Ricky Stanzi is a guy that is projected to be a mid to late round draft pick in April. He has the advantage of playing in a pro style offense in college, and he is a big kid at 6-4 223.
Click through the jump for the full transcript of his interview at the combine.
(How's it going)
It's been a lot of fun. It's a new experience. This early part is a lot of medical stuff so it's a lot of sitting around
and going through exams, a lot of repetition with the same thing. But it's needed. It's an investment process for the teams so you have to be patient as a player and go through what they want you to do.
I'm going to do everything. I'm not going to bench, but running and throwing I'll do all of it.
(Feel like as finished a product as a college qb can be?)
and going through exams, a lot of repetition with the same thing. But it's needed. It's an investment process for the teams so you have to be patient as a player and go through what they want you to do.
I'm going to do everything. I'm not going to bench, but running and throwing I'll do all of it.
(Feel like as finished a product as a college qb can be?)
I don't know if you're a finished product. I think you're the opposite. Right now you're trying to learn. This is a process where you're going to the NFL and there's so much more to learn. You have to build off what you learned in college. You have to use that at the next level and look for ways to learn at the next level.
(Feel like you're seasoned?)
(Feel like you're seasoned?)
Yes. As a quarterback with three years of experience, there's certain situations you feel more comfortable with and one of those is going through a full season, having to go through ups and downs, wins and losses, injuries, missing a couple guys, all those things. Having that experience is definitely a huge help, and playing in some tough ballgames and having winning seasons, it helps being around a good group. That's all something you can build on.
(Working with Brady's QB coach, Tom Martinez in Calif.)
(Working with Brady's QB coach, Tom Martinez in Calif.)
We've been working on a lot of mechanical stuff, talking about the throwing motion, the science of it. The same with the footwork and getting down to the nitty gritty details, finding little tweaks or different moves that might be able to help you get a little more speed on the ball, get the ball a little bit deeper. At the same time, keeping what you do and fine-tuning it., finding some things you hadn't known about, and now you can throw the ball with a little more power or deeper.
(You're viewed as having pretty good mechanics, are you trying to tighten your release just a bit?)
(You're viewed as having pretty good mechanics, are you trying to tighten your release just a bit?)
Yeah. It has to do with getting rid of the ball as fast as possible. That's something you always want, and defnintely accuracy, that's something that starts from the feet up. When you are trying to throw the ball accurate you want to have a good base. That's something I've been working on - not being as tall to where you have to drop down to throw. That just takes extra time. You want to have a good base underneath you at all times. The more you watch film, the more you learn about it, being at the senior bowl, learning from coach Zampese from the Bengals was huge. Just something that was different that you have'nt been taught before. Same thing with coach Martinez. It's stuff I've never been exposed to so you can take what you need from it and learn.
(Brady hasn't shown up yet?)
(Brady hasn't shown up yet?)
No he's got better things to do.
(running Iowa's offense?)
(running Iowa's offense?)
Coach Ferentz, the way he runs the program is very similar to the NFL. That's where he came from before he started working with us. The way he has his offense set up is very similar to how some other (NFL) teams do it. We're under center a lot. It's a lot of two-back sets. A tight end. A lot of traditional pro-style stuff that we do at Iowa. All that definitely gets you more familiar than a spread quarterback would be or someone who hasn't had that. It doesn't mean you're better at it. It just means you've had more experience at it. I do feel comfortable talking football with NFL people because of how much I've had to learn at iowa, how much responsibility is put on us in the check game. Those things have really helped in interviews because it's easy to talk football when you feel very comfortable with it because the last three years you've been making checks at the line.
(Your production really improved as a senior. Why?)
(Your production really improved as a senior. Why?)
Offseason work. That's where it all starts. After the season was over it wasn't the statistical season, my junior year, that any quarterback would have wanted. We won games, that's all that mattered. But you can't get away with that too many times as a quarterback. Obviously if you don't want to improve, you're not giving your all to the team and it shows you don't' care. That's not the kind of person I am. I wanted to improve. The best way to do wthat was take each day in the offseason and create an advantage by doing the mental work along with the physical work. Not leaving one of those at bay. I wanted each day to get a little better physically, get more comfortable with my drops and my throws. And at the same time be more comfortable with the reads and the blitzes and all the coverages that show up during the season.
(Degree)
(Degree)
I graduated in December. My major was interdepartmental studies on a business track.