Vice president of player personnel Will McClay is in his 25th season working in the Dallas Cowboys’ personnel department. He has been running the team’s drafts since 2014. He also plays a significant role in their free-agent and trade acquisitions. Near the end of training camp, we try to catch up with McClay to get his thoughts on several key topics. This year’s discussion touched on the team’s current positive vibes, the recent addition of Von Miller, their rookie class and other notable performers in camp.Here’s our conversation.You’ve had some really talented rosters over the years. Where do you think this one stacks up?McClay: We’ll see when we start playing games and how it ends up, but I do think that we’ve added some quality depth players as well as starters. I think adding Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, (Jalen Thompson), those vet guys, also gives us an opportunity to get some of that stuff on defense, too. You get some veteran leadership on defense, with a new defense. So, that’s real positive.Why adding Von Miller will give the Cowboys a defensive boostJon MachotaDoes this season seem like there’s more positive momentum than others?I think every year you come into it with expectations, and then you see how things unfold, and you begin to feel the temperature. We haven’t had to deal with a lot of things, either. So, you focus on football. I think that makes it even easier and better for the group. So it seems like a more focused group.What do you think Von Miller can still contribute?He can still get after the passer. When you have a bunch of rushers, the offense has to figure out what you’re doing, how you’re doing it. I think (new defensive coordinator Christian Parker) will use that very well. But also the leadership. We have young players that they’re learning from coaching, but they also learn better from guys that have done it at a high level. They’re probably more willing to listen to that. And he’s the right kind of guy to pour into a guy like Malachi (Lawrence) and some of the young guys we have. But he can still play. And he’ll contribute to the pass rush.Where are you now on defense compared to last year when the season started?You feel more of a connection within the group, like all of the pieces matching right now and everything, being more cohesive and together right now. It’s the communication, it’s all the things that they’re stressing defensively that’s important. Everybody’s doing it, so there’s a rhythm within the defense right now.What’s it been like working with Christian Parker?What you saw in the interview is real. And so many of these interviews, coaches come in with these books and (other things). One thing is to be a young man, as young as he is, and convince Jerry (Jones) and Stephen (Jones) that it’s the right thing to do, because he’s gone through all the steps with us. So then, you get on the field, and you realize that the way he puts things together, the process that he goes through, it’s everything that he does. It’s how he is, and so it makes a lot of sense. And it was unique in the box. Just being around him, and looking at him, he understands it, and has a plan, and he’s very confident. And the defense is confident in what he’s calling, because belief is a very big part of it, and they believe.McClay chats with Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker, left, during training camp in Oxnard, Calif. (James D Smith / AP Photo)How has Parker been when it comes to adding a player like Miller or when you guys were looking at players in the draft?He understands what players can and can’t do and how they fit and how he can use them. He’s very clear with the vision. He doesn’t have a strict prototype, but there are certain things you want. If you give him those things, he knows how to use them, how he’s going to put them in the defense. So that’s been really good for us, is that he’s very clear about the picture, how he’s going to use it, why certain things may match for something else, but not here. So it’s clear, and you can see how he wants to build it, so it does make it easier for us.What has caught your eye in training camp with your three top picks on defense?With Malachi, his speed is evident, but also being able to play the run and be physical like you have to in this defense, and (he’s) done it fairly quickly. And understanding that, I think the sky is the limit from a physical standpoint. And he’s getting the right coaching. Learning from somebody like Von to be able to use those tools. He’s got some juice off of the edge.(Jaishawn) Barham is a grown man from a standpoint of, mentally, he’s shown that he can handle the different things that we’re doing with him. He’s very physical, very intentional, and dialed in. And with Caleb (Downs), those three guys, they almost seem like five-year vets the way they approach things.Have you been around a rookie who carries himself like Downs?I hate to compare, but very much like Dak (Prescott) in the way he carried himself when he came in, kind of the pied piper without being loud, just how he worked and how he did things. People follow that. And then backed it up by the way he played and the way he carries himself, on and off the field. Guys follow that.Why more people should be talking about Ryan FlournoyJon MachotaLeft tackle Tyler Guyton was one of the players that Brian Schottenheimer said exceeded his expectations during the first four weeks of training camp. What have you noticed from him?He’s a young player that performed well when he was on the field, but it’s about the consistency of it. So he took the offseason challenge and everything we asked him to do. Offseason award winner, taking every rep. From the moment the season was over, it was important for him to get better and not let anybody down. And he’s really trying to do that every day. He’s always had the ability, now it’s the confidence. That’s very hard. He’s got to block all of the best (pass) rushers. His growth has been really, really good, and he’s confident in himself and the group’s confident in him.What has stood out to you about Joe Milton in his second season in Dallas?It’s growth. He’s becoming more comfortable in the system. I give (quarterbacks coach Steve Shimko) and the coaches credit for taking the time to help him figure it out and understand it in a way that he does, and then him taking it. And really, we brought in competition that pissed him off. And one of the things about competition is that it makes everybody better. It made Joe dial in.What’s it been like to see everything start to come together for Shavon Revel?It’s all about confidence. This is his first training camp, and there’s a lot of things that he didn’t go through, and he had to play. So this is really his rookie training camp with a new staff. And so we’re pouring into him, and it’s all the reps and the meetings, all those things that he missed the first year. He’s getting that now, and he’s healthy, and he’s really soaking it up. I think (defensive backs coach) Derrick Ansley and the staff are doing a great job with him, giving him that confidence. The tools are there. Now he’s starting to become confident in his abilities and what he’s doing.I asked you a couple of years ago about your favorite and least favorite parts of your job. You said your least favorite was your lack of sleep. Is that the same? What is your favorite and least favorite part of the job now?My favorite part of the job is I like being out (at training camp), being around it every day, seeing what we’re putting together and seeing it all come together. Every day you wake up excited because we have an opportunity to get better. We’re all working and doing the same thing, preparing to win.The part that is not my favorite anymore, the older I get, all this damn technology. You got the analytics and the AI and all of these things. When you’re an old-school grinder and used to doing it, when somebody gives you a new way to do it, I’m becoming my dad because you become more stubborn and want to do stuff the old way. … We have a good staff that puts stuff the way I like it, so it’s easier for me to do it as opposed to learning all of it. They get paid to do their job and they’re allowing me to do my own. Set it up where I don’t have to push all the buttons and know where this is. I’m still going to use it. It’s like framing it and just knowing how to incorporate it in the old-school way of doing things. I realize I’m an old man now. Just adjusting. But it is going to make me better too. So you know, you break the habits a little bit.