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No veteran cornerback turns up in dealing, but other needs satisfied
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Apr 28, 2008
BEREA: In trading up for two picks in the fourth round to draft Beau Bell of UNLV and Martin Rucker of Missouri on Sunday, the Browns took care of two major needs and a contingency plan.
They upgraded their front seven with Bell, a ''hammer-type hitter'' at inside linebacker whom General Manager Phil Savage expects to be on the field for the opening kickoff Sept. 7.
They added an All-American tight end in Rucker, who set the career record for receptions at the same university that produced Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow Sr.
And they found valuable insurance in case offseason surgeries delay the return of tight ends Kellen Winslow Jr. and Steve Heiden or if Winslow stages a training-camp holdout while seeking a renegotiated contract.
The Browns failed to address their lack of a veteran cornerback after sending Leigh Bodden to the Detroit Lions in the trade for defensive tackle Sean Rogers, but that didn't seem to worry Savage.
''There's been some
discussion about corners today,'' Savage said. ''If we were to end up with this particular player, aren't we going to have to go back next year and draft somebody else because this guy is not going to be an answer for us? We feel Beau Bell and Martin Rucker are going to be answers for us in the future.
''We'll continue to monitor the corner situation. There's different avenues we can take.''
Not slated to pick until No. 122 in the fourth round, the Browns relied on the Dallas Cowboys, fast-becoming Savage's favorite trade partner, to work two deals.
First, the Browns gave up picks Nos. 122 and 155 (fifth round) to move up to No. 104 to take Bell, a 6-foot-11/2, 250-pounder from the same school that produced Eric Wright, the cornerback drafted in the second round a year ago. Bell, who had 320 career tackles, was the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 and will start out as a key special teams replacement for Chaun Thompson, who signed with the Houston Texans.
Then the Browns sent the Cowboys their third-round pick in 2009 for the 111th pick to take Rucker, 6-41/2, 247 pounds, the brother of just-retired Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl defensive end Mike Rucker.
The Browns didn't sit idle the rest of the afternoon. They picked back-to-back in the sixth round, Nos. 190-191, tabbing Iowa State nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin, 6-23/4, 315 pounds, and Wisconsin receiver Paul Hubbard, 6-23/4, 221 pounds. The latter came in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for next year's fifth-round pick, and the former was the selection received when quarterback Charlie Frye was sent to the Seattle Seahawks in September.
In the seventh round, the Browns took linebacker Alex Hall of Division II St. Augustine's (N.C.), 6-5, 245 pounds, a college defensive end considered a developmental pass-rusher.
Savage traded with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones a year ago, giving up the Browns' first-round pick this year to select Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn No. 22 overall.
Asked how he became so tight with the Cowboys, Savage said, ''They know we're willing to make a trade. They've always been very active over the years. There's not a lot of negotiation. It's 'We'll do this if you do that.' You can cut to the chase more quickly with them than some other teams.
''On this one, it was with (executive vice president) Stephen (Jones) for the most part. I couldn't get anything done with Stephen so I called Jerry one time, and Stephen answered the phone. I said 'I'm trying to talk to your dad because you and I can't get anything done here.' ''
Savage said Bell and Rucker were on his ''dirty dozen'' list in January. He gave his scouts 12 offensive and 12 defensive players to study for consideration with the 56th overall pick. (The Browns gave up that second-rounder in a February trade with the Green Bay Packers for defensive end Corey Williams, then sent their third-rounder to the Lions in the Bodden trade.)
Savage said Heiden's recent back surgery and a fourth procedure on Winslow's right knee injured in a 2005 motorcycle accident also played a part in drafting Rucker. Winslow also wants to renegotiate his contract that has three years remaining, and his new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has advised clients to hold out in similar circumstances.
''We really like Martin Rucker, but that always has to be in the backdrop,'' Savage said. ''Kellen has had another offseason of medical concerns. Steve Heiden had back (surgery) a week or two ago. We feel both guys are going to be ready to go for the season. But in the next couple months we're going to be practicing, and Martin Rucker will get real good experience right off the top. It may not be a need today, but as we found out a few years ago, it could be a need within a week or two, or two months.
''When I watched him this past season, you could envision he and Kellen running down the seams on opposite sides of each other. He's an imposing, physical mismatch type of player because of his size and his catching ability.''
The knock on Rucker is his poor blocking. The NFL Network's three-item bio on Rucker said he ''never blocked a soul.''
''We weren't attached to the tackle, most of our blocking was done in space,'' Rucker said. ''Most people look at me as a wide receiver, that I can't play with my hand on the ground. I'm eager to get there and prove that I can.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
BEREA: In trading up for two picks in the fourth round to draft Beau Bell of UNLV and Martin Rucker of Missouri on Sunday, the Browns took care of two major needs and a contingency plan.
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