General Manager Tom Heckert is considering a dominant defensive lineman with the Browns' No. 6 overall pick, and the 2011 draft is chock full of them.
View full sizeNick Fairley brings a reputation of a player who may play a little past the whistle, but that didn't seem to bother Browns General Manager Tom Heckert in the slightest.INDIANAPOLIS -- Tom Heckert picked the right year to be searching for the next Julius Peppers or Ndamukong Suh to power the Browns' new 4-3 defense.
The 2011 draft is stocked with dominant defensive linemen, and the Browns have an excellent chance of landing one with the sixth pick in the first round.
"It's a good group all the way around," said the Browns general manager. "There's tackles and ends. Obviously the underclassmen coming out helped. There's a lot of guys who are going to go really early."
Heckert had high praise for premier pass-rushing ends Da'Quan Bowers of Clemson and Robert Quinn of North Carolina. But he's also enamored with havoc-wreaking tackles such as Alabama's Marcell Dareus and Auburn's Nick Fairley. And he couldn't say enough about Purdue pass-rusher Ryan Kerrigan, who had 32.5 sacks over the past five seasons and could be had later in the draft.
"I think everybody's looking for pass rushers," Heckert said. "Normally, you'd take the pass-rushing end over the tackle. But defensive linemen are so in demand. If you really like a guy who's special as a tackle, he's still going to get pressure on the quarterback. Pat Shurmur talked to our scouts and said, "quarterbacks don't like pressure in their face."
A glance at some of the top defensive linemen and Heckert's take:
Marcell Dareus: He's the kind of explosive inside player that Shurmur alerted the scouts to. NFL Network's Mike Mayock ranks him as the No. 1 tackle in the draft ahead of Fairley, and ESPN's Todd McShay has the Browns picking him in his mock draft.
The MVP of the 2009 BCS title game, Dareus knocked then-Texas quarterback Colt McCoy out of the game with a shoulder injury. He can rush as well as play the run, with 4.5 sacks last year and 11 for losses despite being double-teamed every play.
"He's relentless, he plays hard," said Heckert. "I think he spent a lot of time this year with a high ankle sprain and he played through it. He's a high, high-motor guy and he doesn't stop and he makes a ton of plays for a defensive tackle."
Dareus (6-3, 309) patterns himself after former Pro Bowl tackle Warren Sapp, who considers Dareus the best tackle in this draft.
Da'Quan Bowers: The Clemson end (6-4, 275) led the nation with 15.5 sacks in 2010 and 25 tackles for a loss. He's so explosive off the edge that he could go No. 1, but some teams might view him as a one-year wonder. He's not working out at the combine while still recovering from postseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus, but says he's 100 percent. He also boldly compared himself to Peppers during his interview.
"He's obviously a super-productive guy," said Heckert. "He's legit. He's a bigger guy. This is a big guy that can rush the passer. Anytime you can get a guy like that, you'd have to be interested."
Heckert can see the Peppers comparison, even though it's lofty. But Bowers put it in perspective.
"[Peppers] is one of the premier defensive ends in the NFL, and I'm just a scrawny little defensive end coming out of college attempting to play like him and be half as good as him," he said.
Robert Quinn: An enigma, the North Carolina end was suspended for all of 2010 after accepting agent-related benefits worth about $5,600. Some experts, such as Mayock, think he can go No. 1 with a great workout Monday. Others have him rated the ninth-best end and not a first-rounder. In his last season on the field in 2009, Quinn led the ACC with 19 tackles for a loss and was second with 11 sacks.
At the combine on Saturday, he declared himself the best pass-rusher in this draft.
"He's a heck of a football player," said Heckert, who downplayed the year off. "There's no question why people are talking about him. He plays hard and he can rush the passer."
Mayock called him a "physical freak" and a "special, special athlete."
Nick Fairley: The Auburn tackle (6-4, 298) won the Lombardi Trophy as the nation's best lineman. He led the SEC with 24 tackles for a loss and had 11.5 sacks. MVP of the 2010 BCS Title Game, he had five tackles, 3.5 for a loss, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.
Mayock has him ranked behind Dareus, and several mocks, including Pro Football Weekly's, have the Browns taking him. But Fairley has a reputation as a dirty player, with late-hit penalties and some spearing.
Heckert disputed the reputation.
"No, not at all," he said. "He's a tough player. I guess there's a fine line. It's not after the whistle stuff. I think it's more toughness than being a dirty player."
Ryan Kerrigan: Heckert praised the Purdue end, who had 13 sacks in '09 and 12.5 in '10. "He's another high-motor guy, a excellent pass-rusher and supreme playmaker."
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/02/cleveland_browns_gm_tom_hecker_5.html
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