Pre-draft interview with Derek Walker
March 26, 2009 7:16 AM
Who do you think will be the most impactful player at defensive end this coming season for Illinois?
The defensive ends that we have that are coming back they haven't played a lot but they're solid. Jerry Brown is probably one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen. Once he gets his head in the playbook and understands fully what he's doing, Jerry Brown could be a freak. Don't sleep on Clay or Antonio though, a lot of guys don't know about them but I think the D-Line has a lot of talent. They just need an opportunity to prove themselves, especially the D-Ends. They're going to show a lot of people what they can do.
Do you think The Big Ten Network's The Journey negatively affected the team's focus?
It could have. It wasn't really a distraction per se, but they were there a lot - I think I wouldn't have done it personally and it was in the way from us doing what we were trying to. It may have affected some guys on the team differently; maybe they were really more focused on getting on TV. I'm not blaming that for the way the season was. That wasn't the deciding factor. We just didn't come out as a team. I wasn't really for The Journey personally. It was just different.
David Lee
The defensive ends that we have that are coming back they haven't played a lot but they're solid. Jerry Brown is probably one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen. Once he gets his head in the playbook and understands fully what he's doing, Jerry Brown could be a freak. Don't sleep on Clay or Antonio though, a lot of guys don't know about them but I think the D-Line has a lot of talent. They just need an opportunity to prove themselves, especially the D-Ends. They're going to show a lot of people what they can do.
Do you think The Big Ten Network's The Journey negatively affected the team's focus?
It could have. It wasn't really a distraction per se, but they were there a lot - I think I wouldn't have done it personally and it was in the way from us doing what we were trying to. It may have affected some guys on the team differently; maybe they were really more focused on getting on TV. I'm not blaming that for the way the season was. That wasn't the deciding factor. We just didn't come out as a team. I wasn't really for The Journey personally. It was just different.
David Lee
Filed under: Illini Football
