Could we Repeat History in this Draft?

[Flugel]

Does anyone remember what happened the LAST time we drafted a GREAT WR from Alabama? We also drafted Clay Matthews in the same round we drafted Ozzie Newsome in. Both of those picks went on to enjoy very long productive careers in Cleveland. Ozzie converted into a HOF TE while Clay played inside and outside LBer for us.

The irony of this post is that we have a very good chance to draft another terrific WR from Alabama (Julio Jones) in round one and add Clay's son Casey very shortly thereafter. How cool would that be? Here's some video footage of Julio Jones from 2009.

YouTube - Julio Jones Highlights 2009

[Sez.EJ]

Good vid on Jones.. He has an amazing burst.. seems to hit full speed real quick..appears to have good enough strength.. He does seem to let the ball get into his body too much..but that's the norm for college guys..he'll need to work on that.. perhaps that is where the knock on having questionable hands comes from...but he seems real talented.. I can't get over his quickness and explosion for a tall dude.

My only real concern with Mathews is he seems a little light in the pants. 232 (if in fact that's correct) could be too small for the nfl..but..the kid can play soooooo.. I'm not sold on him at this level. I'm not saying he can't...just apprehensive... It's easy to say.."Hey..he's a Matthews...of course he can play".. but.. I have doubts. If he's 245.. then no problem.. but maybe he's all jacked up just to get to 232.. I don't know him that well... I admit.

Heckert needs to pull out a great draft for us.. He did a great job last year.. and it could look even better down the road... but we need to start putting back, to back, to back, drafts together and get this team back in championship conversations..

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

Heckert needs to pull out a great draft for us.. He did a great job last year.. and it could look even better down the road... but we need to start putting back to back to back drafts together and get this team back in championship conversations..

Very well said!

Just like eye of Kohlberg is the best kept secret to the success in Pittsburgh - that's what we need from Heckert. Looking at his body of work in Philly - giving Michael Vick WRs like Maclin and Jackson gives me confidence about what he can deliver in this draft. Talents like that took Vick's game to a much higher level. It would be great to do this for McCoy this early on in his career.

[Alo]

Neither's a personal favorite of mine, but I could see them being Browns picks: Jones in Round 1, Matthews in Rounds 4-6.

I watched the Oregon/USC game today and came away impressed with Casey. As others have mentioned, he has solid instincts and does a nice job attacking when he's kept clean. Unfortunately, he's a bit tight-hipped and isn't a sound tackler, but he could end up starting down the road.

The Browns could get help immediately from some more talented LBs available in this draft. Kelvin Sheppard looked good today, as did Mason Foster, who's probably got the best instincts of any backer in this class.

YouTube - Mason Foster vs Stanford Cardinals (2010)

Both would be 2nd/3rd round options.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I think we need a big draft to rest some of the tentitive minds that have been shaken up as of late. Much like last year, I expect we will draft a Monterio Hardesty and T.J. Ward who in name and position both make us go "huh?" but they end up having solid potential that ease our initial worries.

The 2009 draft played a fast one on us. We took a player in the first round that only a portion of us were sold on, the following picks, were all really kind of surprising. Ward, Hardesty, and McCoy. Hardesty's really the only of the bunch that hasn't shown us anything but maybe if he can get healthy and STAY healthy we won't have to worry so much about Peyton Hillis getting hurt. I expect, if Holmgren/Heckert are not sold on Hardesty's health, we will likely draft another RB.

McCoy? Well... Colt speaks for himself.

We need play makers. Guys like Haden, Ward and McCoy they came in as rookies and they made plays for us. They made things happen. That's what we need from this draft again. Tom Heckert, you're on the clock.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Alo

Neither's a personal favorite of mine, but I could see them being Browns picks: Jones in Round 1, Matthews in Rounds 4-6.

I watched the Oregon/USC game today and came away impressed with Casey. As others have mentioned, he has solid instincts and does a nice job attacking when he's kept clean. Unfortunately, he's a bit tight-hipped and isn't a sound tackler, but he could end up starting down the road.

The Browns could get help immediately from some more talented LBs available in this draft. Kelvin Sheppard looked good today, as did Mason Foster, who's probably got the best instincts of any backer in this class.

YouTube - Mason Foster vs Stanford Cardinals (2010)


Both would be 2nd/3rd round options.

Holy Christmas, Foster (#40) is like the rhino virus during cold and flu season. He's everywhere. Thanks for the video.

Did anyone ever see the interview with GB's Clay Matthews before their final night game of the season? Anyway, he went on to say he didn't start in high school so that's why he became a walk on at USC. The inevitable why didn't you start in high school followed. Clay III replied, "My coach didn't think I was tough enough." Just when you think it can't get any funnier - the commentator doing the interview was compelled to ask in a politically correct way that I'll paraphrase - "who was the idiot?" Clay III responed with an ear to ear grin, "My dad!" He added clarifications so this is a paraphrase off an old man's short term memory "And he was right, I needed to get tougher and bigger while he told me he couldn't play favorites."

I didn't just share that because I thought it was a rip snortin riot. The REASON I would do such a thing is we as fans have to remember alot of these kids about to be drafted aren't done growing into their bodies while others have finished their best football. NONE of us were posting we wanted Clay in upper round 1. He was a better ROOKIE than he was a freshman in college. In fact, he's probably more overwhelming to more opponents today than he was throughout all 4 years at USC. We look at Tom Brady's resume before his soph season as a pro and we read 2nd most popular QB on campus to the freshman sensation and 32 different NFL GMs saying no thanks for at least 5 rounds until NE snagged him late in round 6. And did Kurt Warner ever have the numbers for bigtime football prior to age 28? Meanwhile, I don't think Arian Foster ever put up the types of numbers at UT that he accomplished in 2010. Joseph Addai was a part timer at LSU that showed surprisingly good hands and slam dunked 4.3 forties in front of ALL the right people. He's a far better pro than he was at LSU. This happens with the right guys folks! The NFL talent evaluators worth their keep get the guys with best football ahead.

I keep looking at all the gems the HATED rival in Pitt keeps bringing in; and they turn alot of people we don't even discuss pre-draft into "where did he come from?" For example, Mike Wallace never entered into the sexy pick discussions. Hindsight 20/20? Wow! And how did so many of the teams playing 3-4 football allow FREAKIN Lamar Woodley to fall on the doorstep of that freakin franchise?

Your buddy Flugel vowed he would never overrate the SEC because that conference doesn't need 1 more chest pounding fan. Trust me. That said, Wallace comes out oif that conference with LESS attention than the Boise State WR has received. Then we see the Boise State WR facing the competition a guy like Wallace saw every week and it appeared to be a culture shock to him yessterday and I imagine throughout the week. Green and Jones faced quite a few corners and Safeties we're gonna see starting on Sundays like: Haden, Peterson, Arenas, Berry, etc. Boise State doesn't face that standard of excellence week in and week out. Moral of the story, the Boise State kid is gonna have the sexy highlights because he has more easier matchups than say a guy like Jones or Green has. When I bring this up - it's because I've made the mistake of falling in love with greatest moments highlights against some not so wonderful opponents. It's like being impressed with a playground bully that punches tiny book worm with Poindexter glasses in the face.

[Alo]

Good points, Tom. It may be worth noting that Haden completely shut down Jones in '09. But the Bama WR did improve this year.

[Brown Warrior]

Seems like Julio took some really nice steps this year. Scott Wright says the space between Green and Jones is overrated and Julio is the type who might have an even better pro career than college (didn't have a great QB).

I was piqued by the notion of Matthews at WSLB, but it does seem there are more immediate talents like Foster. It'll be interesting to see who's there early in round 3, a good spot to get a quick, smaller guy like the Connecticut kid.

Things change, but I think it'll be WR, DE, OLB in that order.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Seems like Julio took some really nice steps this year. Scott Wright says the space between Green and Jones is overrated and Julio is the type who might have an even better pro career than college (didn't have a great QB).

I was piqued by the notion of Matthews at WSLB, but it does seem there are more immediate talents like Foster. It'll be interesting to see who's there early in round 3, a good spot to get a quick, smaller guy like the Connecticut kid.

Things change, but I think it'll be WR, DE, OLB in that order.

Got to look at MLB if there is any question of DQJ not getting back to 100% or not resigning with the Browns. Heaven help us if we open the season with Barton at MLB. I'm scared of the gray beards and square pegs. Gocong could definately be a square peg. Philly traded him because he didn't fit in a 4-3 and Mangini loved the fact that he was better suited for a 3-4. Roth doesn't want to resign. Bernard may be another square peg and Rogers is Rogers (all of him). For 5.5 million, he's a gone. We don't have a decent FS on the roster unless you convert Brown then you have a hole at corner.

Man, we need to hit on every pick. That said, we got to get a high profile, spread the field, sure #1 WR or this offense isn't going anywhere. the rest of the draft can be spent on the defensive side of the ball.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Alo

Good points, Tom. It may be worth noting that Haden completely shut down Jones in '09. But the Bama WR did improve this year.

Thanks Alo! Good point about Haden shutting him down. When the 2010 season began, I actually thought there was a huge difference between Green and Jones. Then I caught about 3-4 different Bama games where Jones was very impressive in each of those. All the while, I had to keep in mind he was only a junior.

This is one of those guys where you look at fitness attributes, size and film to decide if he projects well for the system your team has. What I like about his film is he seemed an echelon higher than his QB per the underthrows on deep routes had had great seperation on. Aside from that, he was winning jump balls in traffic.

In fairness to Jones about my better first impression of Green, he didn't have Stafford's arm hooking him up. Even a guy like MoMass was cashing in on that arm the year Green was a freshman. That being the case, he looked like a decent #2 WR. If we could get him that here with him understanding routes/blitz adjustments better - we could really take off.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I like what Alo told me on Twitter that AJ Green is the only WR on his radar and everyone else really pales in comparison. From what I've seen from videos, in my amateur opinion. Green really is on a whole other level coming out of college from everyone else. If he's there at #6 and I am skeptical that he falls that far but if he's there you HAVE to pull the trigger. This team NEEDS a play maker of his caliber on the field and I think his potential up-side is MUCH greater than the last WR we drafted in the first round...

[slowmo411]

If Green isnt there and we cant trade out of #6 IMO there is no way we go WR in round 1. I think Jones is too big of a gamble that high. If Heckert goes BPA/need I can see another CB in round 1 this year. (yes i know we already have a high pick back there). Didnt Phili have a few high picks in thier DB???? not sure on that one but im thinking so. Plus it would plug 2 holes with one pick (another stud CB and we move Brown to FS).
If we do take Jones in round 1 I hope we get a RT and WR in the next 2 rounds. My reasoning there is we mine as well fix one side of the ball and imo we need some insurance on Jones.
Glad Heckert is drafting and not me ;P