah, I think you got to have a one-two punch in there because the position is so demanding physically on a guy. You want to keep people fresh so that every time you look up, you keep pressure on the defense. It's kind of like comparing a racecar driver when they come into the pit stop and switch tires, brand new tires on. Fresh guy in, keep it going so you need that one-two punch and here is a guy that's big enough, that he's got durability and he's got good skills where you can throw the ball to him. So he's got a good combination of size and athletic ability so that is a pretty good one-two punch to have.
(on Harper's 40-yd dash time)
He ran a 4.53 is what they officially got him for. See the one thing, there's timed speed and there's another thing, competition speed. This guy plays pretty fast.
HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on any obvious needs with picks coming up)
Well usually the offensive line becomes a topic at the end of the draft (laughing). The same thing that we've been doing, obviously, we're going to look at the board and get the best players. If it's a defensive back, we've obviously haven't done anything there yet. The offensive line position and receiver so you're going to look at guys that can come in and help upgrade those positions, wherever they may be. And that's kind of what we are thinking as we wait to see how it unfolds here in this round.
(on if tight end was a position that they were concerned with)
We were looking at some of those tight ends and not necessarily in this round but earlier we were. Unfortunately right now, that position is pretty thin up on the board so we will probably be leaning toward some of the other spots.
