It took a few weeks for the word to circulate through the rumor mill, but NFL.com’s Mike Lombardi managed to crowbar in a quick note on Browns rookie Joe Haden. In his latest piece at NFL.com, Lombardi states that “coaches around the league” feel Haden struggled at the recent minicamp and may be too slow to play cornerback in the NFL.
Entering the 2010 NFL Draft, Haden was considered to be a question mark by many due to his woeful 40-yard dash time that was clocked at the NFL Scouting Combine. Expected to post a time around 4.37 seconds, Haden ran two times and recorded times of 4.57 and 4.60. Some blamed the slow time on Haden’s stance and claimed that teams should not overreact, others said that the slow time would cost Haden several spots in the draft.
Regardless of what pundits said, the Browns were apparently not turned off by the disappointing time and selected him with the seventh overall pick. Though the team had been rumored to be targeting Tennessee’s Eric Berry – who would be selected fifth overall – Browns general manager Tom Heckert felt very comfortable in the team’s selection.
“[Haden] was always the guy we were considering to be our seventh pick,” Heckert said on draft day. “To be honest, today kind of fell how we envisioned it. We liked Eric [Berry], too. I don’t know what would have happened if they were both there.”
There had been rumors circulating around the team and a potential debate between Haden and Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson, a rumor that was rekindled by Lombardi. However, Heckert quickly denied any sort of debate though did say that Wilson and Texas safety Earl Thomas were both in consideration due to both players being held in high regard.
For full site disclosure, Lombardi’s report may want to be taken with a grain of salt given his recent track record with specific regard to the Browns. It was the same columnist who stated that Jamal Lewis was at risk of not making the Browns 53-man roster last fall, and was also was the victim of a pretty large swing-and-miss with regard to the Browns and head coach Eric Mangini. It is also worth noting that Lombardi was considerably anti-Haden leading up to the draft basing a lot of his thoughts on “what he had heard” and the players much-discussed 40-time.
At present day, it appears that Haden is gearing up for a role as the nickel back in what will likely be a defense that features three defensive backs more often than not. For what it is worth, everything that WFNY continues to hear is glowing regarding the rookie cornerback. Many that were present for rookie camp and team minicamp drills have called Haden “the real deal,” and is already more physically gifted than the rest of his colleagues. We already know that the kid is like an ant when it comes to pound-for-pound strength, and with whispers that he could actually be challenging Eric Wright for a starting job (across from newly acquired Sheldon Brown) make it hard for us to believe that Haden is truly struggling at the next level.
–
(John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer)