EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF PLAYER PERSONNEL ELIOT WOLF
Press Conference
April 25, 2026
Q: I'm just curious how today went, especially with Mike [Vrabel] not being there, just how you felt the whole day was able to go and how you were able to evaluate and then draft these prospects.
EW: Yeah, I think it was business as usual. A lot of conversations with the coaching staff, a lot of conversations with the scouting staff. Day 3 of the draft is really the, I would say, scouts' day. It's the chance for some of these unheralded players to have the opportunity to get drafted, maybe some of the guys that some of the coaches didn't even look at. So, I just want to want to thank everyone, from top to bottom, of our football organization. It was a really good process all weekend.
Q: Just on Quintayvious Hutchins, local guy obviously, what'd you see in him and why'd you want to take a shot on him?
EW: Yeah, really, really physical player. Has some length, has some traits that we like. Went back and watched some of the special teams when he was younger and that really stood out as well. Had the opportunity to work him out at our local day, which was really cool for him and his agents to decide to come work out. A lot of times guys that worked out at the Combine aren't willing to do that, and he showed what kind of competitor he is with his willingness to come over there. I think he helped himself definitely – you know Vrabel with the with the pad, he was hitting that pad and Vrabel was feeling his strength, so it was pretty cool to see.
Q: Were you in contact with Mike at all today, and if so, how often were you guys in contact?
EW: So, last night we kind of talked through things and made the decision that the time away really needs to be time away, so we were not in contact with Mike today other than some just, 'Hope everything's going OK' kind of texts early this morning.
Q: And just to follow up, when you talked to him last night when Day 2 ended, what kind of message did he leave you guys with headed into today?
EW: Just words of encouragement. He knows he knows our process, and again, we talked about what kind of players we needed to add. We knew what kind of players that he liked, and obviously we drafted some of the guys that he had an affinity for today.
Q: For the second year in a row, you guys select two tackles in the draft. How challenging have you found in your career just to find good, quality, young tackles, and how important is it for you guys to make sure you have good, quality, young depth at that position?
EW: Very challenging. I would say most of my career, you always think you're going to have enough once the training camp or preseason hits, and you don't. So, having obviously Caleb [Lomu], but having the opportunity to draft a guy with the experience of Dametrious Crownover at that point in the draft was pretty important to us.
Q: What did you like about [Behren] Morton? He's obviously dealt with a fair share of injuries, but he played through one last year.
EW: I mean, that's the first thing that stands out, is the toughness. He played through a lot of stuff. He's been beat up, but he's played through a lot of stuff. He's got a live arm. He's really smart. He's been productive. He's played a lot of football, and he's a really good fit for the type of offense that we want to run.
Q: You guys had a run there late today, three consecutive players from Texas schools. I'm just wondering, was that all the same area scout, and if so, who it was?
EW: Yeah, so Alex Brooks does the southwest region for us, and Tucker Ingraham is the cross checker, although Texas Tech this year was Casey Belongia as the cross checker. That was just kind of how it fell. Obviously, there's a lot of good players in that part of the country, and we drafted three players from really good programs down there.
Q: Over the last three days, do you feel like you've addressed and been able to fill all the needs that you kind of wanted to going into the draft, or do you feel there's more work to be done in terms of the roster construction?
EW: Yeah, I think there's always work to be done as far as filling holes and adding depth at a lot of different spots. Now that the draft has ended, our guys are working on college free agency. I'm hoping to get back in there shortly to help finish some of that stuff up. But yeah, as always, we're always going to try to look for ways to improve the roster.
Q: You guys didn't take a receiver. Was that more of a conscious effort, or is that just sort of how the board fell?
EW: Yeah, that's how the board fell. There were some situations where there were some receivers that we liked that we – they just got picked in front of where we were. So, just how it fell, not a conscious decision, and I think we'll probably be pretty competitive here with the undrafted guys at that position.
Q: Just in terms of having a new facility, could you guys actually feel, or was there a difference in terms of productivity, or I guess making things easier for you guys this weekend?
EW: Oh yeah, absolutely. First of all, the flow was great. The technology is unbelievable, compared to the magnets that we used to have. There were a couple times during the draft where we were kind of talking about different players later in the draft. Should we draft this guy? Should we draft that guy? You can actually pull up the film, click on the guy's profile, pull up the film right there, watch his pro day, watch some key plays and just try to hone in on the right decision for us. So, all in all, it was tremendous.
Q: On Morton, do you see him as a guy that's going to come in and compete for the backup job, or is that more kind of going to get determined over a period of time?
EW: I think that's something that'll get determined. Coming from a shotgun, spread offense like Texas Tech to what we run here with Josh [McDaniels] is kind of night and day. We had the opportunity to bring him in for an in-house visit here, a 30-visit, and there's obviously going to be a learning curve there that he's up for. He's really smart, but I think that'll be something that gets determined as we move forward here.
Q: I just wanted to ask you about Crownover quickly. When we kind of all started digging into this, I feel like he was projected to go much higher, and then you guys got him there in the sixth round. Did you expect him to be there and maybe shed any light on why he maybe went a little bit later, if you can?
EW: Yeah, I'm not really sure why. He's played a lot of football. He's an older prospect. That's maybe something that – primarily played on the right side, so maybe some versatility type things. But no, he's a player that, like we talked about earlier, I mean, he's 6'7", 320 with long arms. He's really light on his feet, and he's going to have a chance to come in here and compete and obviously going to have to start playing more than one position. But he was definitely excited when we spoke to him. He's a guy we spent some time with throughout the process, and ultimately, he fell to us there in the sixth.
Q: I just am sort of curious when it comes to the landscape in college football. Obviously, there's some older prospects coming into the league via the draft. How do you view those guys? Does it hurt their grade? Is it ever a benefit in your eyes? It did look like you took a couple of guys that in years past would have been considered older than normal.
EW: Yeah, I mean, I think that's just the landscape of college football now. It's something I know that we're very cognizant of. I think you can get into some trouble if you draft a bunch of 26-year-old guys looking at these four-year contracts, but as you get into Day 3, you're looking for the best players. You're looking for someone to fill a role. We're obviously pretty excited about the guys that we were able to add.
And just before we go, I just wanted to acknowledge Nancy Meier. Her final draft here, unless she wants to come back and help us again next year part-time, but obviously a tremendous asset to our team. Fifty-one years, 52 drafts, I think it is. She's just a tremendous ambassador for our program.
