2016 NFL Draft: Brown trade No. 8 pick to Tennesee
April 28, 2016
The Cleveland Browns played good poker at least: While We’re Waiting…
April 29, 2016They Cleveland Browns said that if the draft board shook out as planned, they had their man with the No. 8 pick. Instead, the targeted player was selected ahead of them and they accepted an outstanding trade down offer from the Tennesse Titans. Skirting more last minute reported trade offers, the Browns finally used a first-round selection by adding the 2015 Biletnikoff Award winner (top college receiver) Corey Coleman, a wide receiver from Baylor, with the No. 15 selection in the draft.
WFNY’s Joe Gilbert had the entire group of wide receivers bunched together in his Tier-1 though did have Coleman ranked fifth in that pack. He noted:
Corey Coleman is an explosive receiver who has top level speed to run past the defense. In 12 games as a junior last season, he caught 74 passes for 1363 yards and 20 touchdowns. In Division I-A, he ranked ninth in total receiving yards and first in receiving touchdowns. His number one asset is his blazing speed. He has elite speed to take the top off the defense and be a dangerous vertical threat. His speed will be difficult to defend against in the NFL. After the catch, he is an elusive runner who can make multiple players miss in one play. He uses his quickness and pure speed to juke or simply run past oncoming defenders. He can turn a small gain into a huge play for the offense. His explosion also comes in handy when he needs to go up and get a ball. He can out jump defenders and make a catch that is up for grabs. What makes him an even more dangerous vertical threat is his ability to track the ball well and be in the right position to make the catch.
But, Coleman has a few issues in his game that he must address coming into the NFL. His route-running is a work in process because in college he only ran a few routes, with a lot of the routes just coming in the form of go routes. His hands are also a question mark, showing a lot of inconsistency in his catching ability. According to ESPN.com, he had the second worst career drop percentage amongst the top 15 receivers in the 2016 class. He also is a smaller receiver at just 5-foot-11, 194-pounds. His lack of size could cause him to struggle versus bigger, stronger corners. Nevertheless, Coleman is a player with excellent speed and after-the-catch ability to be a big play receiver in the NFL.
The Baylor Bears have not seen a wide receiver come out of their limited route tree system and find success in the NFL (unless Josh Gordon counts), but Coleman does have the athleticism and explosiveness to potentially break that trend. The 20 touchdowns are certainly a positive trait to see though the questions over his size and abilities compared to the rest of his wide receiver draft class will linger until he proves himself on the field. The Browns hope that pairing Coleman with fellow Baylor Bear alum and quarterback Robert Griffin III will reap big rewards.
If you are looking for a player comparison, then Corey Coleman is willing to supply one himself. Let’s just say he shoots high:
Coleman said he likes to compare himself to Antonio Brown. #Browns
— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) April 29, 2016
The next item to watch is whether or not the Browns will trade back in to the first round in order to select another player on the first day of the 2016 draft.
50 Comments
Broncos took Paxton Lynch. They don’t know what they’re doing but we do.
40 inch vertical
I like the pick. They need receivers badly.
A short, lightweight WR with bad hands…what’s the worst that could happen?
Being a Browns fan is hard.
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The size of Benjamin and the hands of Mayle.
Two negatives equal a positive, right?
I think I’m finally starting to get Anayltics!
The concept maybe, the spelling, not so much. 😉
Wunderbar!!
Well, ….. um, that’s all i got.
Moneyball.
Feels like smartest-guy-in-the-room syndrome again.
Not gonna lie, he’s the guy I wanted at WR, just thought we could get him at 33. But given that none of the other non-WR guys I really liked were available at 15, I’m happy.
Hey, it was passed my bedtime. lol
If this guy played at OSU there’d be people in here saying it was the best draft of all time.
The Cleveland Browns went 3-13 and drafted Travis Benjamin with their first overall pick at #15.
I hear/read conflicting things about his hands. If he can catch, I’m down with this pick. If not, well, get him some of those sticky gloves ODB Jr. wears.
I wasn’t sure how fast the speed guys would go off the board, but looks like Coleman probably wasn’t going to make it past the Bengals if the Browns selected him (and I like to think Houston probably nabs him instead of Will Fuller, who doesn’t seem to have the same ability to make people miss in spite of his speed).
Travis Benjamin was an inch shorter and 20+ lbs lighter than this guy
Data, data, data. I cannot make bricks without clay.
Adjusted for you.
Darius Heyward-Bey
http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/darrius-heyward-bey?id=80427
Corey Coleman
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/corey-coleman?id=2555333
Now, i know the size isn’t equal (HeyBey was 3 inches and 15 pounds HEAVIER than Coleman when drafted), but this is an eerily similar skill set, combined with a similar college experience. They both even scored 20 touchdowns to lead the nation.
Color me skeptical, but hopeful.
Also, when you watch Coleman’s video you can see that he’s not really like Benjamin at all. I’m not saying he’s ODB, Steve Smith (the good one), or Antonio Brown, but he looks closer to those guys than to Benjamin in my opinion.
http://www.arcticblubber.com/gallery/d/793-1/image+_6_.jpg
Great point. I wasn’t really paying attention to the other teams’ needs, but if this is true, I’m much happier that we got him when we did. I didn’t see much of Treadwell play, but did watch a lot of Coleman and Doctson. As such, those two guys were my favorites, and I really leaned toward Coleman. He has the ability to take over a game.
Anything less than universal praise for a guy’s hands always gives me pause, because drops kill drives. However, I’m a little less worried about the simple route tree because I think he showed the ability to understand how to get open and shake off top CB’s in ways other than just run by them. (but he certainly did run by them quite a bit) I think it’s a mistake to see 5’11” and just assume he’s another Benjamin or Hawkins. He’s a bigger, stronger 5’11’ than our current mini-mites and has a big vertical that he used to win 50-50 balls in college. He plays bigger than he is. (example: Josh Gordon is 6’2″ but doesn’t really have a giant catch radius or huge jumping ability) I think Hue intends to use this guy outside and not as a slot receiver. He’ll get plenty of go routes and deep slants.
Bottom line, I’m surprised and a little concerned, but not horrified. This is clearly the WR they liked best, so at least we can’t say there was any panic going on.
I’m glad you said that he plays bigger than he is, because I have been thinking this but didn’t want to sound like Mike Mayock. But since you’ve put it out there . . . I agree that he plays much bigger than he is!
I was mildly disappointed with the pick when it happened. I hadn’t watched much of Corey Coleman because I thought there was no way the Browns would grab ANOTHER wide receiver who is under 6 feet tall… especially with Treadwell and Doctson both still on the board. Now that I’ve had a chance to look at Coleman, I really do like him and think he has a special skill set similar to some of the other wide receivers under 6-feet tall who are dominating the league, and he’s the favorite WR of Pro Football Focus and he has the highest yards-per-route-run average and all that.
Let me ask this, though… does everyone feel better about this pick if the Browns also grab Michael Thomas with their first pick of the 2nd round?
College football awards are meaningless. How many Heisman winners have amounted to anything in the NFL since 1999?
The drops are the only thing that really gives me pause. This guy can lose a defender in multiple ways, so the limited route tree doesn’t bug me much. The routes that he does run seem crisp and he can obviously get separation. For the drops, I’m wondering if the number is less scary if you look at it as “drops per route run” or something like that. Baylor (and the Big 12 on the whole) run a ton of plays per game compared to other teams.
My thought exactly. How many drops per targets? What kind of drops? (i.e., easy catches missed, or tough catches not made?) I watched a lot of him, and honestly do not remember many drops. He was targeted A LOT, so just in raw numbers, he certainly had more drops than others.
Just based on scouting reports, the reported drops are why I preferred Doctson as a 1st round pick, but Coleman has always been my sentimental favorite. I think he’ll do just fine, even great, for us.
I wouldn’t mind Thomas at all at #32 but there a lot of intriguing Front-7 guys left on the board after yesterday–A’Shawn Robinson, Reggie Ragland, Noah Spence. Not to mention the high-risk, high-reward Myles Jack and Jaylon Smith.
Maybe they grab one of the above defenders and use their depth picks to trade up to the middle of the 2nd round if Thomas is there tonight.
Agreed, there are a lot of ways the Browns could go here. Ragland wouldn’t be a favorite for me simply because I think his skill set is similar to the free agent we picked up, Demario Davis (strong against the run, questionable against the pass). But there are so many quality guys left on the board. All of the guys you mentioned plus Chris Jones, Kevin Dodd, Cody Whitehair, Jarran Reed, Hunter Henry, Mackensie Alexander, Von Bell… I would be happy with the Browns taking any of these guys, so if there is another team who is dying to trade up to the first pick of the second round, I wouldn’t shed a tear if the Browns drop back again.
For the first time in a long time, the Browns have an offensive-minded head coach who at least arguably deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to skill players. Throughout this offseason, Sashi, Andrew Berry, and DePo have shown a refreshing willingness to defer to Hue Jackson when it comes to personnel. I’m guessing that taking Coleman with the 15th pick is yet another example of that trend.
Obviously there’s some question marks with Coleman–height, hands, and route running. But I have an easier time talking myself into liking this pick if Hue is on board. I think Coach Jackson will be able to design an offense that takes advantage of Coleman’s speed, which appears to be elite. I’m a big believer in taking guys opposing D-coordinators have to game plan around and I think Coleman qualifies. He may not be a factor on every down but he will always be a threat to make 3-4 big plays per game. In today’s NFL, three or four big plays can often decide matters between two otherwise evenly matched teams.
“Fails to catch away from his body. Dropped 10 passes for a drop rate of 11.9 percent. Loses focus and concentration on routes that work towards the middle of the field or when he senses defenders are closing in.”
“That easily would have been the worst of any NFL receiver with at least 60 targets in 2015, according to Sporting Charts” http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/drops/2015/
So he drops one in every 8-9 passes. not good enough for me. especially on a guy who just runs Go routes all day.
I would love Von Bell. I have no problem with Jack, either. I don’t think Thomas is an essential pick here at 32.
What’s worse not having the WR u like drafted or not having one drafted at all? Coleman looks great on paper and in his highlight reel but I don’t think he was the best WR in this draft.
Big Ragland fan here myself. I also like Vonn Bell of course. I just hope they make a pick enough trading.
Interesting. Still, I’m not too worried, having watched him play. Also, it’s not really like all HE does is run GO routes. That may be all Baylor did, but that’s not necessarily a knock on him, personally.
No offense, but who are we evenly matched with?
No one on the 2016 schedule, except for maybe Tennessee and San Diego :). But long term, Coleman can hopefully be a difference maker, especially if we can find a more traditional, 6′ and above receiver to line up on the opposite side.
At 190+. he is not small AND lightweight. he is very strong for his size. Benjamin was 20+ pounds lighter.
I’m not sure if it’s just Hue making that call… the “analytics” seem to like Coleman too. He had the best yards-per-route-run of any wide receiver in the draft and he was PFF’s top receiver as well. I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if there are a lot of stats pointing to him as the favorite.
Essential no, but I think everyone would feel better if we had a big-bodied, large catch radius, red zone threat to add to the mix, no?
How important is that one inch? Seriously.
I’m sure he’s super strong, but I watched some of his highlights. The guy is so light he bounces off the turf.
Josh Gordon isn’t getting his act together. It’s time to get a receiver over 6-feet tall. I’ve seen them. They exist.
What’s the magical quality of 6-feet-tall? He’s 5’11”. Just consider it 6′-1″.
It’s not a magical cutoff. I just like WRs to be large targets with big hands and long arms. Short receivers are fine, until you lineup 4 across and the tallest guy is sub 6-feet.
6-feet, in my mind, is close to the average height of a male human being. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hope for larger than average humans on my favorite football team.
What if I told you that Coleman is actually 1.8 meters tall? Make a difference?
Then I’d say “thanks for the flashback to 4th grade…when they convinced us this metric thing would really take off.”
It really is a better system, fwiw.
Pffffff, back to North Korea with you! ‘Murica FTW.