Vince Mayle = Braylon Edwards 2.0 (fixed)
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http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/06/browns_wr_vince_mayle_studied.html
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's no surprise to Browns rookie receiver Vince Mayle that he draws comparisons to Browns Pro Bowl wideout Josh Gordon.
"That was the goal,'' Mayle said this week after the Browns Youth Football camp at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Every Monday at Washington State, his off day from practice, Mayle would get Gordon's film from Browns games and study it in detail. The open stride, the effortless way Gordon glides open, the maneuvering for yards after the catch.
"He was the first guy I picked out,'' the fourth-round pick said. "Then I started watching Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, just picking up different pieces from everybody's game.''
Isn't it ironic that he landed in Cleveland, where he'll be called upon to help replace his idol this season?
"Yeah, it really is,'' said Mayle, who also revealed to Northeast Ohio Media Group this week that he often gets mistaken for LeBron James.
A converted basketball player, Mayle started with Gordon because he felt the All-Pro mostly closely matched him in size and skillset. Mayle is 6-2, 225 and Gordon, who's serving a minimum one-year ban for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, is 6-3, 225.
"He's a bigger body, he catches the ball and is explosive after he catches it,'' said Mayle, who's recovering from right thumb surgery. "That was one of our big aspects at Washington State. We had to get a lot of YAC yards and he was really good at it, so that's something that I wanted to implement in my game, which I was able to be successful at.''
A student of the game, Mayle noticed on film that Gordon's running style is a key to his success.
"He's a great runner,'' said Mayle. "He runs with his stride wide open and that's something that I wanted to pick up my senior year -- get to your full stride and trust your speed, because he trusts his speed a lot.''
The first receiver drafted by Browns general manager Ray Farmer in his two seasons at the helm, Mayle knows he'll have plenty of help this season in trying to fill Gordon's elite shoes. The Browns also signed Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe as free agents.
"It's just going to be a team effort,'' said Mayle. "We're not really worried about replacing Josh Gordon. We're focusing on the guys in the room. We'd love to have him, but right now we're working with what we've got. They're a great group of guys. They all have really good strengths and they're all really good to learn from.''
Despite the fact Gordon is still living in the Cleveland area and playing pickup basketball with a lot of the Browns, Mayle has yet to meet him.
"I'll be excited like I was to meet all of these guys in the locker room,'' he said. "You see these guys on T.V. and it's kind of an awe factor when you first see them.''
Mayle, who's been wearing a cast in practice to protect the surgically-repaired thumb, is being coached up here by another big-body Pro Bowl wideout in Bowe (6-2, 222), signed as an unrestricted free agent after spending his first eight years in Kansas City.
"I'm learning a lot from Dwayne Bowe,'' said Mayle. "He's taken me under his wing. His route-running, we came in similar sizes, similar athleticism, so he's teaching me what he learned when he was young. He's also teaching me what he knows now, so I don't have to go through that learning curve that he had to go through. He said he was the top dog coming in and he didn't have anybody to learn from. He's teaching me everything.''
Bowe has shown Mayle how to use his body to gain leverage on defensive backs, how to come back for the ball and how to take care of his body with ice baths, stretching and rest.
"It's been real big,'' said Mayle, the 17th receiver off the board in this draft. "I'm really blessed to be in that situation and learn from somebody like him who's been doing this for years at a high, successful rate. At first I was a little shy coming into an NFL locker room. You don't know what to expect but what he's done is helped a lot. ''
Mayle, who caught 106 passes last year for 1,483 yards and nine touchdowns, has also learned a lot from Browns receiver Marlon Moore, who's from the same area near Sacramento, California.
"I actually grew up watching him play high school football when I was middle school,'' said Mayle. "He's taken me under his wing with the special teams part of it. Right now I'm on all of them. Whatever I've got to do to get on the field.''
The film study that Mayle began in college has carried over to the pros, where he's scouring the games of his fellow Browns receivers.
"They all have really unique games and you can take pieces from all of them,'' he said. "(Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel), when you watch those guys, they're quicker. When they stick their routes, they can really separate. It's something you can really learn from. Being a bigger guy using their techniques, you can separate a lot quicker too. It's hard to explain. It's something you just see on film.''
From Hartline, he's learned how to be more precise in his route-running.
"He's real technical,'' said Mayle. "He knows exactly where to be. If I ever have a question about positioning or placement on the field and the quarterback knowing where you're going to be, I can go to him.''
Mayle, who began his college career as a basketball player Shasta Community College in California, already had a big fan in new receivers coach Joker Phillip, who recruited him to Kentucky out of junior college when he was the Wildcats' head coach.
"One of the things I like about working with a rookie is that you get to start from the ground up with him,'' said Phillips. "We're establishing a relationship and that's been really good.''
Phillips has tried not to let the clunky cast on Mayle's right hand get in the way of his progress.
"We got him here and he has not been disappointing,'' said Phillips. "The disappointing thing is he can't catch right now, but I don't use that as a negative. We're using that as a positive because we can do a lot more footwork with him. The game starts from the ground up. If you've caught 106 balls, we know he can catch. He's gotten a lot better, and we'll reap the benefits of this when he gets healthy."
Mayle first broke the thumb during Senior Bowl practices in February, but thought it was just a sprain. It wasn't until the NFL combine in February that he learned of the fracture.
"I was at the table and the doctor comes up to me and says, 'you know your thumb is broken?''' Mayle said. "I was like 'no.' That's when I found out.''
The injury may gave caused him to slip some in the draft, but Mayle doesn't mind.
"I ended up in a good position, a great place to play,'' he said. "I'm happy where I am.''
During rookie camp last month, Mayle tried to fight through the pain, but finally succumbed. He had two pins permanently inserted in the thumb last month.
"It was something we knew before I was drafted I was going to need,'' he said. "But I tried to fight through it and it didn't work out.''
Ever since then, Mayle has been wearing a red caution jersey in practice and running routes, but not catching the ball. When practice is over, he wears just a splint on the thumb.
"I'm picking up the offense pretty well,'' he said. "When I'm not in, before I hear the playcall and then before the snap I run through what I have to do at three different spots, so I'm taking three mental reps on each play.''
Mayle will be limited during the mandatory minicamp next week, but hopes to be full-go by training camp at the end of July?
In the meantime, that big-bodied guy out there in the red jersey might just remind some of his teammates of Gordon when he streaks downfield for a pass.
I'm awesome, and I fuck dolphins. Ghoolie 12/2/2012: I have absolutely no skills, training or pride -
Let's hope he's got Gordon's talent and doesn't piss it away off the field
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That's a pretty big coincidence if true.
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Nah, he doesn't have the history, he has a lot of character,
and he's a very smart kid.
No worries.
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Geez guys, title change. Had a mini heart attack
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Maybe similar size and build as Gordon....but I didn't think Mayle was supposed to have anywhere the speed that Gordon has? Anyone got stats on that?
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Maybe similar size and build as Gordon....but I didn't think Mayle was supposed to have anywhere the speed that Gordon has? Anyone got stats on that?
Maybe similar size and build as Gordon....but I didn't think Mayle was supposed to have anywhere the speed that Gordon has? Anyone got stats on that?
they are both 4.5ish 40 runners.....same speed basically.....
Game speed?.....who knows....
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Maybe similar size and build as Gordon....but I didn't think Mayle was supposed to have anywhere the speed that Gordon has? Anyone got stats on that?
they are both 4.5ish 40 runners.....same speed basically.....
Game speed?.....who knows....
they are both 4.5ish 40 runners.....same speed basically.....
Game speed?.....who knows....
Hmmmm? I understood that Mayle was not drafted earlier because he was thought to be somewhat "slow". Is 4.5 slow for a WR? Or middle range?
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Neither, it's fast. Just not freakish.
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Hmmmm? I understood that Mayle was not drafted earlier because he was thought to be somewhat "slow". Is 4.5 slow for a WR? Or middle range?
I wouldnt say it's slow....especially for a bigger WR......burners are 4.2ish, but he's not supposed to be that.....
Dez Bryant and AJ greene are a couple of 4.5 guys, so Id say it's at least average for a larger receiver.....
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Hmmmm? I understood that Mayle was not drafted earlier because he was thought to be somewhat "slow". Is 4.5 slow for a WR? Or middle range?
I wouldnt say it's slow....especially for a bigger WR......burners are 4.2ish, but he's not supposed to be that.....
Dez Bryant and AJ greene are a couple of 4.5 guys, so Id say it's at least average for a larger receiver.....
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I wouldnt say it's slow....especially for a bigger WR......burners are 4.2ish, but he's not supposed to be that.....
Dez Bryant and AJ greene are a couple of 4.5 guys, so Id say it's at least average for a larger receiver.....
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Well, let's see, on here he has been compared to Josh Gordon, Dez Bryant and AJ Greene. Are we perhaps going overboard a bit on him? I certainly hope that it would turn out to be that way.
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I wouldnt say it's slow....especially for a bigger WR......burners are 4.2ish, but he's not supposed to be that.....
Dez Bryant and AJ greene are a couple of 4.5 guys, so Id say it's at least average for a larger receiver.....
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Well, let's see, on here he has been compared to Josh Gordon, Dez Bryant and AJ Greene. Are we perhaps going overboard a bit on him? I certainly hope that it would turn out to be that way.
Well, let's see, on here he has been compared to Josh Gordon, Dez Bryant and AJ Greene. Are we perhaps going overboard a bit on him? I certainly hope that it would turn out to be that way.
Watching Mayle tape, What I like, he works to get open than when the ball is up Mayle has the fight of Dez and AJ to go get the damn ball. Compared to Josh long jogging strides, a pleasant site could be on the way with playing time.
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Remember when Steptoe was Braylon 2.0? (talent-wise)
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Mayle ran a 4.67 at the combine to Gordon's 4.53 at his 2012 Pro Day.
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Mayle ran a 4.67 at the combine to Gordon's 4.53 at his 2012 Pro Day.
Mayle ran a 4.67 at the combine to Gordon's 4.53 at his 2012 Pro Day.
gordon's pro day coming off his 2nd failed drug test?
i'll take the .14 difference all day long from a guy that isn't going to fuck his team.
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The comparison is in both Josh and Vince's first few steps and the smooth stride. You don't see much wasted motion with either of them.
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