Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley addressed the media this afternoon about their selection of LSU DE Tyson Jackson with the #3 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Here are some highlights:
Scott Pioli on if it was a difficult selection...
“I don’t know if it was difficult. Here’s where it was difficult: there were a number of players there that we liked. We spent quite a bit of time the last several days and weeks watching all the players. I don’t think it was a difficult decision in the end because of all the work we put in here the last few days. We felt this was a player we wanted.”
Piloli on if Jackson was head and shoulders above the Chiefs other prospects...
"I don’t know about head and shoulders, but there were a couple of players we liked at this spot. This is the player we liked the most. The question was asked the other day and it was asked before: do we do things based on need or best player available. I think this is a very good case and a situation that explains what I was trying to say the other day. We have a number of positions of need and there were a couple of players we felt were very good at this point in time that were available at number three. We valued a couple of players very similarly and for different reasons they had different strengths and ways to help our football team. In the end in this particular case when we factored in need and we see where we’re at from a front seven standpoint, so we felt that the need also came into the equation.”
Did any team contact the Chiefs about trading up?
“We didn’t receive any calls on trades once we got down near the end.”
On making a splash in his first Chiefs draft...
“Any time you want to make a trade you have to have a partner to make a trade. If there is no partner to make a trade you can want all you want. There were no partners in this case who wanted to talk about trades. That’s why you have to approach it and be prepared. It’s why you spend the extra time if you’re going to stick and pick; you have to be prepared if there is opportunity for trades, and then calculate into the whole thought process if you’re going to trade back to a certain point. We still better know the rest of the first round and the players we might project. We may have ended up there but we didn’t.
Turns out, that earlier report about Matt Cassel's contract was false.
“No, someone had told me that that report is out there, but that’s news to me.”
On what they liked about Tyson Jackson...
PIOLI: “That he was very strong, very good core strength and a very good long arm move. He has very good body control and very good balance and strength for a guy who’s sub-300 pounds.
HALEY: “Rarely on the ground, very good instincts, has very good football feel.”
PIOLI: “He had very good brute strength in being able to create separation with one hand.”
Read it all at the mothership. I really like this Tyson Jackson pick, especially after watching this highlight video:
Click over to see a complete list of the first round picks.
(3:04PM) Detroit Lions #1 - QB Matthew Stafford, Georgia
(3:14PM) St. Louis Rams #2 - LT, Jason Smith, Baylor
(3:24PM) Kansas City Chiefs #3 - DE Tyson Jackson, LSU
(3:32PM) Seattle Seahawks #4 - LB, Aaron Curry, Wake Forest
(3:41PM) *New York Jets #5 QB, Mark Sanchez, USC
(3:50PM) Cincinnati Bengals #6 LT, Andre Smith, Alabama
(3:56PM) Oakland Raiders #7 WR, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland
(4:05PM) Jacksonville Jaguars #8 LT, Eugene Monroe, Virginia
(4:14 PM) Green Bay Packers #9 NT, B.J. Raji, Boston College
(4:18PM) San Francisco 49ers #10 WR, Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
(4:26PM) Buffalo Bills #11 DE, Aaron Maybin, Penn State
(4:32PM) Denver Broncos #12 RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia
(4:33PM) Washington Redskins #13 LB, Brian Orakpo, Texas
(4:40PM) New Orleans Saints #14 CB, Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State
(4:46PM) Houston Texans #15 LB, Brian Cushing, USC
(4:55 PM) San Diego Chargers #16 LB, Larry English, UConn
(5:00 PM) **Tampa Bay Buccaneers #17 QB, Josh Freeman, K-State
(5:06 PM) Denver Broncos #18 DE, Robert Ayers, Tennessee
(5:13 PM) ***Philadelphia Eagles #19 WR, Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
(5:20 PM) Detroit Lions #20 TE, Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma St.
(5:25 PM) Cleveland Browns #21 C, Alex Mack, California
(5:28 PM) Minnesota Vikings #22 WR, Percy Harvin, Florida
(5:35 PM) ***Baltimore Ravens #23 OT, Michael Oher, 'Ole Miss
(5:41 PM) Atlanta Falcons #24 DT, Peria Jerry, 'Ole Miss
(5:47 PM) Miami Dolphins #25 CB, Vontae Davis, Illinois
(5:50 PM) ***Green Bay Packers #26 LB, Clay Matthews III, USC
(6:00 PM) Indianapolis Colts, #27 RB, Donald Brown, UConn
(6:04 PM) Buffalo Bills #28 C, Eric Wood, Louisville
(6:10PM) New York Giants #29 WR, Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina
(6:18) Tennessee Titans #30 WR, Kenny Britt, Rutgers
(6:26) Arizona Cardinals #31 RB, Chris 'Beanie' Wells, Ohio State
(6:31) Pittsburgh Steelers #32 DT, Ziggy Hood, Missouri
I'm not gonna lie this is a huge hassle to update this manually. Head to NFL.com's live draft tracker for the most up to date picks.