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Drew Forbes: Round 6, Pick 189

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Douglar

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How he fits the Browns:
https://expo.cleveland.com/sports/g...browns-no-189-pick-in-the-nfl-draft-2019.html

He will be a project for the Browns, both because he is potentially changing positions and coming from a lower level of competition in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Forbes' measurements:
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 303 pounds
40-yard dash: 4.96 (pro day)
Bench press: 28 reps of 225 pounds (pro day)
Vertical jump: 30.5 inches (pro day)
Broad jump: 8 feet, 11 inches (pro day)
Arms: 32 3/4 inches (1/4 t-rex on his mother's side maybe?)
Hands: 9 7/8 inches

Strengths: "Plays with strain and grit at point of attack" and "lower body is loose and athletic." Additionally, he possesses "balance to recover and re-engage."

Weaknesses: "Hands tend to drift outside in initial challenges" and "level of competition could cause slow transition."

Overview: "Forbes lacks the size and length to stay at left tackle and will need to transition inside to guard as a pro. He's a determined blocker with enough athletic ability and instincts in space to transition into a role as a backup zone-scheme guard. If he continues to operate out over his skis and with late hands in pass pro, he will have a difficult time dealing with NFL interior linemen. If a coach can correct those muscle memory issues, he has the upside to keep moving forward and up the depth chart."

He was SI's mystery sleeper:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/04/23/nfl-draft-most-overlooked-small-school-sleeper-prospect

X was a late bloomer at a tiny high school who didn’t get any offers from major programs. He was a local recruit for his college, becoming a three-year starter on the offensive line and a team captain as a senior. And he assembled a nasty senior season highlight reel. But his performance wasn’t properly appreciated—he was not invited to a single all-star game or the NFL scouting combine.

“He’s the best prospect I’ve ever had,” his head coach says. “And I’ve had a Senior Bowl guy, I’ve had a guy drafted.”

X was expecting at least an invite to one of the smaller all-star games, but when a teammate received one and he still had nothing, he knew it was never coming. “Scouts who have pull can’t see talent like his,” says one scout who works for a team that brought X in for a pre-draft visit. “He doesn’t get it done in an athletic way. He wins with power and physicality and he is very intelligent in how he plays.”

....

X has seven pre-draft visits scheduled, and at the time of this workout, he’s already been on three—including one to the team of the scout and coach from that private workout. Because he takes this process so seriously, he dresses up in a black suit, white shirt and tie, chosen to coordinate in the team’s color, to each visit.

X wears the same suit for each visit, and because he’s a big guy on a job interview, there’s a fair amount of nervous sweating. “The dry cleaner knows me now,” X says.


 
I really like the Forbes pick. He's just the kind of developmental offensive lineman I love to see taken on day 3.

I'm excited to see where Campen chooses to use him. He could be effective at either tackle or guard.
 
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/04/30/prospect-x-mystery-draft-sleeper-reveal

... the six NFL teams he visited with during the pre-draft process: Green Bay, New York (Jets), San Francisco, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Cleveland ...

Moments before the sixth round begins, X ... gets a text from an Arizona Cardinals scout. We are trying to get you coming up soon. There are quite a few picks left. The Cardinals have the first pick of the sixth round, and X is convinced it will be him. ... But his phone doesn’t ring. Soon, the Cardinals pick is in: Fresno State receiver KeeSean Johnson.

X is still hopeful because Green Bay, Cleveland and San Francisco are the teams most interested in him, and both the Packers and 49ers have multiple sixth-round picks. But the 49ers pass on him at Pick 176, and again at 183. Two picks later the Packers’ selection comes and goes, after which X tells his grandparents and relatives with young kids: “I know the kids are probably bored, so if you guys want to head out you are welcome to.”

A few minutes later the Browns are on the clock with Pick 189, the team’s only sixth-round pick. He thinks back to his visit to Cleveland. He felt like he really hit it off with Browns offensive line coach James Campen. Browns area scout Colton Chapple caught his attention at lunch after his pro day, when he told X that Cleveland doesn’t necessarily think he has to move to guard at the next level, they might give him a chance to develop at tackle—the Browns were the only team to tell him that. While in Cleveland, he passed Baker Mayfield in the hallway and was starstruck. Mayfield gave him a nod but X was too stunned to respond.

The phone in his pocket buzzes. The room, still full, falls silent.

The voice on the other end asks: Is this Drew Forbes? “Yes.”

Hold for John Dorsey.

....

Drew and Emily are relieved—they’d been mentally preparing for undrafted free agency. “We were thinking all projections had been wrong,” Emily says, “no draft today.”

Drew’s agent, Brian Hamilton of Plan B Sports Management, wasn’t as worried as the couple was, even as the draft dragged on. Typically, if a player isn’t going to get drafted teams will start calling the agent to work out undrafted free agent deals on Saturday during the final three rounds. But Hamilton didn’t get a single call asking about Drew, not until Cleveland’s contract advisor called to alert him the Browns were going to pick him. He only got one text about Drew, from the Rams, who had been interested in getting Drew as a free agent should he go undrafted.

“He would never be a free agent,” Dorsey says now. “He is a draftable player. It’s the way he plays the game of football, he plays the game with a passion and a tenacity that is real.”

In fact, the reason the Browns took Forbes when they did, with their only sixth round pick, is because Dorsey knew he’d be gone if they waited for the seventh round. “There were three teams, five to 15 spots behind us, that were going to pick him,” he says.

Five spots after the Browns picked: Green Bay. Also inside that range: San Francisco, Atlanta and the Jets, three other teams Drew visited.

How does Dorsey know this? “I know what I know, that’s all I can tell you.” he says. “I just know things.”

 
I really like the Forbes pick. He's just the kind of developmental offensive lineman I love to see taken on day 3.

I'm excited to see where Campen chooses to use him. He could be effective at either tackle or guard.

I think he is a guard because of size and arm length, but I could be wrong.

It amazes me how specific size matters at the NFL level to line play, but players like Botonio excelled at LT in college, Div I, but moved inside because of arm length and didn't do well when tried at LT last year.

I do like the pick, swing for the fences type pick.
 
After reading that SI article, it's hard not to really like this guy. Approaches his potential football career like an absolute professional, even obsessing over whether or not he should use an exclamation point in responding to a coach's text message. Bought a different tie matching the team's color for each team visit - which he always did in a suit.

It's the line about Oladipo all over again. We may not know what his ceiling is, but whatever it is, he's going to reach it.
 
One thing we can take from the past two drafts is that the Browns front office is looking for offensive linemen who keep playing to the whistle. Austin Corbett is a little less athletic but has better arm measurements. The reason he was taken is consistent tape going after the defense hard and trying to take his man completely out of the play.

I'm guessing Forbes will be on the bench learning this season. Kush and Corbett are ready to handle the interior along with Bitonio and Tretter, who didn't loss a snap last season. If Forbes progresses well, he can get some time if injuries hit later in the regular season. I really enjoyed the read today, thanks for pointing out Player X.
 
The only thing about that article that makes me somewhat roll my eyes is this...

Though he played his entire college career at left tackle, most NFL teams think Forbes’s arms are too short to play tackle in the NFL, necessitating a move to guard. Dorsey isn’t so sure that’s the case. “He’s got incredible athleticism, so why not try him at left or right tackle?” Dorsey says. “If that doesn’t work, then move inside, I mean that’s how you do the offensive line. Let them see what their natural position is and then move forward. He is a very athletic and talented guy who is mature, tenacious, and smart.”

Corbett played left tackle his entire career at Nevada and to the best of my knowledge the Browns didn't even attempt to work him there at any point in training camp or the preseason.

But it's a minor quibble all things considered.
 
Corbett played left tackle his entire career at Nevada and to the best of my knowledge the Browns didn't even attempt to work him there at any point in training camp or the preseason.

Well, none of us know everything they tried during minicamps, so maybe they tried him there but saw he didn't have the necessary quickness/length so they gave up on it.
 
The only thing about that article that makes me somewhat roll my eyes is this...

Though he played his entire college career at left tackle, most NFL teams think Forbes’s arms are too short to play tackle in the NFL, necessitating a move to guard. Dorsey isn’t so sure that’s the case. “He’s got incredible athleticism, so why not try him at left or right tackle?” Dorsey says. “If that doesn’t work, then move inside, I mean that’s how you do the offensive line. Let them see what their natural position is and then move forward. He is a very athletic and talented guy who is mature, tenacious, and smart.”

Corbett played left tackle his entire career at Nevada and to the best of my knowledge the Browns didn't even attempt to work him there at any point in training camp or the preseason.

But it's a minor quibble all things considered.

Both Bitonio and Corbett were left tackles at Nevada (back-to-back) so you're correct there.

I think there's a difference between a depth OL and someone you're asking to contribute immediately. For Forbes, we have the luxury of time. He doesn't have to contribute meaningful snaps this year, so let's move him around. A backup should be able to play more than one position in case of injury, and it also lets you see where Forbes fits best.
 
Both Bitonio and Corbett were left tackles at Nevada (back-to-back) so you're correct there.

I think there's a difference between a depth OL and someone you're asking to contribute immediately. For Forbes, we have the luxury of time. He doesn't have to contribute meaningful snaps this year, so let's move him around. A backup should be able to play more than one position in case of injury, and it also lets you see where Forbes fits best.
Yeah, exactly.

I would also add the different weaknesses between Bitonio and Corbett vs. Forbes. Bitonio lacked the lower body athleticism to effectively bend his knees against weak-side EDGE players. Corbett lacks quality leg drive and core strength. The lack of athleticism in the lower body, for both players, makes them more natural fits at interior positions.

Forbes's big problem is he has poor hand placement and played at a small college. The hand placement thing is a huge issue. If he does not learn how to place his hands properly, he cannot exert leverage, and will get blow past by EDGE rushers on either side of the line.

The good news, though, is because the Browns have time with Forbes they can try and reset his muscle memory while also giving him time to learn to play against better talent.

I do not think it is likely Forbes becomes an effect exterior linemen... I also am not sure that Dorsey is wrong to at least try and see if it will work.

I may be missing a weakness on Forbes, btw, because I only heard of him after the Browns picked him and the only film I've seen is what is in write-ups about Dorsey's draft.
 
His lower half was as advertised on those clips. He can really move quickly, but his hand usage and upper body need some pretty good refinement.

Definitely an exciting later round addition who now gets to work with one of the best in the business.

If it clicks, you've got something special.
 
His lower half was as advertised on those clips. He can really move quickly, but his hand usage and upper body need some pretty good refinement.

Definitely an exciting later round addition who now gets to work with one of the best in the business.

If it clicks, you've got something special.
With James Campen in the fold, give me a guy with gifted athleticism in the lower body and you can work with the upper body. Especially hand placement, posture, and leverage.

The same deal goes for Desmond Harrison as it does Forbes. Gifted feet, but in need of discipline in his technique.

I have no doubt that Campen is going to maximize both of these players if they're willing to put in the work. Whether or not that’s enough to make them impact NFL players, that’s yet to be seen.
 

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