Former Giants offensive coordinator and Super Bowl champion Charlie Weis knows a thing or two about evaluating draft prospects at the NFL Combine. From interviews to on-field workouts, Weis drew on years of invaluable experience when he joined John Schmeelk and Paul Dottino on the Giants Huddle podcast at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Weis shared that the most worthwhile part of the NFL Combine is the prospect interviews. "There's a lot to the inner workings of a player, as a person, his character, his intelligence. Those are the types of things you can get here at the Combine," he said.
Former wide receiver Antwaan Randle El is a name that sticks out in Weis' mind as one of the most positive interview experiences. Weis recalled joking around with the Indiana University prospect and admitted that Randle El "took over the room in 15 minutes."
Weis also outlined the overall criteria for evaluating players, in particular those whom a team hopes to draft in the early rounds. The most important question for an organization to answer is "How ready are they to play?"
"If you're going to take a guy in the first round of the draft relatively high, in today's world, it means he's going to play as quickly as you can get him," Weis added. "He might not start right away, but he's going to play relatively quickly. So, which guys are playing in systems that prepare a guy like an NFL player?"
Wide receiver is an area of interest to Giants fans, and Weis offered optimism on that front.
"You can take really good ones early in the draft, but you can still find really good ones as the draft matriculates," he stated. "You still can find guys that fit that bill. If you go into the draft knowing that's one area where you want to help yourself, you'll be able to help yourself because there's plenty of options."
He elaborated that there is rarely a shortage of wideouts in the draft, and a bright offensive mind like Brian Daboll is particularly equipped to transition a receiver into the league.
"You can't have preconceived notions. If a guy's got very good athletic skills, you can figure out how to move forward with him," Weiss said when asked if a prospect's collegiate background is make-or-break.
He continued to talk about fitting draft prospects into the Giants' existing roster and touched on free agency and re-signing key players like Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.
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