Berea, OH (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Browns continued the defensive trend on day three of the NFL Draft adding a safety and linebacker with their first two selections of the day and then a kicker with their third.
In the fourth round Cleveland picked Miami safety Sheldrick Redwine 119th overall.
“He has a physical presence but also has good ball skills,” Browns director of college scouting Steve Malin said following the selection. “He can play in coverage for us.”
Redwine, who moved from corner to safety as a junior, was voted honorable mention all-conference following a senior season that saw him tally 64 tackles, 3.5 for loss, three sacks, three interceptions and two pass breakups in 13 starts in 2018.
Over four years, Redwine started 30 of the 45 games he appeared in totaling 164 tackles, 6.0 for loss, 3.5 sacks, 10 passes defensed, 5 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries for the Hurricanes.
Redwine fits the profile the Browns are looking for defensively – tough, physical and fast - which he learned at an early age and carried through college.
“If you are not going to be tough, if you are not going to tackle or if you are scared, then you are not going to be able to make it,” Redwine said. “You are not going to be able to play. It comes from childhood and how I have always been like that.
“Football is controlled aggression so you can’t just be out there wild hitting everybody. Missing alignment and missing assignments, you have to bring it to another level.”
With their first pick in round 5 Dorsey picked Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson No. 155 overall, which might be a steal that comes with a chip on his shoulder.
“Not necessarily [that] I feel like I have to prove people wrong, but I just want to show that in this draft I was the best linebacker,” Wilson said. “There were 31 teams that slipped up on me, and somebody is going to have to feel all the pain that I had built up these past few days.”
Wilson, who came out early after his junior season while some critics felt he should’ve stayed, was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and he played in all 15 games as a true freshman for the Crimson Tide on special teams and at H-back.
Over the last two seasons as a sophomore and junior, Wilson totaled 105 tackles, 7.0 for loss, a sack, 6 interceptions, 7 passes defensed and a fumble recovery.
“It wasn’t a difficult choice honestly,” Wilson said of coming out early. “These opportunities don’t come often. At the end of the day, I wanted to be able to help take care of my family, and I felt like I was the best linebacker in the draft. I gave it a chance.
“I did a lot for the University of Alabama and I still feel like I haven’t reach my full potential yet. I want to be able to reach my full potential in the National Football League and continue to produce as a player and as a man and just bring that winning attitude to Cleveland.”
With the 170th overall pick – acquired from New England for Josh Gordon last fall – the Browns selected Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert.
“I think the three big things about him is that he had an extraordinary productive career, also has a huge leg and he is very, very competitive,” Browns scout Josh Cox said. “It is a young career for me, but I haven’t seen a kicker as competitive as he is.”
Seibert became the all-time leading scorer in Sooners and Big-12 history with 499 career points surpassing the previous record held by Zane Gonzalez (494 points), who was drafted by the Browns in the seventh round in 2017 but his longest make is from 42 yards but the Browns are confident his leg is plenty big enough for the NFL – and Cleveland.
“There is a sound that the ball will make when it is coming off their foot if they have a really strong leg,” Cox said. “He has a cannon. I’m not worried about it at all.”
