DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Howard Wilson?

When we moved up to get him a lot of us instantly became curious and interested in this pick. However, due to his injury he has since been lost and forgotten in the shuffle. I'm interested to see how he will falls into place in the 53 (assuming he makes the cut) and what our plans are for him (CB or FS?).

Any news on his knee rehab and should he be ready to go in August/September?

^^^ This only confirms what we already knew before his injury. My point is...he is a missing link and an unknown who has been forgotten about due to going on the IR early. Will be interesting to see how he does, especially as we moved up to get him.

Me thinks the question will be ; Can he stay on the field in the Big Boy Sport ?

Hopefully he can recover completely from his injury. He is an intriguing kid, with a serious nose for the football. If nothing else, he looks like a kid who could play in sub defenses.

There is almost zero information on him or his recovery. There was talk he wouldn't need surgery, but I believe he said he would have the surgery. I'm not sure if he did or not. He was eligible to come off the PUP list in November, and clearly that didn't happen, but no real news since. His Twitter feed only mentions that he plans to come back with a vengeance and that he wants it bad. He should be fully healed, but I'm not seeing anything on him working out or getting ready. He's an information black hole. Very strange.

When he was injured, they said that the kneecap was fractured, but would not need surgery. I would assume that he is recovered by now. They probably haven't reported anything because he was on IR, and his recovery was on track.

He caused quite a stir IIRC. I was surprised to move up for him, but hadn't seen his game. This could help if he is as tough as his numbers. Curiouser and curiouser I am . . . .

I think the Browns just decided not to throw him in the fire after missing so much time injured. Better to keep him on IR for his rookie year.

He posted a picture on Instagram this week thanking Josh Lindstrom, a strength & conditioning and recovery specialist from Texas, for getting him right.

Kid looks good. Ya'll know how sometimes an injury can leave a football player not looking like a football player because an injury prevents workouts? Wilson looks good, so it would suggest he's healthy enough to be putting in work.

Speaking of social media, he's only got 19 Instagram posts and doesn't tweet much, so I'm thinking that's one reason we've not seen much news.

I'm excited to see the kid come back. World of talent, and also a fascinating character. If anyone hasn't watched some of his interviews, check him out. The kid has a LOT of personality.

i remember an article towards the end of the season the indicated rehab was going well, which i hope is the case ... he at least showed some promise IIRC

He showed some promise? When?

I am not bad-mouthing the guy or praising him. I truly never remember watching him play.

I think he was hurt before pre-season, wasn't he? So, all film would be from Univ of Houston.

LOL............that was kinda my point.

No, I meant based on reports from the mini camps .. I remember seeing quotes/reports that he was really aggressive and was a good surprise. Not that it matters much

I have a feeling he will be a strong contributor as a nickel and ST player.

First one I could find .. from last May

http://www.cantonrep.com/sports/20170512...wns-draft-steal

Skinny Howard: Big personality, high hopes of being Browns draft steal
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By Steve Doerschuk
CantonRep.com sports writer
@sdoerschukREP
Posted May 12, 2017 at 3:45 PM

On his first pee-wee football play, Howard Wilson made a sack. In his first game as a high school cornerback, he made two interceptions. As Browns minicamp opens, Wilson is in a hurry to make something happen.

BEREA Remember the name Howard Wilson.

If you meet him, you won’t forget him.

The 21-year-old cornerback possesses the Browns’ most torrential mixture of energy and joy since they unleashed a young Josh Cribbs. The team was attracted by the manner in which he applies his personality to the field.

He is an aggressive young man now joined with an old coordinator (Gregg Williams) intent on electrifying “the culture.”

Wilson brought his act to rookie minicamp in full force Friday.

Before practice, he earned some laughs when he reprised the Willie Mays Hayes tribute dance he did during the phone call from the Browns saying he had been picked in Round 4. He seems convinced he will be much more than a No. 126 overall pick.

“I’m hitting the ground running,” Wilson said. “I’m trying to win a starting spot. I don’t want to sit on no bench.

“I’m trying to go out there and ball. I’m trying to get an interception.”

Wilson was in third grade when he tried out for the DeSoto Saints, a tackle football team in the town of DeSoto outside Dallas.

“They didn’t want me on the team at first,” he recalled. “They made me a defensive end. Everybody was the same size back then. It didn’t matter what position you played.”

Wilson is in minicamp with a defensive end named Myles Garrett, the No. 1 overall pick of the draft. Garrett outweighs him by 90 pounds.

Wilson was always a little skinny.

“I weighed 150 pounds soaking wet when I was a senior in high school,” he said (his current dimensions are 6 feet, 184 pounds).

He never held his weight against himself. On his first snap as a third-grade defensive end, he made a sack.

“I remember it well,” he said. “That rush went through my body. From then on I meant to tackle players. I loved the contact.”

The DeSoto High School Eagles made him a linebacker. He studied Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis.

He moved to cornerback as a senior. As in pee-wee football, there was an immediate splash of confidence.

“In my first game, I had two interceptions,” he said with a nostalgic laugh. “I thought I was going to Alabama ... or maybe The U. I thought, ‘I’m just going to go UP.’”

Nick Saban was not in the market for 150-pound personalities. The only major-college offers came from Houston, Louisiana Tech and SMU.

Wilson’s first head coach at Houston was Tony Levine. He flourished in 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2014, but Levine got fired with a 7-5 record before the Cougars beat Pitt in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman replaced Levine. Herman promised “the hardest training camp in college football,” declaring, “We don’t train for games, we train for chaos.”

“Our culture is run and hit,” Herman said. “Run as fast as you can, and hit somebody as violently as you can when you get there.”

Herman liked Wilson’s style, but knee issues wrecked Howard’s 2015 season.

The 2016 team opened with a win over No. 3 Oklahoma, propelling Herman to the head coaching job with the Texas Longhorns. Wilson turned heads by making eight interceptions within the first eight games.

“It was a whole 180 (under Herman),” Wilson said. “The team changed. It went from a little bit lax to ‘you need to do it right, or you get an L.’

“Regardless of who you were, even if you were the face of the university, if you weren’t doing it right, you had to go. It helped me with my discipline and my techniques.

It made me grow up as a person and as a player.”

Lance Zierlein’s scouting report for NFL.com sees Wilson as “a smooth athlete with excellent length and a long history of making plays on the football.” The report concludes, “He has a chance to become a good NFL starter with time.”

Wilson’s attitude: There’s no time like there present.

“I’ll listen to everything the veterans and the coaches have to say,” he said. “If I come in here and soak everything in and apply it to the field, I’ve got a chance to start.

“It’s fast and it’s bigger dudes up here. The principle of he game is the same.”

I REALLY enjoyed this read. Great post. I just need all the encouragement a fan can get this off-season.

Go, Brownies!

I am very curious about him and what he can bring to the team and if he will beat out one of our other CBs or if he moves to FS. Clearly the last FO thought high enough of him to move up and get him.

Good post. If he turns out to be a good player and can be a starter it's one less hole we need to fill.

I'll be surprised if Howard Wilson makes the team.

Why do you feel that way?

Because he's a fourth round pick by a previous regime who has no tape.

We'll see. Maybe Dorsey had him on his draft board.

I was pimping the heck out of Wilson in mock drafts, etc. Was happy we got him. Being realistic, he'll likely only get an opportunity to play if an injury happens, or if we cut McCourty/Taylor/Boddy.

I hope he comes in and kicks tail!

I always wish our young players well. Yet unless there's a stupid attack in this FO, the competition in the secondary will be much better than it will have been in some years past.

Lol. You have no clue. Zero clue where Wilson was ranked by any of Dorsey Wolf and Highsmith.

That's what irks my ass about comments relating to players from a previous regime.

You JUST DON'T KNOW.

Absolutely, and he'll definitely get a chance to compete. Dorsey isn't going to bail on a CB just because he was drafted by Sashi. The only thing that would keep him off the roster is A) He doesn't make the cut, or B) Health issues. The team is desperate for CBs and depth at the position. I guarantee they're hoping he has skills and is/can stay healthy.

Wilson was an interception machine in college, and we seriously lacked in that regard last season, intercepting only 7 passes. (2nd worst in the NFL) Wilson is quick, with smooth hips, and excellent change of direction ability, and he had 9 career INT. He is skinny, though, and needs to add some muscle. He is also kind of goofy, and some reports say that he needs to mature. However, he could be a very good slot/4th CB, which are very useful in today's NFL.

How could the kid be worse than Taylor ???

we can use anybody back there who can intercept the ball (or cover)

The key is to cover. If you don't cover your guy close enough, you aren't going to have pick chances unless the QB throws a really bad pass, a tipped ball, or something like that.

In the end, I don't really rate DB's on picks. They are nice, but I am good with passes broken up and tackling guys short of a first down.

Just cover your guy. Force the QB to throw a great pass and the receiver to make a really nice catch. If you can do that, good for them. Make them do it again, and again.

They can't do that all game long.

Taylor was almost entirely worthless. Why his game was the same slack and whiff no tackle/no cover escaped me. Why it went on all of an 0-18 season is insulting.

I never said I did. I do know that we have twelve draft picks this year and a bunch of guys will get cut to make room for those picks. And usually guys favor their own guys over those drafted by previous regimes.

I didn't know much about Wilson before we drafted him ... I watched about 3 games of his after and I thought he showed potential. I believe he'll be given every opportunity to compete and I have high hopes of him making the team and from there we'll see.

I believe John Dorsey will give any player we currently have on our roster or practice squad every opportunity to succeed no matter who drafted him or how we acquired him. John Dorsey is too shrew and smart to leave any stones unturned especially with the need for talent that we have.

I was excited when we drafted Wilson last year. I am anxious to see if he's recovered from his injury. I am hoping he could help this year.

There's no new news on him, which may be a good or bad thing. A solid corner would help so much.

Did he even make the active roster last year. I'd rather hear about other players.

He fractured his kneecap in TC and spent the year on IR. It's not that his play didn't measure up, he couldn't play.

But he didn't make the roster!