Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio
The 2016 NFL Draft continued Friday night with the second and third rounds taking place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.
Following the conclusion of the third round, Head Coach Jack Del Rio held a press conference discussing the Raiders' selections – defensive ends Jihad Ward (No. 44 overall) Shilique Calhoun (No. 75 overall).
Here are the highlights from his time in front of the media.
**He shared his thoughts on Jihad Ward.
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"I think we think he has a great upside. I think he's a big, athletic, defensive lineman that can play multiple positions. He can play a five-technique defensive end, move inside and play a three technique. The reason I speak to the upside, he's relatively young at the position and was more of an athlete type guy that's fairly young at that position, at the defensive line position, so he has a chance to really grow as he learns technique."
With Shalique Calhoun, versatility is key.
"Shalique is more of an in between defensive end or a SAM linebacker. He's an end of the line kind of guy. He'll have versatility in that he can play the SAM linebacker for us, or the LEO position which is a defensive end. He's a very productive young man, really understands how to rush the quarterback and he's been a very productive guy at a good college program. We feel good about fortifying the front."
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Coach Del Rio isn't listening to the hype surrounding the Silver and Black.**
"We still have a lot of work to do on our football team. There's a lot of opportunity to better ourselves, and we're going to continue to work at it anyway we can. For us, the hype surrounding where we are and where we see ourselves as a football team, maybe are two different places, but we see a lot of work in front of us and an opportunity to make it much more competitive at many spots on the roster."
Jihad Ward will let his game do the talking.
"I think when you get a chance to talk with him [Ward], you'll find that he's probably closest to Amari [Cooper]. He's going to choose his words carefully. He's a very serious young man. He's come through quite a bit to make it where he is now, to have an opportunity to join the Oakland Raiders."
Injuries shouldn't be a concern for any of the Raiders' draft picks.
"All of our guys, we expect to play this year. All of our guys checked out fairly well with the doctors, so we feel good about having them all ready for action in 2016."
