Thursday, May 5, 2011

Cleveland Browns Draft-Day Three

The Cleveland Browns were active on the final day of the draft with a pair of picks in round four,after a trade that saw the Browns trade both of their sixth round picks to add an extra fifth and a compensation pick near the bottom of the final round.
Cleveland added five players on the day and on the last day, no player comes without questions to begin with,but some of these have,well,questions.

The Browns used their own fourth round pick on USC tight end Jordan Cameron,which seems to me to be a huge gamble.
Cameron transferred to USC from BYU,where he played basketball and in two years as a Trojan,Cameron caught just 16 passes.
Cameron looks to be the latest craze of teams picking basketball forwards and attempting to turn them into tight ends.
Jimmy Graham of the Saints was the latest to be successful from this mode,but this is always a risk when you reach for an untested player.
Cameron looks the part right off the template,but I would have preferred a player that was less of a risk early in the fourth round.
Cameron could be a huge success,but this is far from a guarantee.

Cleveland used their pick that was obtained from Atlanta on Stanford fullback Owen Marecic.Marecic played both ways at Stanford,but the Browns will be using him at fullback.
Marecic seems to be the type of fullback that the Browns want for their offense as he looks to be able to block and catch the swing pass.
This likely means the end of Lawrence Vickers as a Brown.
Vickers was a tremendous blocker,but his hands were questionable and he makes more money than the Browns really want to pay for a fullback.
Marecic should also be a hit on special teams with his experience as a linebacker,giving him an even further dimension.

The Browns used their fifth rounder on a player that I really like in Chattanooga corner Buster Skrine.
Skrine was the second fastest corner in the draft and was a high school running back.
His 5'9 frame will work against him as a full time corner,but he should be able to help in multiple DB schemes and Skrine returns kicks,which might be a help for the Browns in resting Josh Cribbs.
With the new kickoff rules,I can see Cleveland keeping Cribbs off some kickoffs in favor of Skrine to keep Cribbs more in the offensive game and more rested for punts...

Cleveland traded both of their sixth rounders to Minnesota for Pittsburgh tackle Jason Pinkston
Pinkston was all-Big East at left tackle,but projects to be a right tackle in the pros.
Right tackle seems to be a need,but the Browns say they want him at guard,which makes me wonder about their feelings about 2010 draftee Shaun Lavuao.
Considering the health questions with Tony Pashos and Pork Chop Womack being a free agent,I would think tackle would be more of a need,but I did like them bringing in an offensive lineman here...

The Browns then finished the draft late in the seventh round with the pick of Nebraska safety Eric Hagg.
Hagg played the "peso' spot with the Cornhuskers,which is a linebacker/safety combination and looks to be strong against the run.
Hagg was worked at corner at the Senior Bowl and was reported to have not shown well there.
Hagg looks like a athlete that needs to build strength in order to make the team....

Overall,I give this draft a solid B.
I like Phil Taylor,although I still think he would have been there at the Browns pick, and I like both the second rounders in Jabaal Sheard and Greg Little.
Little could make or break this draft along with Jordan Cameron.
Both come with huge questions that only playing time can answer.
I like Buster Skrine and Jason Pinkston both as future contributors as well,which is all one can ask for from fifth rounders.
Good job by Tom Heckert for now,lets see how the results pan out....

Photo Credits
Logo-SPortslogos.net

Cameron:Photo/Jon SooHoo

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