Browns buzz now centers on Sooner
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
Indianapolis- The buzz at the NFL combine is that the Browns are leaning toward taking Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson with the third pick in the draft.
"I'm picking that up," Peterson said with a grin on Friday.
How does the top-rated running back in the draft feel about that?
"Cleveland is a great town," he said. "They've got some Sooners down there already. I wouldn't mind being a Cleveland Brown."
Browns General Manager Phil Savage has run a pipeline to Norman, Okla. In 2005, he selected Sooners safety Brodney Pool and cornerback Antonio Perkins. Last year, he took receiver Travis Wilson.
Peterson would be the most spectacular Oklahoma player to come to Cleveland since Greg Pruitt. The rewards of taking him are immense, but the risks are great, too.
Peterson's injury history reads like a script of Grey's Anatomy.
As a freshman in 2004, Peterson dislocated his left shoulder in fall drills and reinjured it several times during the season. He had surgery in January 2005.
As a sophomore in 2005, he missed all or parts of four games with a right high ankle sprain.
As a junior in 2006, he fractured his left collarbone diving into the end zone in the middle of the year and missed seven games. He came back to play in the epic Fiesta Bowl game against Boise State.
"I think it shows a lot about what he's made of when he decided to come back and play in the bowl game," Savage said Friday. "He didn't have anything to gain and certainly had something to lose."
Peterson has more to prove here, which is why he has elected to participate in all running back drills scheduled for Sunday. He is peppered with questions about durability and injuries.
"The only injury I'm dealing with now is the collarbone injury," Peterson said. "A couple of doctors are saying there's no surgery required, and it's going to heal on its own. And when it heals, it'll be stronger than before. I'm just focusing on going out Sunday and performing."
Injuries aside, there is not much else to question about the 6-1½, 217-pound runner.
"He is the total package," said Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who might be eyeing Peterson with the No. 2 pick.
At Oklahoma, Peterson was healthy for the equivalent of two seasons. He finished third on the running back-rich school's all-time rushing list with 4,045 yards. He averaged 5.4 yards a carry. If he had been healthy four years, Peterson would have shattered the all-time NCAA rushing record.
"It was a missed opportunity, but I have no regrets," Peterson said. "Everything happens for a reason. Whatever happened in the past, I'm looking forward to going into the NFL. It's my dream."
The Browns would like to join the NFL trend of dividing their rushing load among two feature backs. They can see Peterson, a home-run threat, and Reuben Droughns complementing each other well. Indianapolis and Chicago employed that style to get to the Super Bowl. Anthony Lynn, the Browns' new running backs coach, saw it work in Dallas, too.
"Running backs take a pounding," coach Romeo Crennel said Friday. "If you have two guys that you feel can get the job done, then it makes it easier for those guys to last a whole year.
"Reuben, he got nicked up in the second game on that hit [to his shoulder] at Cincinnati. That impacted how some of the season went for him. If you have another guy you can rotate in there and take some of the pressure and contact off him, I think that can work pretty good. The difference is that you got to have two. If you got two, you can use them."
Some draft publications have compared Peterson to Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson because of their size, strength, speed and upright running style.
"He's an explosive runner," Savage said. "Every time he touches [the football], there's a chance he can take it the distance. He's the kind of runner that will have four or five of what you would characterize as ordinary runs and then he explodes for a 50-60-yard run.
"All the reports we've heard from OU are extremely positive on him in terms of toughness, temperament, demeanor. Those are all qualities we're looking for in a player."
The question of durability remains.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670