Browns draftees - pre draft scouting reports

[LondonBrown]

Taken from Dane Brugler of CBS guide he releases every year.

Myles Garrett

STRENGTHS: Freakish athleticism and body control for his sizesudden first step, but the quickness of his second and third steps are just as effective, using long,

strong stridesloose-hipped with the elastic flexibility to bend, spin and get underneath blockersfluid movements to drop and handle spaceconverts speed to

power and uses natural momentum to barrel through bodiesunderstands leverage to put blockers on skates or set the edge as a run defenderlong arms and has

worked hard to fill out his frame, appearing noticeably stronger at the point of attack on 2016 tape uses his length to knock down the football (five passes defended

and three blocked kicks in his career)violent hands to maintain separation between him and blockersdiverse set of hand tactics to attack in different waysupper

body strength to be a reliable finisher on tackle attemptstwitchy reflexes to read, react to movement and attack screens and misdirection playshigh pain threshold

to play through injuries played the second half of the 2016 season while nursing a lower left leg injurylow-key, mature personality and wont rock the boat

defensive captain as a junior in 2016athletic bloodlines older sister (Brea) was a NCAA Champion thrower for the Aggies track and field team; older brother (Sean

Williams) played for several NBA teamsconsistent production with 48.5 tackles for loss in 30 career starts, leaving Texas A&M sixth in school history with 32.5 sacks,

half sack behind Von Miller (33).

WEAKNESSES: Various moves in his pass rush arsenal, but his move-to-move transition requires polish to better counteroveraggressive and needs to maintain

proper position vs. the run to contain the edge and keep the ballcarrier insideability to win at the point of attack is based more on timing and explosiveness rather

than core power and can be shielded from run lanes can get tied up on inside rusheslogs a lot of snaps, leading to him taking some plays offinjured his lower left

leg on a cut block vs. Arkansas (Sept. 2016) and missed two games and didnt play at full health most of the second half of the season.

SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Texas A&M, Garrett lined up primarily as the right defensive end in the Aggies four-man front and finished his career ranked

seventh all-time in the SEC in sacks (Derek Barnett is ranked sixth and Reggie White is eighth) 32.5 sacks the last three seasons is the second-most in the FBS over

that span. He has the impressive ability to beat blockers with his athletic gifts while also tracking the football with backfield vision student of the game and his

favorite athlete is Pro Football Hall of Famer Deacon Jones. Although he has room to improve the efficiency of his rush attack, Garrett keeps his hips and feet in sync

and screams off the edge with the diverse skill-set to win in different ways. His production declined slightly as a junior, but the stat sheet is deceiving as offenses

often game-planned for him, attacking with double and triple teams, and health was an issue over the second half of 2016. Overall, Garrett is the No. 1 prospect in

the 2017 class with his special ability to get upfield quicker than most due to his combination of explosive athleticism, length and football intuition easy favorite to

be drafted first overall and should make an immediate NFL impact rushing the passer.

[LondonBrown]

Jabrill Peppers

STRENGTHS: Twitchy athletespecial burst, acceleration and closing speedlateral range to mirror at the line of scrimmage and make plays at both sidelinesshoots

through gaps and corrals ballcarrierscomes to balance well on the move to break down as a tacklerexplodes at contact to create jarring collisionsspeed to match

running backs, tight ends and most receivers downfieldfearless and tough, competing with a junkyard dog attitudeunderstands play indicators and stays dialed

inno stranger to adversity with his up-bringing father (Terry) convicted of felony firearm and drug charges in 2002Michigan coaching staff put a lot on his plate

with significant snaps on offense and special teamsdangerous return man on special teams, averaging 26.8 yards on kickoff returns (18/483/0) and 13.1 yards on

punt returns (39/510/1), including one touchdownscored five touchdowns on offense, averaging 5.3 yards as a runner (45/239/5) and 8.2 yards per reception

(10/82/0)versatile defensive experience with snaps at cornerback, safety and linebacker awarded the 2016 Paul Hornung Award for his versatilityborn performer

and prefers the bright lights.

WEAKNESSES: Confused skill-set and lacks a natural positioneaten up near the line of scrimmage due to below average shed skillslate to anticipate blockers and

leverage gapsoften plays too fast, overrunning angles and missing his targetshorter arms show on off-balanced tackle attemptscover instincts are lackinglooks

uncomfortable with his back to the ballwill attract penalties with his grabby paws in man coverageundeveloped route recognition from off-coverage and needs to

improve his body position downfieldpoor ball production with 11 career passes defended and only one interceptionfour career fumbles at Michigan and holds the

ball careless at timeslimited growth potentialmissed several games over his career due to injuries, including a hamstring issue (Dec. 2016) that forced him to sit

out his final game.

SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Michigan, Peppers lined up as a SAM linebacker in the Wolverines 4-3 base scheme last season, moving from the secondary where

he previously saw snaps at safety and cornerback (inside and outside). He flashes explosive traits and above average play speed, but his skill-set lacks sophistication.

Peppers doesnt have the play strength or take-on skills to make a living near the trenches and plays too reactive in man and zone coverages. However, he doesnt

lack for confidence and should improve once he can focus on one position and isnt stretched thin during the week between defensive, offensive and special teams

meeting rooms. Peppers is a difficult evaluation, but his remarkable athleticism and fearless attitude project well to the NFL level, projecting best as a hybrid strong

safety and return man top-40 prospect.

[LondonBrown]

David N'joku

STRENGTHS: Rocked up body type with muscular physiqueloose athlete with freakish ease of movementexplosive release and instantly accelerates to top speed in

his routescatches the ball in stride with nimble feet and dynamic skills after the catchpowerful steps to run over defenders, maintain his balance and pull

awaybig play threat with 17.2% of his career catches going for 30+ yardslarge hands to attack the ball away from his framehighpoints and plays in the clouds

with his leaping skills national champion high jumper in high school and also competed on the Hurricanes track and field teammixes it up as a blocker, flashing a

mean streaksmooth shuffle to shield rushers from the pocket in pass prohas added 25+ pounds since high school with room to get strongerfinished tied for

second in the FBS among tight ends with eight receiving touchdowns in 2016.

WEAKNESSES: Still developing his frame and lower body bulkexcitable route runner and lacks polish, tipping his pathstrong hands, but inconsistent focus and too

many drops on his filmnot always interested in blocking and falls asleep at the wheeldelivers pop as a blocker, but lacks the grip strength to sustain the point of

attackcatch blocker in pass proundeveloped hand placement and mirror skills to hold up in spacelate to identify proper blocking angles, allowing defenders to

leverage gapslacks ideal experience (nine starts) and career production with only one career 100-yard receiving gameunderwent hernia surgery following his

redshirt season (March 2015).

SUMMARY: A part-time starter at Miami (Fla.), Njoku shared the starting tight end responsibilities the past two seasons for the Hurricanes, lining up mostly inline and

flexed in the slot was the national high-jump champion (611) as a senior at Cedar Grove and jumped in college. His freakish athleticism for the position leaps off

the screen, using his seam-busting speed and dynamic YAC skills to be a downfield playmaker (averaged 16.6 yards per catch over his career). Njoku is a balanced

blocker with potential to be above average in this area, but needs to develop his functional strength, technique and consistency. Although he is a better athlete than

football player right now, Njoku is dripping with natural talent and has the elite athleticism to stress every level of the defense still raw in several areas, but massive

upside to be a playmaking NFL starter earns him a top-20 overall grade.

[LondonBrown]

Deshone Kizer

STRENGTHS: Looks the part with the desired height and developed buildabove average arm strength with easy velocity to make every NFL throwcomfortable

downfield passer, delivering with proper touch and trajectoryefficient set-up with an elevated, natural releaseloose athlete with functional movements within the

pocket to shuffle, slide and easily shift his weight veteran pocket movements and poise, keeping his vision downfieldnot a twitchy mover, but nimble for his size

with the mobility to beat defenders with his open-field quicknessunderstands ball placement and not intimidated by tight windows can throw it through the

keyholehighly intelligent both on and off the field with the horizontal and vertical vision to make whole field readsasked to digest a complex playbook at Notre

Dame, including pre-snap checks and readsfeels the blitz well and often has an escape plan, whether running or throwing it awaystands tall in the pocket with the

durability to take punishment, whether in the pocket or when scrambling built like a truckwired right for the NFL with the mature work habits and unselfish

attitude that NFL coaches are seeking.

WEAKNESSES: Internal clock lacks sophistication, holding the ball too long and appearing gun shy at times from the pockettoo many late throws on his résumé tape

and would greatly benefit from speeding up his process a half secondwide throwing base, stemming from his background as a baseball pitcher throwing off the

moundbad habit of relying on pre-snap reads and staring down intended target, leading to poor decisionsball placement tends to waver, especially on the move

when unable to rely on set-up mechanics inconsistent accuracy on short, easy throwsconsistency declined throughout the 2016 season and received questionable

support from the head coach, who preferred to play Zaire and appeared to hold Kizer back in his development confidence wavered due to the coach juggling the

quarterback spotdurable body type, but willingness to finish runs through contact leads to potential injuries appeared to suffer a concussion against Virginia Tech

(Nov. 2016)ball security needs addressed with 13 career fumbles.

SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Notre Dame, Kizer was an ideal fit in Notre Dames zone-read, shotgun scheme and consistently held off competition from Zaire

(the head coachs preferred choice to be the starter). He benefited from a strong supporting cast in 2015, but lost many of those weapons in 2016, including four of

his top five receivers (including first round pick Will Fuller), a left tackle who was drafted top-10 (Ronnie Stanley) and the Irishs leading rusher (C.J. Prosise) pass-

catchers converted only 14.3% of contested throws in 2016. Although he would have benefited from another year of seasoning at the college level, Kizer didnt

receive the support needed from the head coach to further his development his offensive coordinator also left to fill the head coaching vacancy at Western

Kentucky. From a physical standpoint, Kizer checks all the boxes with his developed physique, impressive arm talent, natural athleticism, also owning the desired

football character for the NFL level. However, he is still young in his development with most of his mistakes due to late decisions and careless throws outside of

structure will greatly benefit by quickening his process, but can he? While his film shows inconsistency in his decision-making and execution, Kizer also shows

impressive throws and movements amidst the chaos that most college prospects struggle with highest ceiling of any quarterback in this draft class.

[LondonBrown]

Larry Ogunjobi

STRENGTHS: Meaty hipsbalanced athlete and moves well up and down the line of scrimmagelower body flexibility to snap out of his stancestays low off the snap

to get underneath blocks and squeeze through gaps, creating disruption in the backfieldruns his feet at the contact point to generate power and create

movementlacks ideal upper body strength, but powerful hands/wrists to snatch, rip and release to keep blockers off of himanticipates well vs. the run with the

backfield vision to see through blockers and mirror run playsconsistent effort to chase away from the line of scrimmagehates to be blocked and plays with a nasty

edgedeveloped work ethic and pushes himself on and off the field (Charlotte defensive line coach and 2009 top-five draft pick Aaron Curry: This kid is going to do a

really good job of outworking a lot of people.)four-year starter and holds several school records, including career tackles (217) and tackles for loss (49.0).

WEAKNESSES: Average frame and length for the position and lacks ideal upper body mass was overweight in high school (350+ pounds), but needs to continue and

add good weight in a NFL strength and conditioning programlack of upper body power stands out, letting guards shield him from run lanesallows his pads to rise

once engaged by blockersbase strength is an issue and can be moved by angle blocksneeds to better break down as a tackler to stay on his feet and finish the

ballcarrier in the backfieldvery active with his hands, but not yet a technician and has some placement/timing issuesproductive career with 46 starts, but only two

of those came against teams from power-five conferences Charlotte faced FCS competition in 2013-14 before joining Conference-USA in 2015.

SUMMARY: A four-year starter at Charlotte, Ogunjobi lined up mostly as the nose tackle in the 49ers 3-4 base scheme and will be remembered as one of the

founding players of the program, starting every game in school history. His size, length and core strength arent ideal, but he has the initial quickness and body control

to wedge through gaps and create confusion in the backfield. While he is still developing the fundamentals, Ogunjobi uses his leverage and very active hands to

detach from blocks and close on the target. He played mostly over the center or A-gap at Charlotte, but projects best as a one-gap, penetrating three-technique at

the next level with his quick, balanced skill-set.

[LondonBrown]

Howard Wilson

STRENGTHS: Tall, slender athlete with room to add bulkcollects his feet quickly to click, close and attackreads the eyes of the quarterback to sniff out routes and

disrupt the catch pointstrong ball skills to locate, judge and highpointexcellent ball production in college with 24 passes defended and nine interceptions several

of his interceptions on tape were gifts, but deserves credit for finding the football and taking advantage of the opportunitiesaveraged 11.6 yards per interception

return in 2016, including one touchdownviolent striker and delivers pop at contactleverages the field as a run defendercompetes with an attitude and enjoys the

physical part of the gameputs in the time off the field and has added 20+ pounds since high school.

WEAKNESSES: Lacks ideal recovery speed and struggles to close the gap once beatshorter arms show when receivers shield him from the catch pointundisciplined

eyes and easily fooled by ball/pump fakesoften reacts on first movement and his guessing leads to negative playsinconsistent transition technique, opening his

hips early and struggling vs. sophisticated routes a lot of side-straddle motion on tapeinconsistent strike zone and needs to clean up his finishing mechanics as a

tacklermediocre play strength and shed skillsmedicals need vetted after missing most of the 2015 season with a torn ACL in his right knee (Sept. 2015)only one

season as the full-time starter, leaving school with only 16 career starts under his belt.

SUMMARY: A one-year starter at Houston, Wilson lined up primarily at left cornerback in off-man and zone coverages, showing flashes as a true freshman in 2014

before his breakout season in 2016 ranked second in the AAC in passes defended (15) and interceptions (five). He is a good-sized athlete with the balanced feet,

confidence and ballhawking skills to take chances, but too often plays outside the system in his attempt to create turnovers, which leads to mistakes. Although he

needs to clean up reckless tendencies in both run support and coverage, Wilson is always ball searching and flashes down-the-road starting traits.

[LondonBrown]

Roderick Johnson

STRENGTHS: Athletic big man with super long arms and a moldable framelower body movement skills arent an issuerangy in pass pro with kickslide depth to hook

rusherssits in his stance with a flexible coilnatural length to maintain spacing between him and rushersupper body burst to strike quicklyflexible hips to twist

his frame, achieve angles and seal lanesstarved blocking appetite in the run game, driving his legs at contactblocks with an edge and stays nasty through the

whistleunderstands where pressures are coming fromveteran presence and named a junior captaindurable experience and started 31 consecutive games to

finish his FSU career, all at left tackle never missed a practicewon the Jacobs Blocking Trophy (top offensive lineman in the ACC) each of the past two seasons,

becoming the 12th player to win the award twice.

WEAKNESSES: Routinely moves too fast and finds himself off balancetall center and forgets his lower half mid-shuffle, attempting to lunge at his targetneeds time

to strengthen his corelacks the limb strength to halt rushers around the cornerflashes an explosive punch, but needs to show it off consistentlyneeds to better

protect his breastplate, allowing defenders to enter his framefails to sink his hips and anchor against bull rushers forced on his heels too muchturnstile vs. inside

moves feet and eyes both late to reactgrabby when beat, leading to holding penaltiesathleticism to pull, but clumsy in motion and struggles to break down on

the movedidnt show considerable improvement in areas of weakness from his true freshman season to his junior year in 2016.

SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Florida State, Johnson was too talented to keep on the bench and eventually pushed Erving to center in 2014 and started every

game at left tackle the past two seasons, earning All-ACC and All-American honors both years could have used another season of seasoning at the college level. He

has the athletic gifts, body type and massive wingspan to play the position at a high level, but sloppy weight transfer in his movements creates shaky posture.

Although he can unleash his power in the run game, Johnson bends too much at the waist in pass pro and has noticeable contact balance issues, which could be a

deal-breaker to his football future. Overall, he isnt ready for NFL snaps right now, but with some fine-tuning technically and with his pace, Johnson has the gifts to

improve those issues and develop into a NFL starter down the road.

[LondonBrown]

Caleb Brantley

STRENGTHS: Proportionate weight in his upper and lower halves and carries it welltimes up the snap with an explosive first step to penetrate the backfieldflexible

body control to work off contact, stay low and squeeze gapships and feet stay in sync to work tight spacesfierce hands to reset the line of scrimmage and corral

ballcarriersuses various arm over and extend moves to press blockers from his framelateral quicks to scrape down the line of scrimmageimproved ball

awareness to quickly locate, sniffing out screensseeks out contact with the power to plant the ballcarrier in the backfieldnot deterred by chip blocksmade

considerable strides with the mental part of his game since arriving in Gainesville.

WEAKNESSES: Narrow shoulders and average frame/length, limiting his bulk potentialnice job controlling the point of attack when square, but struggles with

blockers on his hip, especially vs. doublesfires off the snap, but quickly loses control and leaves production in the backfieldpops upright and opens his chest to

punchesmotor spurts, it doesnt reverratic snap anticipation, with more offsides penalties as a starter than sacksdealt with confidence/coaching issues when he

arrived at Florida and needs to stay motivated will take plays off and admitted that his effort has been an issuepart of an active defensive line rotation, allowing

him to stay freshuneven production with only 5.5 career sacks and never hit double-digit tackles for loss in a seasonmissed two starts as a junior due to a left hand

issue (Oct. 2016) that required a cast.

SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Florida, Brantley lined up primarily as a one-technique tackle to generate pressure in the A-gap, also seeing snaps at the three-

technique. When firing on all cylinders, he is a menace to block with his initial quickness and active hands to win gaps, keep himself clean and make stops in the

backfield. He tends to disappear for stretches and gives sporadic effort, which is reflected on the stat sheet as his college production doesnt match his ability. While

his inconsistency is something that gives evaluators pause, Brantley has an explosive skill-set to create interior disruption and develop into the type of defender that

offenses must account for on each snap ascending three-technique with his best football ahead of him, but the motor issues could cause him to go lower than his NFL ceiling deserves.

[LondonBrown]

Zane Gonzalez

5th round grade, number one kicker on board

[LondonBrown]

Matt Dayes

STRENGTHS: Collects his footwork to efficiently plant-and-go through holes on the offensive linesubtle juking skills to set up and sidestep defendersquick to scan

and makes decisive movements once he feels room to worknot a powerful ballcarrier, but runs tough and drives his legs to finisheffective pass-catcher to slice

through the defense often motions from of the backfield to the slot or out wide, running routesbodies up rushers in pass protection and has the attitude

necessary to improve in this areasenior captain and an unselfish teammate quiet, introverted personality and avoids attentiongraduated with a degree in

sociology (Dec. 2016)productive senior season, becoming the first Wolfpack player to rush for 1,000-yards in a season since 2002 leaves N.C. State with 40 all-

purpose touchdowns, which ranks second in school history.

WEAKNESSES: Below average build and muscle tone for the positionoffers marginal power as an inside runner with a bad habit of turning his back at contactnot a

creator and runs with tunnel visionmakes sharp cuts, but lacks the lower body fluidity to be consistently shiftymonotone play speed and doesnt have multiple

gears in his acceleratorexposes the ball at times in his run style three fumbles in 2016requires hand technique work in pass pro, struggling to anchor vs. bull

rushersnot a proven workhorse with only one season with 150+ rush attemptshard on himself and allows mistakes to linger to the next play has dealt with

confidence issues in the pastmissed the final month of his junior season after damaging ligaments in his left foot (Nov. 2015), requiring surgery.

SUMMARY: A two-year starter at N.C. State, Dayes wasnt a high-volume runner, but consistently produced as the lead dog in the Wolfpacks backfield, including a

strong senior campaign rushed for 100+ yards eight times in 2016, the highest total for a N.C. State running back since 1977. He doesnt boast elite skills with only

average build, run strength and lower body athleticism, but is an effective one-cut runner, doing his best work with a clear runway. Although he doesnt have a

distinguishing trait that separates him as a runner, Dayes reliability as a receiver is what could land him on a NFL roster might be a third down option if he improves

his ball security and blocking.

[LondonBrown]

Some of these don't seem to have copy and pasted very well not sure why...

[jiggins7919]

Wow, thanks for the great post.

I'm not sure Njoku is ready yet, and I thought it was somewhat strange to immediately cut Barnidge. That's a ton of pressure to place on a 20 year old kid, right? I do like Devalve, but mostly as a receiver. I think Njoku will be good, but I'm not sure we'll see it right away. I hope I'm wrong.

The Garrett pick has me more excited than I've been for a while. The impact he could have is fun to think about, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Ogbah benefit the most from his addition. If QB's try to slide away from Garrett, I have visions of them running smack dab into Ogbah...who is very strong, and also very fast. I'm sure you guys probably read this already, but check out this excerpt about Gregg Williams putting Myles Garrett through the RINGER before we drafted him:

Garrett had Jackson and Williams at hello. During his private workout for them, he showed them exactly what they needed to see.

“My goal was to make him uncomfortable, and winded as f---, and to see how he'd react," Williams told Silver. "We simulated a 15-play drive, and after some plays, I'd make him do up-downs before the next one, just to tire him out even more. We got all the way down near the goal line, and I kicked it up to 10 up-downs, thinking he might collapse or quit or say 'To hell with this.'

"He just did them and lined up, and on the next play he came off the edge like I've maybe seen two people in my life -- Bruce Smith and Jevon Kearse -- and sacked the quarterback. It was amazing."

Excited yet, guys??

Kizer is in a good spot in my opinion. He'll have a chance to win the job, but not many people expect it. Being picked at 52 is also a lot different than being picked in the top ten. People won't likely be calling for him to enter the game should our other two QB's falter, and that's a GOOD THING.

[Tour2ma]

Garrett... as Cleve has pointed out it's the instinctual reaction to counter what the OT is doing that'ts needed to unleash a monster. I like thinking about him working vs. Joe T. at half speed and then increasing the pace.

Kizer... timing should come... just focus on ball-security discipline early and continuously, and let the mechanics flow from that.

Johnson... again... trust in Joe's tutelage. Expect a nice kick-slide to emerge in 2018. It's the key to an OT not having to rush his movement at the cost of balance. Right, Schwartzy?

[LondonBrown]

Not sure how it works but Joe Thomas has an out in his contract after this year, perhaps hurried up the Johnson selection?

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/joe-thomas-2348/

[LondonBrown]

This article looks at the metrics and tape of our drafted players POST draft, the comments on Roderick Johnson are.....concerning to say the least.

http://nflspinzone.com/2017/05/02/cleveland-browns-nfl-draft-2017-comprehensive-review/

[Tour2ma]

@londonbrown said:

Not sure how it works but Joe Thomas has an out in his contract after this year, perhaps hurried up the Johnson selection?

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/joe-thomas-2348/

Hard for me to see Joe going anywhere except the fishim' hole. And if we show the signs of improvement many of us expect, I think he'll want to stick and see how it plays out.

As long as our vector is rising, I think Joe will ride with us if he is healthy and can be proud of his level of play.

[TexasAg1969]

@tour2ma said:

Hard for me to see Joe going anywhere except the fishim' hole. And if we show the signs of improvement many of us expect, I think he'll want to stick and see how it plays out.

As long as our vector is rising, I think Joe will ride with us if he is healthy and can be proud of his level of play.

Totally agree. Joe is pure Browns and loyal as they come. I think he sees the future and is really excited about the changes going on. He wanted real changes and he's getting them.

[Canton Mike]

@tour2ma said:

Hard for me to see Joe going anywhere except the fishim' hole. And if we show the signs of improvement many of us expect, I think he'll want to stick and see how it plays out.

As long as our vector is rising, I think Joe will ride with us if he is healthy and can be proud of his level of play.

@texasag1969 said:

Totally agree. Joe is pure Browns and loyal as they come. I think he sees the future and is really excited about the changes going on. He wanted real changes and he's getting them.

Agree with all the above & more. I met & had an extended visit with Joe's Aunt (GREAT orange mohawk) & Uncle, who attended the Draft while Joe fished with his Dad. He ONLY wants to be in Cleveland & I have a strong gut feeling that not only will he continue to play here, but already knows he will remain with the Browns after his playing days are over.

Mike

[cambridgeho]

N'joku to me looks like he could play multiple positons. Jordan Reed like. Glad we got him on a 5 year deal. Should be nicely developed by year 3. What makes this more intriguing is if Gordon gets back to play football and puts this shit behind him. With Gordon, Coleman, britt and N'joku, thats some some serious talent.