Will Fuller has the skill set at a position of great need for the Cleveland Browns, and could end up falling right in their lap.
The Cleveland Browns enter the 2016 NFL Draft the same way they’ve entered most drafts in past years, with great needs at multiple positions. One need that has plagued the team really since 1999, is the lack of receiving talent the team has had.
Josh Gordon is awaiting reinstatement, Travis Benjamin left in free agency, and Dwayne Bowe, who ate $9 million last year, is gone as well. As it stands now, Cleveland’s best receiving option is tight end Gary Barnidge.
Thankfully for the Browns, who have been mostly dormant to this point in free agency, the 2015 draft class is deep with quality receiver talent. With options such as Laquon Treadwell, Corey Coleman, Michael Thomas and Will Fuller, Cleveland will have plenty of options that they could use their 32nd overall pick on.
New coach Hue Jackson is used to working with top receiver talent from his time in Cincinnati. Going from having targets such as A.J. Green, Mohammed Sanu, and Marvin Jones, to a receiving corps comprised of Brian Hartline, Andrew Hawkins, and Taylor Gabriel will likely lead to that being a top priority for Jackson to upgrade.
Jackson has said the team will be drafting a quarterback, presumably with the second round pick, leaving the 32nd pick as the first time the Browns could considerably draft a receiver. That is where Notre Dame receiver Will Fuller comes in.
Next: Notre Dame receiver Will Fuller
Player Profile
Name
Will Fuller
Position
Wide Receiver
Height/Weight
6’0”/186 lbs.
School
University of Notre Dame
Stats
2015: 56 receptions, 1,145 yards, 13 touchdowns
2014: 76 receptions, 1, 094 yards, 15 touchdowns
2013: 6 receptions, 160 yards, 1 touchdown
2016 Draft Range
Early – Mid-second round
After establishing himself as a top target for the Irish in his sophomore season, his performance continued into his junior season, as he set a career high in receiving yards. His combination of on and off-the-field leadership, led to him being named the team’s MVP following the 2015 season.
Fuller has killer speed, and was among the top of leaderboards at the combine in the 40-yard dash, hitting a mark of 4.32 seconds. This speed, along with good agility allows him to take the top of the defense and open up the field for the deep ball. If he gets out into the open field, Fuller is the likely candidate to win many foot races.
Fuller is also very talented when being covered, as he is fearless in going up to get 50/50 balls, and will more often than not come down with them. He can have problems with drops from time to time, which should be fixable once he enters the league. At Notre Dame, Fuller mostly ran deep routes or screen, with the occasional comeback or slant thrown in, making his route tree somewhat limited.
The most impressive thing to me about Fuller is his ability to do the small or arduous things that many receivers can’t or won’t do. When he number isn’t called on a play, he is a very active and effective blocker, especially in the run game which Notre Dame made a focal point of their offense.
Next: System Fit with the Browns
With the departure of Benjamin, Fuller is the type of receiver that could step in and fill his role right away. He is a speedster like Benjamin, is a couple inches taller, standing at 6-feet tall, and about ten pounds heavier.
At 32, Cleveland would be in perfect position to take Fuller, and with Treadwell and Thomas likely off the board, Fuller would be one of the best, if not the best option to add a valuable weapon for their new quarterback.
Fuller is also a very reliable player as he has minimal if any injury or off-the-field history, something that would be very welcomed in Cleveland. He isn’t the type of player to step in and make a team an automatic Super Bowl contender, but across from a player like Josh Gordon, he would serve as a strong complement.
Even if he should not end up becoming a starting-caliber NFL receiver, he still has the ability to change the game whenever he would step on the field.
Next: Skill Breakdown
Run-Blocking
As mentioned earlier, Fuller is very active as a blocker when he isn’t immediately involved in a play, or once the play has set up. Coming from a Notre Dame team that had one of the best running backs in the country in C.J. Prosise, and put such an emphasis on the run game, Fuller was consistently able to either seal off the corner opening the outside, or push the corner to the sideline to create a bigger hole.
Coming to a team like Cleveland that has two reliable running backs in Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson, this skill will be invaluable.
Ability to Extend a Play
While Cleveland will likely take whoever they see as the best quarterback in the draft, their line was decimated in free agency with the loss of Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz. This could lead whoever is behind center leaving the pocket more than they would like to. Not a problem for Fuller.
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With the Irish, he played with three very mobile quarterbacks in Everett Golson, Malik Zaire, and DeShone Kizer. Whenever they would leave the pocket, Fuller was able to either break from his route, or extend his route to put himself in better position to help his quarterback and make a catch.
If he ended up reeling the ball in, his speed and agility would allow him to slice through defenses in the middle of the field, or make his way up the sideline for a big gain.
If Hue Jackson sees the receiver position as a top need to fix heading into this season, Fuller makes too much sense to take at 32.