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September 8, 2010Indians 6 Angels 1: Louuuuuuuuuu!!!
September 8, 2010
He came in as a second-round draft pick. Yesterday, he was deemed The Punchline. Today, he is merely a line item in a press release about awarded waiver claims as he was waived to make room for cornerback Derrick Roberson.
The Browns have officially parted ways with linebacker David Veikune.
Drafted before the likes of LeSean McCoy, Phil Loadholt, Sean Smith and Shonn Greene – all of whom are starting for their respective teams in 2010 – Veikune’s career in Cleveland provided the city with nary a statistic (zero…point…zero) through 10 games of “action.”
He was defensive player from an offensively-focused program; one that was drafted to play a position different from that of his collegiate career, only to be moved to inside linebacker when it appeared (quite early in the process, mind you) that the project was not going to be a success.
The butterfly effect of the Veikune selection (and subsequent release) may be one that could have ripple effects for a several seasons depending on the rehabilitation of running back Montario Hardesty. While playing the “what if” game can be a dangerous task, had the Browns opted to select any of the four players listed above, they would have been afforded the opportunity to address other areas with the 2010 NFL Draft. McCoy and Greene are set to be feature backs, Smith is a starting cornerback – the Browns currently have four cornerbacks on their roster, one of which is Roberson – and Loadholtcould have been the bookend to Joe Thomas for the next 10 years.
In June, Veikune earned praise from head coach Eric Mangini as he was compared to New England’s Teddy Bruschi.
“I don’t think it’s unusual,” said Mangini. ”For one, for the team to go through the process of figuring out where the right spot is, and then you know sometimes its better inside, sometimes its better outside. Tedy Bruschi was a defensive end who worked primarily in sub his first year andthen we moved him in, when we got to New England, moved him into an inside backer spot.”
As we mentioned, the only true similarities between Veikune and Bruschi were the fact that both were selected outside of the first round and from respective Pac 10/WAC schools. Bruschi would play every game his rookie season with an evolving role during his sophomore campaign.
Two weeks ago, we said that Veikune’s release was not far-fetched given his apparent lack of talent coupled with the new decision-makers in Berea. Though it is typically advised that one waits at least three years before grading a draft pick, it appears that fans can feel free to grade the 52nd overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
21 Comments
I have always hated the idea of spending a high draft pick on a guy in order to switch him to a new position. I suppose it works once in a while, but it just seems like a waste. Wasn’t Kameron Wimbley a DE in college?
“Wasn’t Kameron Wimbley a DE in college?”
Yep. But so was Shawne Merriman. DeMarcus Ware was a tweener. It takes scouting and more scouting. And a hint of Bill Parcells.
Eh.
Playing the hindsight-draft-pick game only leads to high blood pressure. This is the same city that drafted Vitaly over Kobe, Couch over McNabb, etc., etc. And it happens everywhere. It sucks but it’s all part of the game.
Is it too soon to say that Mangini and his Scouting Dept. were/are not good?
“As we mentioned, the only true similarities between Veikune and Bruschi were … from respective Pac 10 schools.”
Even less of a similarity because Hawaii is in the WAC not the Pac 10.
Every team has one or two picks in the second round (or even the first) that don’t pan out. Think of the Saints with Bush: did he ever produce as he should? Or the poor saps who wanted Maurice Clarett?
“Even less of a similarity because Hawaii is in the WAC not the Pac 10”
Touché. Thanks, Nullster.
What makes this one especially frustrating is that no one thought this was a good idea at the time. I remember so many people questioning why take a project in the 2nd round? Was anyone else clamoring for him?
@3 and @6: true, hindsight = 20/20 and all teams blow picks but none like us. Decent orgs have a decent chance at finding impact players with high draft choices and periodically find gems later on. Savage hit on Joe Thomas and Cribbs as a UFA. Over ten years that was about it. Over an entire decade the drafting was undeniably terrible, whether from bad scouting, stupid philosophies, panicky lack of discipline on draft day or plain hubris.
I very distinctly remember being excited Shonn Green was still on the board when our pick came up, and wondering who the heck we ended up taking. This is the difference between good and bad teams, good teams don’t keep missing with second round picks, they turn them into starters.
I’m with Mark… I don’t think there is any reason to think that Veikune wouldn’t have been there in the 4th round as well. I’m not sure if he was even on anyone else’s radar? I do think it’s tough to argue with a draft that produced 3 starters by year two, though. Going 3 for 4 with your first/second round picks is not that bad.
Hardesty anyone?
/yesterday drama’d
I agree that teams can miss on picks even in the first few rounds of the draft (see Browns, Cleveland 99-present). But Veikune is one that could have been avoided. I don’t have a problem drafting ‘project’ guys but not this early in the draft.
Also, as mentioned above, if he’s going to be a project he better be acclimated to a higher level of competition than just the WAC. I had no problem with the Wimbley pick purely based on his physical attributes and the fact that he played stiff competition. You can’t make that comparison with Veikune.
If you run a 3-4, you have to project guys to different positions than they played in college: defensive ends to outside linebacker, d-tackles to five technique (3-4 DE).
What was curious about the Veikune pick was that even in college he appeared to lack the athleticism to play outside. And while some college defensive ends do move to inside linebacker in the pro’s, those guys usually are late round picks/undrafted free agents…because it rarely works.
A bad pick is a bad pick, but the people who were picked later are not an argument.
And the evaluation is: six rounds too early.
Who?
If he was a late round pick it wouldnt matter if he was a project, as many said. Heck, you can have athletic beasts be projects in rounds 1-3. Veikune fits neither of those qualities. Sorry, but bad pick from the get go, and Im glad to see he did not get a spot.
0 tackles in 10 games? Cripes. Even if he just stood in one place for the entire time, he would have probably gotten trucked and recorded a tackle.
OK, he’s gone. He’s now a note in history, and no amount of hand-wringing is going to get that pick, or the possible guy we could have gotten, back.
So, on to the future.
I was never big on drafting him where we did. The 0 stats in 10 games floors me.
@Burgh is for man lovers, I agree. I’d be willing to bet that you could even put me out there as a career rugby guy and I’d still be able to record one tackle in 10 games.