OT Saahdig Charles
On the pre-draft process:
“Just taking it one step at a time and one day at a time and constantly working. You move forward from there. As far as going where I thought I would go, I wasn’t exactly sure where I would go. That’s the only thing. They believe in me; they’ve given me a chance. And for that, I feel like I’m going to give the Redskins organization everything I’ve got.”
On what he communicated to the Redskins during his pre-draft process:
“I mean, I just know that, of course, I made mistakes at school. They were dumb, ball-headed selfish mistakes, but I know that moving forward I learned from my mistakes and I improved when I was at LSU. I was just truthful with the organization and they ended up trusting me and picking me.”
On the emotions he’s felt during draft night:
“I mean, last night was just a little long. Anxious, just waiting on the call. But at least it wasn’t long this morning.”
On being a potential replacement for T Trent Williams:
“Growing up an offensive lineman, I watched Trent plenty of times. I have a lot of respect for his game. Just to see that they traded him and they picked me, just shows what they might have in mind for me. I’m going to come in there and work hard and just do my thing, man.”
On what the moment meant to him and what the team told him to expect coming in:
“The moment was amazing, a dream come true, a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid. [Head] Coach [Ron] Rivera called me and told me I’m going to be a Redskin, I was just thanking him.”
On whether he has spoken to RB Derrius Guice:
“No. We’ll talk very soon, I’m sure. But I haven’t talked to him about Washington, or the Redskins, or how the organization is, but I’ll find out soon and give him a call.”
On protecting QB Dwayne Haskins Jr.:
“The same thing I did in college – find where his launch point is in the pocket and communicate with him. Of course, I take a lot of pride in that and it’s one thing we took a lot of pride at as an offensive line at LSU is keeping your quarterback clean. Two seconds of strain and an extra two seconds of pain and finish and the quarterback clean.”
On whether there’s anything he can take from his work with Bengals QB Joe Burrow to the NFL:
“Honestly, it wasn’t just me working with Joe Burrow. I’d say it was all of the guys on the field working as a team. I feel like that’s how it was.”
On his decision to forego his senior season:
“Coming into the year, I never really thought much about coming out or doing anything of that, going into the draft. I kind of just let the season play out and I just knew that we had goals, which was to win a national championship, SEC championship and for our position to win the Joe Moore award, which we did. In college, it’s all about goals and routines and I just felt comfortable coming out. I feel like that was the best decision for me.”
On who was with him to celebrate with him when he got drafted:
“I’ve got my cousin, my mom, friends. I’ve got my family out here.”
On where he is:
“I’m from Jackson, Mississippi. I’m in Jackson at the moment.”
On what it’s like to celebrate during the pandemic:
“I mean, honestly, I’ve never been to a draft party besides the watch party that I had. I didn’t know whether to expect, if it was supposed to be big or small. I just knew when my phone got called, that was the most important moment of the day.”