Ed Thompson: How did your workout for the Jets go?
Noland Burchette: The day went pretty well. A scout worked me out in Richmond
and went to a field I wasn't very familiar with, so I didn't have the proper
shoes, but I ran pretty good times with my tennis shoes on.
ET: Did he put you through some position drills?
NB: Yes, he put me through linebacker drills--the Jets want me to play some
linebacker, basically like an end but standing up.
ET: What did he say it was about you that caught the Jets' eye?
NB: I guess my size and my agility, the way I move around at 260 pounds. I
was basically a hand-down linebacker at Tech that did a lot of drops and had to
check a lot of people and do a lot of coverage, so based on that I think I would
be a great fit for them.
ET: What are your thoughts about playing up in New York?
NB: It doesn't matter where I play, but I have a lot of family up in New York
so that would be great.
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ET: How did you feel about your interaction with the Jets staff when you
had your formal interview with them at the Combine? Did it fit your style?
NB: Yeah, it fit my style. It felt like a loose, straight, kind of relaxed
style. You don't have to be straight up and down; they just want you to be
yourself. They said we don't want you coming in here pretending to be someone
else and then we get you and you feel like you have to come in and be somebody
that you're not.
ET: The Colts also sent a scout to watch you workout. How did that go?
NB: All he had me do were the shuttles and forty times. They said they had
enough film on me so they didn't really need to work me out.
ET: Do they see you as a defensive end?
NB: They said they see me as a defensive end or gaining a couple pounds and
playing as a pass-rush defensive tackle.
ET: What are your thoughts about going to Indianapolis and playing for the
Colts?
NB: I've been to Indianapolis for the Combine and I had to go back for a
re-check; those are the only two times I've been up there. When I went for the
re-check we had a lot of free time, and the community up there they back the
Colts really well, so I think it would be a great environment to play in.
ET: How much fun would it be to get to work with guys like Dwight Freeney and
Robert Mathis?
NB: That would be great. They have the type of guys who try to help people.
They are solidified, they don't put themselves in the situation where someone's
going to come in and be the man over them, so I feel like they're the kind of
guys who would give me a hand and I think that would be a great situation to go
into.
ET: Who else has been calling you?
NB: Today was kind of crazy I had Carolina, St. Louis, Miami, Minnesota,
there were a lot of people who called me today and told me that hopefully I'd
land where they were in the draft.
ET: Anything else you'd like to pass on at this point before you head into
this weekend?
NB: I want everyone to know my thoughts and prayers are still with Tech and
that I want to let people of the Hokie nation know I still think about them and
I'm not going to go off into the NFL and forget where I came from.
Learn more about Noland Burchette at his player profile page. And if you missed our previous interview with him, click here to read it.
| A member of the Professional Football Writers of America, Ed Thompson's NFL and college football player interviews and features have been published across the Scout.com network and syndicated through FoxSports.com's NFL team pages. |
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