LINK Dion Jordan on Browns
Mary Kay
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Oregon linebacker Dion Jordan has already gotten the sales pitch from former Ducks teammate T.J. Ward on how great it would be to join the Browns, but the speedy edge-rusher was an easy sell.
"Yeah, T.J. was great, but he didn't have to do much pumping up to get me excited about playing for the Browns," Jordan said in a phone interview. "They have a new defense and a new scheme, and if I land in Cleveland, I'd really look forward to playing with T.J. again and being part of the Browns' organization."
Jordan, one of the players the Browns are considering with their No. 6 overall pick Thursday's first round of the draft, can already envision the impact he'd have on the Browns' new 3-4, multifront scheme.
"There's a lot of good talent on that defense," he said. "T.J.'s doing a great job in the secondary and so is Joe Haden, but I think I could really help those guys back there if I was coming off the edge."
Jordan, who played a hybrid defensive end/linebacker position in Chip Kelly's multifront scheme at Oregon, would most likely start at right outside linebacker in Ray Horton's defense, opposite free agent pickup Paul Kruger. It's the spot at which converted defensive end Jabaal Sheard is penciled in.
"I think I'd make a good bookend with Paul Kruger," Jordan said. "I've watched his brother (Joe) play at Utah and that's a very good breed of football player in that family. It would benefit me to play against that caliber of player."
Jordan (6-6, 248), visited the Browns last week in Berea and left thinking he'd be a great fit in Horton's defense. In addition to his explosiveness off the edge, he can cover tight ends and even receivers in the slot, which he did some at Oregon.
"I'm all about getting after the quarterback and that's what they really want to do," said Jordan. "There are a lot of similarities to that defense and what I played at Oregon. I loved meeting with Ray Horton and I can feel the energy he brings to that defense. He asked a lot of questions about my defense and wanted to see how I'd adapt to their terminology and scheme."
The question is, will Jordan still be around when the Browns are on the clock? Most draft experts think he'll be gone, either at No. 2 to the Jaguars or No. 4 to the Eagles, where Kelly is now the head coach. Surely, Kelly wouldn't let Jordan slip away, would he?
"I really don't know what coach Kelly is thinking," said Jordan, who had 12.5 sacks over the past two seasons. "I loved playing for him and would be happy to be reunited with him. I'll be excited and ready to go no matter where I go."
Kelly, whom the Browns interviewed for their head coaching job, has folks guessing about what he'll do on Thursday night. The Eagles have scouted quarterbacks such as West Virginia's Geno Smith and Florida State's EJ Manuel, but also seem to love Jordan.
"Dion's just a special guy in my heart," Kelly said at the NFL Combine in February. "I had an opportunity to be with him for five years. He came into Oregon as a receiver, moved to tight end, we switched him over to defense the beginning of his sophomore year. He just had a huge impact, not only on the field but off the field."
That Jordan is even talking about being drafted is a minor miracle. As a senior in high school, he suffered second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body in a freak accident when he and some friends got the notion to use a vacuum cleaner to siphon gas from one car for another.
Jordan, one of the top prep prospects coming out Arizona that year as a wide receiver, pulled the plug on the vacuum and it exploded right in front of him. He suffered horrible burns on his arms and legs, and was airlifted to a hospital, where one of the first things he did was check to see if he could move his fingers.
"I knew if I could move my hands, I'd be OK," he said. "I was already thinking about playing football."
The Ducks, who had offered him a scholarship, stuck by him, and Jordan worked hard to recover from his wounds. Fortunately, he required only one skin graft and was released from the burn unit in a month.
"I was only 18 and I healed well," he said. "I was determined to get back to where I was going with my life and I stayed focus. I also had a great support system and the whole state of Arizona praying for me."
Jordan, who finished third among defensive ends at the NFL Combine with a time of 4.6 seconds in the 40, began as a tight end at Oregon, but moved to defensive end as a sophomore in 2010 and showed natural explosiveness from the start. As a full-time starter in 2011, he led the team with 13 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Last season, he registered 10.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks despite a mid-season torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery last month.
"I only missed one game last season, and I feel like it shows my toughness, that I finished the season, I stayed true to my team and I made sure as a leader, as a senior of our team, it shows I'm willing to win and do what it takes to compete," he said at the Combine. "I'm right on track with my rehab. I was told it would be four months and that's right at the start of training camp. I'll do everything I can to be ready."
NFL Network's Mike Mayock loves Jordan's upside, but thinks he's a year or two away from being an edge rusher along the lines of Aldon Smith, the 49ers' Pro Bowler.
"(Jordan's) got frightening athletic skills, and he's a year away," Mayock said on a conference call. "He'd be a situational pass rusher year one. And if he puts 20 pounds on, I think he's going to be a perennial All-Pro. I really like the kid. But again, that's a little bit of a risk-reward. You're betting on this kid two years from now."
ESPN's Todd McShay on the other hand, has no doubt Jordan will be a star.
"I truly believe he can be the best pass-rusher in this class when it's all said and done," he said on a conference call. "I also think what makes him rare or separates him from a lot of guys is his ability to drop coverage. You just don't see many guys, I haven't, that are 6-6, 248 pounds, that can swivel their hips and change directions and do the things that he can do and has the awareness in space that he has.
"Those long arms help him get to the quarterback when he's close, and he closes as fast as any edge rusher in this class. So I would put him ahead of all those other guys, [BYU's Ziggy] Ansah, [LSU's Barkevius] Mingo, and anybody else in terms of his ability and potential as an edge rusher at the next level."
Jordan is confident he can do the same things in the NFL that he did in college, including covering receivers in the slot.
"My size, my speed and the fact I'm willing to put in the work off the field to really understand the defense and who I'm going against makes it all work out," he said. "I think my skill-set will translate to the next level."