Cleveland Browns: 5 options to replace Donte Whitner
By Thomas Moore
If a team is planning to take a chance on a player, the bottom of the draft is the place to do it, making Kevin Byard from Middle Tennessee as an option on the final day of the draft.
Byard started 49 games over four years for the Blue Raiders, finishing his collegiate career with 19 interceptions, returning four of them for scores. He was a four-time all-conference selection, including consecutive first-team All-Conference USA honors the past two seasons, and at 5-foot-11 and 216 pounds has the size of a traditional strong safety.
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Coming from a small school, Byard knows he will have to prove that his production was not just the result of playing weaker competition, but that is the kind of desire that could add a much-needed spark to the Browns defense.
“I feel like I always play with a chip on my shoulder,” Byard told Bleacher Report. “But at the end of the day, as long as I get in there and a team definitely gives me a shot, I’m gonna shine. I’m gonna take the necessary steps, I’m gonna work hard, I’m gonna dedicate myself to the game. It’s all about what you make of it. Once all the smoke clears, I know I’ll be good to go.
“You’re getting an accountable person. I’m accountable to myself, to my teammates, my coaches, to everything that I’m doing. I’m never gonna be a guy you have to run up behind and see what he’s doing and worry what kind of character he has, what kind of people he’s hanging out with. You can always depend on me. That’s been evident throughout my entire life.”