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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Jim Zorn Post-Draft Press Conference

On Colt Brennan (QB, Hawaii):

"He was a guy I had followed through college just because of all the numbers he was putting up. I had been in Hawaii a couple years previous, invited to June Jones- he has a charity golf tournament and invites a bunch of coaches and past players. Colt was always there and we spoke several times. I just kept my eye on him. When he was there at the end in our later rounds, I think the history of most clubs is to try to get a quarterback if there is one that you see that you might be able to develop, he was there. We just thought he would be an excellent choice to come in and compete. He is coming off of a bit of a hip surgery. In speaking with him, he got his hip surgery on April 7. He is progressing along. He is already throwing. He is lifting. He is starting to move now. I'm sure by next week he is not going to be ready to run, but if he can actually stand there and throw the football and just start learning what we are doing, I am fine with that. He will be ready to go in training camp."

On if he is concerned about Colt Brennan missing mini-camp and OTAs:

"I'd say it was a little bit of a concern, but not enough for me to pass on him. He has the kind of career where he has played a lot. I think he understands what it is going to take to commit to learning it. Hopefully he will be truly physically ready to start practicing in training camp and then hopefully well enough and solid enough to even participate in the pre-season somewhat."

On what he likes in Colt Brennan:

"The thing that I look for is one of the strong suits of a QB: is can he hit what he is throwing at. Colt has done that. He has been a 70 percent passer. Really whatever level and whatever type of defense you are going against to throw 70 percent completion there is some accuracy. You can see that in many of the games in the last couple of seasons. You can see his accuracy. He has the ability to move around. He is a 4.7 runner in the 40. Also his lateral movement and his ability to get himself in the position to throw the ball after a play breaks down is tremendous. Hopefully he will be able to com in here and do that. Supposedly there was some talk among the experts that he has a bit of a side arm release, which is true. We will try to bring that up a little bit, if we can great. It is just little steps to help him become efficient. Some of that stuff is not efficient. Hopefully he will get brought up to speed that way. If he understands what is going on we could get pretty good on a guy that could come in and support."

On Colt Brennan's arm strength:

"He is not a strong armed, fire ball. When you see the ball come out it is going to come out quick and it is going to be accurate. I don't know about his ball speed. I wasn't as concerned about the ball speed as I was about accuracy. What happens is, guys that don't throw hard will have to anticipate better. That is what I will be looking for."

On the adjustment of Colt Brennan going from mainly shotgun formation to being under center:

"The shotgun doesn't make me too nervous because I saw him drop back a lot. There are a lot of shotgun QBs that are in shotgun every single play. They have to relearn how to drop and how to throw on rhythm. I don't think he is going to have that problem. Remember he started out at the University of Colorado. He has been in a couple of offenses that were not necessarily all shotgun. The thing they did in Hawaii that is different than most other clubs at the NCAA level, is they were a 'run and shoot' offense, which has its own system and own style. Any NFL team that he went too would be different than that particular philosophy and style. We will see if he can adapt and work into it."

On not drafting a linebacker or defensive tackle in the later rounds:

"There were two occasions where right before we picked, two or three spots before we picked, a guy we ear marked was right off the board. So we had to go to our next choice. That is the way it is in the draft. I think our preparation proved to be very sound. Everyone else is picking too. There are 31 other teams picking. That is a situation that no one can predict."

On if there is any disappointment that they weren't able to draft a defensive lineman:

"Not disappointed because that really is the way the draft went for us. I can't tell you I am disappointed, at this point we are trying to sign several free agent linemen both on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball. So we are going to fill out our roster with guys that were not drafted. Remember there are only seven rounds but there are some good athletes still there that will have a chance. Free agents make the team every year."

On not addressing the front seven at all in the draft:

"One of the things we don't want to do is spend a pick in an area or on a player that we don't think can actually win the position over the guys we have there right now. We do have some veteran players. Those veteran players know how to prepare. They are going to be there. They are going to win the position. The players we did look at, we didn't feel they could develop immediately so they could unseat that particular athlete. That's why you pass. As we go on here we hope to latch onto a couple of guys who probably in this draft are as good as those players that we did pass on. Maybe they are better."

On if he is pleased with the draft:

"I am very pleased with the draft. It's unpredictable every year as to how it looks. I think it's an interesting discussion because who would have known so many offensive players would have been taken. We didn't yesterday morning say, 'Okay, men it's an offensive day.' You don't gear up for that. You gear up with our preparation. What we did do, and how the board got mapped out was we listened to every possible piece of information that we could have. You start with the scouts' reports. You have medical and off the field character issues. You have all of these things that you rank your board. In this particular year as we worked it through these are the choices that came to us and that we actually chose."

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