Itchy Trade Finger?

Day 2 of the NFL draft was really day 1 for the Cleveland Browns, and to nobody’s surprise, GM Phil Savage was wheeling and dealing to move around and get the players he wanted. The first pick for the Browns was supposed to be the 122nd overall, but fearing the LB they wanted wouldn’t be there, Cleveland traded with Dallas to move up and get Beau Bell, the UNLV linebacker that scouts are thinking will play an inside position. From the Browns official site–

First, the Browns traded their 122nd overall pick and their fifth-round pick (155th overall) to Dallas for the 104th overall pick.

With that selection, the Browns took UNLV linebacker Beau Bell, an inside linebacker prospect that made 320 tackles in his career, including 126 as a senior. He also managed 27 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks.

Savage said he expects Bell to bring a hard-hitting presence to the Browns’ linebacking corps that they might’ve been lacking before Sunday.

“This guy is kind of a hammer type hitter,” Savage said. “If you saw some of his highlights, he knows how to finish. He brings some explosion at the end of plays. We feel like he’s a powerful tackler.”

Savage said Bell will likely be in the mix on special teams right away and will learn the defense to see if he can figure into the inside linebacker rotation with D’Qwell Jackson, Andra Davis and Leon Williams.

Then, Savage traded with Dallas again, in a move that truthfully doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Sending the team’s 3rd rounder next year to the Cowboys, Savage jumped back into the 4th round and selected Missouri TE Martin Rucker. So, Savage traded away a third round pick to get a 4th round pick, and with it they drafted a TE to sit behind Pro-Bowler Kellen Winslow?

Having not seen Rucker but one time, that being the Kansas/Missouri game last year, I was hoping to read that Rucker was perhaps known as a good pass catcher, but a dominant blocker from the TE position. That isn’t the case however. From ESPN’s player profile-

Rucker shows good athletic ability for his size and is a fluid route-runner, but he isn’t a great drive-blocker and isn’t fast enough to stretch the field at the NFL level.

Hmmm. Well let’s hope that Savage is right about this guy and they can indeed use both Winslow and Rucker in certain sets. Otherwise it seems odd to give up a 3rd rounder for a back-up at best. Savage of course said that both Bell and Rucker were projected 3rd rounders on their board.

The Browns used their own spot in the 6th to take DT Athyba Rubin from Iowa State, before selecting WR Paul Hubbard from Wisconsin with the next pick, acquired from Philadelphia. The book on Rubin reads like this (from Scouts Inc.)-

Strengths: Has excellent bulk, has a low center of gravity and is stout at the point of attack when gets single blocked. Quick enough for a player his size, locates the ball carrier quickly and flashes the ability to disrupt running plays in the backfield when fresh. Keeps head up, shuffles feet well enough and generally does a good job of riding the hips of pulling guards when fresh. Though doesn’t show great body control in space and doesn’t always break down wraps up upon contact and is an adequate open field tackler. Needs to do a better job of getting under blockers pads but drives legs one in position and flashes the ability to collapse the pocket. Shows adequate awareness and generally gets hands up when isn’t going to get to the quarterback.

Weaknesses: Plays with a narrow base, stands up a little too much and can get washed down the line by double teams. Shows adequate upper body strength and locks arms out once engaged but doesn’t have great hand speed and generally takes too long to shed blocks. Lacks range, doesn’t always take sound pursuit angles and isn’t going to make many plays in pursuit. Explosiveness is adequate but not great and doesn’t show great closing speed when gets a clear path to the quarterback. Takes too long to redirect, doesn’t use hands all that well and doesn’t show a variety of moves when rushing the passer. May carry too much weight for frame and appears to wear down at times.

Overall: Rubin attended Trinity Valley (Texas) CC in his first two years out of high school (2004-’05), moving from the defensive line to the offensive line between his first and second seasons. He transferred to Iowa State in 2006 and joined the team in August, just before the season, moving back to the defensive line. He played all 12 games as a junior, starting the last nine, and had 34 tackles (four for losses) and a sack. As a senior last season, Rubin started all 12 games and finished the season with 42 tackles (four for losses) and 1.5 sacks. Rubin isn’t going to be much of a factor rushing the passer and he would likely struggle in a one-gap scheme because he lacks prototypical top-end speed and athletic ability. There are come concerns about his endurance but he has the size and quickness to develop into an effective nose tackle once he learns to stay lower to the ground and adds some lower body strength so he projects as an early second day pick.

Hubbard should be familiar to Buckeye fans. The Wisconsin wide-out has a rare combination of size and speed. At nearly 6’3” and 220 pounds Hubbard has the athletic ability to shine at the next level. A track star turned football player Hubbard struggled to stay healthy in his last two seasons at Wisconsin. From his Scout’s inc. profile-

Strengths: Excellent combination of height, weight and straight-line speed. He shows enough straight-line speed to get over the top of DB’s in man-coverage and his height and long arms put him in position to win most jump-ball opportunities. He’s a mismatch waiting to happen in the red zone. He’s not strong but he is tougher than most track stars turned WR. He isn’t afraid to go over the middle and he has proven capable of making tough catches in traffic. Gives a great effort as a blocker. Not afraid to throw his body around and seems to enjoy hitting.

So what’s not to love? Well, try this video…