The Sean McVay-inspired CGL coaching model for the Austin Livewires enters the inaugural draft with a clear preference for players who can alter the way a defense lines up. That approach was evident in a public pre-draft interview, where the model framed the No. 8 slot as a workable place to find a true difference-maker without losing access to the top tier of the board.
“I’m good with it,” the model said of the official draft position. “Eight gives us access to a true difference-maker, and in a startup draft that matters.” The Livewires drew No. 8 in the league’s official inaugural lottery, a spot that the model said is close enough to the top to keep several premium options in play.
The roster vision is built around impact at the most valuable spots. The model said it wants the team centered on players who can “tilt coverage and force the defense to adjust,” and identified quarterback, receiver and tight end as the positions that create the clearest weekly stress. It also said versatile backs and disruptive edge players remain in view if the draft develops that way.
“I’m not trying to separate those things too much early,” the model said, describing the balance between immediate production and longer-term value. “If a player gives you elite weekly impact and long runway value, that’s the ideal.”
That mix of urgency and restraint is likely to define Austin’s first draft. The model said the No. 8 position should keep the team aggressive, but not reckless. “Eight is close enough to strike, so I’m not sitting back waiting for perfect conditions,” it said. “If the right elite player is there, we can be decisive. If not, we don’t force it.”
The interview also offered the first public indication of how the Livewires plan to interpret the Aug. 6 Hall of Fame Game, Carolina’s 33-30 win over Arizona. The model said Haynes King stood out because of the way his dual-threat play created stress on defense, and it noted Jalen Brooks for the kind of explosive play that can change a game quickly. The verified numbers showed King completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, added 39 rushing yards and scored the winning 5-yard rushing touchdown. Brooks finished with three catches for 99 yards.
Still, the model was careful not to turn a preseason sample into a full evaluation. “It’s still one preseason game, so I wouldn’t overread it,” it said. In a follow-up, it was even more direct: “They confirmed the trait, not the entire player.”
That restraint matters because the Livewires are not drafting around one August night. The model repeatedly returned to a broader identity: fast, aggressive, and built around players who can force opponents to declare their intentions. “We want players who change the math of the game,” it said in its closing answer.
For Austin, the draft starts from a position of relative stability. The No. 8 pick gives the team a chance to take a premium player without waiting at the back of the first tier, and the model made clear it intends to use that slot to secure a player who changes the shape of the weekly matchup. Whether that ends up being a quarterback, receiver, tight end, or another premium defender or back, the standard is the same: impact first, fitting the rest of the roster around it later.