Cleveland Browns waived 2009 second-round pick David Veikune

[Barking Hard]

They replace failed draft pick with undrafted cornerback Derrick Roberson.

[Alo]

Mucho busto.

[Shep]

Stuff I don't quite get: Why did we want this Roberson guy more than B-Mac?

[Alo]

B-Mac's an idiot; that's why he got cut.

[JewDago]

veikune is at a considerable disadvantage, now, too; because he played in ten games last year, he's not eligible for any team's practice squad, so he'll have to be on the active roster while he likely learns his third position in three years, which should be OLB.

i'm likely never going to change my stance on veikune: the coaching staff ruined his chances by asking him to play the wrong position. DE to ILB doesn't work. DE to OLB can. S to OLB can. DE to DT can. 4-3 DT to 3-4 DE can.

What makes each of those work, though, is that the positions switched from and to have something in common. DE and ILB are completely unrelated, which is why this experiment was doomed from the start.

[Masters]

Originally Posted by Alo

B-Mac's an idiot; that's why he got cut.

Exactly Alo. It would be hard to believe that BMac's recent twitter incident didn't play a factor in him being cut.

[PB&J]

I'm not too broken up about Veikune. Yes, it does suck that we end up cutting a second year pick before his second season starts, and you can argue about the merits of what position he was played at, but in the end it just didn't work out. I am glad that this one pick doesn't break our 2009 second round. We had three picks in the round and one busted, but with the other two we have our two starting wide receivers.

It could be worse, Denver just traded Alphonso Smith for basically nothing after trading a first round pick last year to draft him at 37.

[MackTruck]

Originally Posted by JewDago

veikune is at a considerable disadvantage, now, too; because he played in ten games last year, he's not eligible for any team's practice squad, so he'll have to be on the active roster while he likely learns his third position in three years, which should be OLB.

i'm likely never going to change my stance on veikune: the coaching staff ruined his chances by asking him to play the wrong position. DE to ILB doesn't work. DE to OLB can. S to OLB can. DE to DT can. 4-3 DT to 3-4 DE can.

What makes each of those work, though, is that the positions switched from and to have something in common. DE and ILB are completely unrelated, which is why this experiment was doomed from the start.

It wasn't doomed from the start. Veikune is alot like Wimbley, in that he didn't have the skills for the OLB position in the 3-4 but Veikune was less athletic than Wimbley. Basically, he was a undersized 4-3 DE with a high motor.

The worst thing about the 2 gap 3-4 is the inability to find good ILB for it. It basically requires a individual with "undersized DE size" and middle linebacker skills. That is a hard hard fit. DQ Jackson struggles because he can't shed blocks, but he has the skills. Mavs may turn into DQ jr. but he is a good special teams guy. The Browns traded for Gocong to hopefully fill a ILB role, not the OLB like people thought. I suspect the continued search for the ILB will be a ongoing process.

I am surprised they gave up on him that quick, maybe Veikune just gave up.

[JewDago]

mack, you and i definitely disagree on this one, though you're right that veikune was in no way as athletic as wimbley. he was more an instinctive, motor player, which can translate well to either ILB or OLB, but, because he'd never played ILB, he had to unlearn everything he'd previously known and start from scratch, thus negating his instincts.

most good ILBs can play in either the 3-4 or 4-3. brian urlacher, as pure a 4-3 MLB as you could get, would be great in a 3-4. he's got the range and strength for it. pretty much the only MLBs who can't play ILB are jonathan vilma types, like DQJ, who are only fast but not strong.

finding a good ILB is the same as finding a good MLB: there aren't that many each year, and you have to jump on one when there is. the only caveat is that the guy has to be strong and quick, not just quick, which can work in the 4-3.

[Jax Dawg]

His release shouldn't come as any suprise...Many on here speculated it could happen and with Mangini not making the final call on the roster this year Heckert had no allegiance and little patience with Veikune.

The best QB rush I saw him make this preseason was in the Detroit game when someone either tripped him or he tripped over his own feet while about to hit the QB - he ends up hitting him low due to the trip and promptly gets called for unneccessary roughness.

[Alo]

That's a good point about him not being eligible for the p-squad. Does anyone really want a guy who hasn't found a position and who isn't dynamic on special teams taking up a roster spot?

[DaBrowns41]

Originally Posted by Shep

Stuff I don't quite get: Why did we want this Roberson guy more than B-Mac?

Did you see B-Mac try to cover?

How about try and tackle?

He couldn't do either.

He'd get burnt deep, and then play off the wide receiver and get picked on with the short routes, while then missing the tackle.

He is just all kinds of bad.

As for Veikune, I feel bad for the kid. He was expected to become a run stuffing ILB in a 3-4 even though he's a 4-3 situational pass rusher.

Frustrating.