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It didn’t take long for trades to become a huge part of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. Everyone knew that Indianapolis would take Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick and Washington was set to take Robert Griffin III second. After that, it became a bit of a wild ride. Cleveland gave up a few late-round picks to flip the third and fourth pick with Minnesota. The Browns got Alabama running back Trent Richardson, who promises in the following interviews that he’s going to be a name to remember. The Vikings still got their man in offensive tackle Matt Kalil and then Jacksonville traded up to get into the top five, rounding it out with Justin Blackmon. The top five picks in the 2012 NFL Draft joined Westwood One with Scott Graham to discuss the draft process, the teams that chose them, the situations they are now plugged into, what they’ll be working on and if they were surprised by some of the picks and trades.
Andrew Luck on the experience of draft week:
“It’s been a very interesting experience. At the end of the day, you always realize it’s about playing football and how fortunate am I to be in this situation? Having a dad who’s played in the league and sort of been in the business, it’s helped prepare me for handling some of the media stuff and the extra-curriculars outside of football.”
Luck on pushing aside the fact that he’s replacing Peyton Manning:
“I realize the situation that you can’t replace a guy like Peyton, what he’s done, arguably the best ever. So I know I’ve got to go up there and put my best foot forward and see how well I can do. Hopefully if one day I can be mentioned with Peyton, as a quarterback, great, yada, yada, yada, that’d be a dream come true.”
Luck on communicating with Robert Griffin III during the draft process:
“He’s a great guy, got to meet him through some of the award ceremonies in college this past year. I admire him a lot for how he handles himself on and off the field. At functions like these, we’ll sit and talk, but outside of that, he’s busy, he’s got stuff to do and I’ve got stuff to do.”
Griffin III on the differences between what he did in college and what he has to do now in the NFL:
“You start back at ground zero. In college, I was the top guy, the quarterback, the leader. Now I have to go to a new team and try to be that same guy, but I can’t just walk in there and say, ‘Hey guys, you have to respect me because I got drafted high.’ I have to show them why they need to respect me, show them why they can trust me as a leader.”
Griffin III on whether he expects to pick up the playbook pretty quickly:
“Yeah, I want to pick it up quickly. I just don’t want people to think it’s going to be night and day. It didn’t take me a couple months to learn Baylor’s offense. It took years to really master it. Obviously the process now is more immediate. I’m looking forward to learning the offense and going out and executing it a lot faster. But that’s why we have experiences in life. Baylor’s offense helped me prepare for what I’m going to do in the NFL.”
Trent Richardson on if he figured he was probably going to Cleveland:
“No, I wasn’t sure. Like you said, people trade up. There’s a lot going on with Tannehill, so you never know. But I’m happy, I’m proud and I want to congratulate myself and my mom and my family. This accomplishment is big. I always told my mom when I was younger, and my mom reminded me today, she said when I first started playing football at age five, I told her that she wouldn’t have to work no more and I’d be in the NFL.”
Richardson on whether he was looking around trying to figure out which teams he could contribute with immediately:
“No. I don’t look at stuff like that. That’s the reason I went to Alabama: I didn’t care who was in front of me, I felt I was going to play because I was confident in my game and I was strong-minded about it and I was going to be a workhorse. I’m not predicting no future and saying that we’re going to be an undefeated team, but I am going to work. And I can tell you this, I will make sure my name will be remembered in all of NFL football.”
Matt Kalil on if he sensed he was going to the Vikings:
“Up until a couple weeks before the draft and things kind of get a little shaky with that, I had my doubts a little bit but I was still pretty confident they would pick me. It was a relief when they called and asked me if I was ready to get this over with. I said, ‘Yeah I am.’ And they said, ‘Welcome to the Vikings.’”
Kalil on watching Adrian Peterson over the years and now being in the huddle with him:
“It’s kind of surreal, all these people, even the commissioner and seeing the draft on TV and like, ‘Oh, that’d be cool to be there one day.’ It’s finally happening and it’s crazy. It’s still setting in.”
Justin Blackmon on the surprise of the early trades, including Jacksonville trading up to get him:
“I’m very surprised. It surprised me because it kind of came out of nowhere. But the fact that Jacksonville came down, traded and really went out on a limb to get me makes it that much better. It makes me want to work that much harder for them.”
Blackmon on his biggest strength that he brings from college that will translate to the NFL:
“I think just me going out and being able to compete. I love to compete, no matter what we’re doing. And I like to win, so you know I’m going to want to win those battles and I’m going to try to put myself in the best position to do that.”
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