Most people in the comments seem satisfied with the risk level that the Browns took today in selecting Josh Gordon with a 2013 second round pick by way of the supplemental NFL draft. Gordon, like current Browns receiver Greg Little, has had an idle year before entering the NFL. Maybe that is why when Tom Heckert spoke to the media today after the pick, he referred to Gordon as an “eventual starter.”
“He’s a guy we obviously targeted and felt good about and we’re happy we had the chance to get him,” Heckert said. “I don’t know if it’s risky. That’s kind of where we thought he was as a player. We thought he’s a guy that could come in and be an eventual starter for us and make plays for us. Anytime you draft a guy, there’s always some risk involved, but we think we got a good football player.”
“He can run, has got huge hands and long arms. He’s an impressive-looking kid, but there were some concerns about him. I drilled him pretty hard when I was with him and he didn’t back down. He told me everything I thought I needed to hear from him. He promised he was going to be a guy that we were going to love having in Cleveland. He seemed pretty fired up about being a Brown. When he left, he said he hoped we were the team that picked him.”
In this scenario all you can do is judge the risk level and trust your talent evaluators. Based on comments in the other post, it seems like a large percentage are at least cautiously optimistic if not excited.
[Related: Browns select Josh Gordon with second rounder in supplemental draft]
