92.3 The Fan's Browns Draft Coverage: Andrew Berry interview

0:00general manager of your Cleveland Browns Andrew Barry Andrew thanks for joining us thanks for having you can Spencer Fano we had him on he was awesome what a young man and uh... you know I know we were taught why you see why you see but this kid just jumps off the page with what type of leadership he has with type of personality has well maybe I'm answering the question for you would you like about the guy yeah well first it starts just with his his tape right he's super athletic he's uh... finisher in the run game um... always plays on his feet excellent pass protector and he's very versatile um... and then you layer in the person who elite work ethic um... really high football intelligence wants to be great um... you know that's the type of package that you want in a corner stone position for your franchise a lot of in the media was is he a cackel is he a guard you guys felt very secure that in fact not only was the tackle but he could be the left tackle for the Cleveland Browns what did you guys see because he didn't play their you know first year

1:02was at the left side it's been a right tackle the last two seasons yeah I think it goes down to there's uh... very little distinction between both sides in today's game and Spencer has elite movement skills which is something that you're looking for in the top pass protectors um... across the league he uses his hands well he's strong enough to anchor um... so we think the uh... the transition back to the left side will be you know will be pretty smooth uh... uh... with this offensive line i mean George warhop his work cut out for him uh... how do you get him adjusted as quickly as you possibly can and then you know you got Luke Whiplier across that offensive line but you also have a lot of veterans too that can help him not as well yeah i i first of all we have one of the best in the business with George he's he's outstanding i think you know Joe Thomas has been on record saying that's you know his his favorite offensive line coach and you know Georgia's track record speaks for itself so um... zero reservations in that regard and a big part of it will just like bringing the group together right we do have some guys that are a little bit banged up still and that are you know coming back this you know this spring many of them have not

2:06played together before so i think that you know level of cohesion is is certainly something that we'll need to work through over the next several months but we do have the right person in charge of that group with George it's also you know to be sitting where we are from a depth standpoint all of a sudden you know a guy like the one can be your swing tackle or you compete for a starting job but you know tevin Jenkins has started in this league and now you have him we it just feels like the line and i know that was a big point of emphasis but as we sit here just after night one and probably not done it's in a much better place than it was two months ago yeah i think you know that was something that we knew and you know we had a good plan in terms of turning over that position group you know we're in a good spot as we stand but you're right we're not you know we're not done we're not done with any position group we're certainly not done with that one all right one of the thing that people arm length arm length arm length arm length to me if you're a guy who can't really move that would probably be a bigger problem right but you're talking about the athleticism there what gave you guys comfort and is this thirty three inch number where does this come from and

3:07obviously you guys didn't think it was that huge of a deal yeah it's um it's something that I know is talked a lot about externally um there's no science behind the thirty three inch number that gets just quoted often um you know the reality of it is guys that can shorten the corner whether that's through length whether that's through um you know feet and athleticism that's really what you're you know what you're looking for and that's something that Spencer can can certainly do go ahead is it funny to you that we've gotten to a point with all of this stuff like I remember when Jared Goff came out like his hands are too small nobody's mentioned Jared Goff's hand size and a decade right is it why do you think we become so obsessed with some of these little things that are never talked about when a guy plays in college and then never talked about again on the NFL yeah well so I do think it's going outliers I guess I think it's look every prospect is going to have a shortcoming or a weakness um doesn't matter where you're taken the question becomes is like number one does that weakness actually matter and two if it does do

4:10they have the compensating characteristics to to render that a moot point um in Spencer's case I you know I actually feel bad that so much of the discourse was about his arm length when it's like you have a player who's been a three year starter he's been an elite producer he's played on both sides of line of scrimmage he's been one of the best press protectors in college football he's an elite athlete elite intelligence elite makeup and then the only narrative is about you know whether his arms are 33 inches or less than 33 inches so um look it makes it entertaining and everything like that but um and look he's not the only prospect that goes through that you know people will narrow in on one you know shortcoming or one less than ideal trait but that's not the big picture question yeah I mean you know that answer well you gotta talk about that yeah yeah full content for a little bit and then they don't watch the college games and then all of a sudden they watch the combine at 33 inches becomes a big deal I mean I could be honest with you know that Casey concepts you know yeah uh drops a question uh his personality outstanding uh his speed

5:14outstanding uh how do you work with him get him up to speed with this offense I I know that coach Todd Monkin had said he'll be on the outside yeah so um you know first it starts with the outstanding coaches that we had obviously Monk he's a receiver guy but Christian Jones I think if you look what he did to get Harold fan it up to speed last year as a rookie playing a huge role for us now with Christian being in the receiver room we know the young guys there in really good hands and the other thing is Casey's really smart um you know he did a lot uh both at NC state and at Texas A&M uh in terms of their offense he'll pick it up quickly and uh you know we'll get him up to speed we see a guy who can make the plays that he makes in the SEC there's got to be some thought that that can translate well it's SEC big 10 but you know the guy goes in there two pun return touchdowns he's great after the catch the high percentage of his catches go for first dance because he can separate and you know it's funny he reminded him and Todd actually said this as well he said there's only one Z flowers but he there's some Z flowers to his game and Todd obviously had a lot of success with a guy who can create that kind of separation yeah you know I

6:16think you know guys that have the characteristics where they can create separation then also create with the ball in their hands um you know those are hard to find and especially someone that you can you can move around and use in a variety different ways so you know we think he has the potential to really create explosive plays for us in this offense how do you kind of see that wide receiver room as it as it sits now adding Casey and it might not be done there but as it as it sits here today and I'll tell you being out there on Tuesday seeing Isaiah Bond he looks to be in unbelievable condition as body looks he looks fantastic and fast I think we have a number of guys in that room that we're excited about obviously adding Casey you know adds another young player that that we really really like so we'll see how that room shakes out of the course of the spring we'll see how these guys work and develop as we go through the next several months but it's a good start what are the goals that you can share with us throughout the next couple of days good as many good players as possible personality wise what do you think you're looking for in those guys

7:17because these two jump off the page leadership I think it's been the word that has been used a lot yeah I think for us it's less about like what I always tell our scouts is there's a difference between personality and character some people have great personalities but they don't have great football character some people have personalities that are not as popular put it put it mildly but they have outstanding football character so I always say like look we're not we're not we're not grading personality but we are grading like the football character and that's what we care about these guys are both they're very very tough they're very very competitive they have outstanding work ethic they want to be great Casey's inspirational I mean I don't know if you read the letter that was to all the GM's but I mean that is it's unreal and we got a chance to talk with him and just the fact that he wants to be a role model with other people who may have speech impediments and that he doesn't shy away from any of that and it kind of forged him into the competitor and the person he is to me that's like you know this guy can handle something that is societally very difficult to

8:21handle and see outlined in that article that caused him a lot of pain and grief and and he just has said you know what this is who I am I like who I am football is I mean football is a tough game don't get me wrong it's physical but you're talking about somebody with a makeup that's going to be adversity is not going to phase Casey concebs him yeah I think you know Casey throughout his life and not just what he wrote about you know in the tribune he he's faced difficult circumstances and you know being a professional athlete is hard it's not just physically hard but it's mentally and emotionally hard and he the way that he is responded to his adversity throughout his life has been you know outstanding and very much think that he's built for the sport you've been trying to get upon returner or a return guy and we brought in all these guys with great resumes and for whatever reason the turf monster gets them hopefully none of them stay healthy yeah yeah not know what that they will but how valuable was that and not only you get in a guy that you think can be probably a pro bowl wide receiver or starter wide receiver but also somebody that is

9:21very dynamic in an area where we have not been as dynamic as we wanted yeah we think he's the best pot returner in the class um and that's certainly I'm going to steal a term from from downstairs but like icing on the cake yep um you know the primary driver his his play as a receiver but to have someone who can contribute in that manner on offense and then also it really buys your roster spot and not just like it's not just that Casey does it but he does it at a at a really really high level so we're looking forward to that coach or coach Andrew thank you yeah Andrew thank you so much for the time uh congratulations on tonight good luck uh tomorrow and Saturday three picks tomorrow let's go thank you guys and Drew Barry joining us the general manager of your Cleveland Browns