NFL Notes: Draft, Raiders, Browns, Jets

Draft

• Tony Pauline of Draftanalyst.com reports that Army OT Brett Toth is “really creating a buzz for himself in scouting circles and is quickly ascending draft boards.” In fact, several sources who spoke with Pauline have said that Toth could end up being a second or third-round pick.
• Regarding UTSA edge rusher Marcus Davenport, Pauline says that the Raiders are one of the many teams who love and are considering the pass rusher with their first pick.
• NC State RB Jaylen Samuels said he had a “sit down” meeting with Lions GM Bob Quinn on Wednesday night. (Justin Rogers)
• Broncos HC Vance Joseph praised Arizona State RB Kalen Ballage, saying that he is an “impressive” prospect: “Boy, he is impressive. He’s big, he’s fluid, he’s catching well. He’s got great feet. He’s been impressive.” (Nicki Jhabvala)

Browns

Browns HC Hue Jackson told reporters on Wednesday that he was never told to hire an offensive coordinator, and that it was his decision to bring in Todd Haley to run their offense.

“No, let me say this and let me go on record and you guys can write this: No one ever told me I needed to hire an offensive coordinator,” Jackson told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I could still be calling the plays for the Cleveland Browns. That is what I thought was best for us.

“I made a decision that I thought the best thing for me to do was to become the CEO of this organization in that way. No one forced me, no one asked me and no one told me I had to. This was my decision and what I thought was best for us moving forward. Did I lean on people to ask them advice? Yes, I did. Was John Dorsey one of those people? Yes, he was. Was Jimmy Haslam one of those people? Yes, he was. That is what you do. You use your resources, but nobody, no one, whether it is John or Jimmy (Haslam), ever told me that this is what I needed to do. Nobody.”

Jackson added that he moved quickly to set up an interview with Haley once the Steelers made the decision to move on from him.

“First of all, very thrilled to have Todd,” Jackson said. “I called Todd immediately after he was let go at Pittsburgh. Obviously I’ve said I was really going to take some time and contemplate putting the [offensive] coordinator on staff that I thought he had experience, had a winning pedigree, had a real desire to move an offense forward and somebody, honestly, that I thought could do the job at a high level. I talked to so many people going through this process, interviewed a lot of people.

“When somebody like Todd Haley becomes available, immediately your antennas go up. I called him right away, talked to him on the phone several times and set up a meeting for him to come to Berea and sit down and have a conversation, and I was even more impressed with the person and that we have similar beliefs on how to play offensive football. I’ve seen his work, coaching in the AFC North, competing against him when I was the head coach of the Raiders and he was the head coach of Kansas City.”

Jets

• Albert Breer mentions that the presence of new Jets offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates shouldn’t be underrated as a factor in terms of going after Kirk Cousins in free agency.
• Breer points out that Bates is a Mike Shanahan disciple with a football mind similar to those of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, who both coached Cousins and loved him as a player.
• Tony Pauline reports that if the Giants allow free agent C Weston Richburg to move on in free agency, he expects the Jets to make a run at signing Richburg to a contract.
• According to Pauline, the Jets want to upgrade at center and find a replacement for veteran G James Carpenter.
• We have Richburg featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.