DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns sign CB Donavan Olumba

Donavan Olumba former Dallas defensive back is reported to have signed with the Browns.

UDFA who has done nothing in the NFL thus far. Your link doesn't work, by the way. (at least it didn't for me)

He stood out in Cowboys preseason play. Another S/CB who has a lil pop to him in terms of physicality.

Olumba is an interesting add for the Browns. At 6'2" and just over 200 pounds, he is an outside cornerback primarily and fits the mold of corners that the Seattle Seahawks have used for a long time. That system is one Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods has an affinity for. Woods spent the last few seasons with Richard Sherman who came to prominence in that system.

Olumba was an undrafted free agent out of Portland State. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2018 to add to the team a taller, rangier corner. He spent the 2018 season on the Cowboys practice squad and most of the 2018 season there as well. He was promoted to the team's active roster late in the season and played in one game but did not record any statistics.

Coming out of college, Olumba showed good athleticism. His pro day have us his measurements with a 4.58 40-yard dash, a 36" vertical jump, 10'7" broad jump as well as a 6.99 in the 3-cone drill and a 4.47 in the 20-yard shuttle.

According to his agent, exclusively to The OBR, this is a chance for Olumba to reunite with his former coach in Ben Bloom:

"He is excited. Worked with Coach Bloom in Dallas" says his agent Evan Brennan.

Bloom is the Browns senior defensive assistant after nine years with the Cowboys where he held a variety of jobs including as linebackers coach the last two years but has had time with defensive backs as well.

Bloom had a positive impact on Olumba, despite not being his primary coach.

Olumba is the team's second cornerback addition, with Kevin Johnson brought in earlier, but their fourth defensive back signed with safeties Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo also brought in.

Along with Johnson, Olumba will have to compete with Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams on the outside. Ward, the fourth overall pick two years ago, has had his ups and downs in his first two seasons and will be on his third defensive system in his third season in the league. Williams fell last year in the draft and had some struggles adjusting to the NFL, with teams often targeting him late in the season.

Terrance Mitchell is still on the Browns roster but the additions of Johnson and Olumba could hasten his departure, either via a trade or the team releasing him. With sufficient cap space, the Browns could allow competition in training camp to decide Mitchell's fate as well.

For Olumba, released by the Cowboys a few days ago, the Browns offer an opportunity to take the next step in his career. The transition to Woods' system and the value on taller, longer corners could allow Olumba to get snaps earlier than many expect.

He will also be expected to help on special teams.

Terms of the deal have not been reported at this time.

https://247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-brow...owns-145254171/

Could be a safety prospect, though most likely just a 5th CB and ST guy ... or camp cut

Agreed but you never know if it's a player that could develop with good coaching. With any young player you sign or draft there's always a chance they could develop into more than what was thought.

Really, 247? The arrival of a guy who played 32 defensive snaps all year last year is going to "hasten" Terrance Mitchell's departure??

If Mitchell gets released it will have nothing to do with this guy. Johnson and Mitchell has the same general usage rate last year, but this guy?

I swear these internet journalists just make stuff up.

At 6'2" and just over 200 pounds ; Now that's what I like to see in a DB !

filling out the bottom of the roster and adding competition. Contrary to that article, this has no effect at all on our top guys

Are Top guys are of slight built and will miss playing time again this season ( beating a dead horse as this is a pet peeve of mine ) .. Going to need serious depth a CB.

Agreed ... the signing of Olumba means nothing to our top 2-3 CBS

Missing time, or being 'slight' built?

It's football man... all sizes get hurt. Its a part of the game.

Willing to bet that Neither Ward or Greedy play 16 games .. They are both slight of Built and the Big Wide Outs will take a toll on both .

I am a Buckeye homer big time.
Loved Ward in College , but doubted his durability in the NFL. I think that's one reason why we have seen Delpit drop in the mocks .
Was billed as a can't miss Safety at the start of the College season.

In all honesty, it probably means little to the final roster, either. He'll probably be a camp/practice squad guy.

Holding my breath with all this defensive secondary signings. what are we building? More importantly, can they play well together?

Out of this, who do we see as realistic difference makers. I didna know this name at all. Like it if he can outplay some of what we had parked out there last year. Leadss were seldom safe with that secondary as played.

j/c:

This seems like a dumb signing in my opinion.

curious as to why you think so. care to elaborate?

He is not Richard Sherman just because he has similar size to him.

He hasn't played well in the NFL. Mitchell has. Bringing in this guy and getting rid of Mitchell would be idiotic in my opinion. I think very highly of Mitchell. Hell, I think he is better than Greedy at this point in time. But, I get Greedy's potential.

Not asking you to agree. But, I'm not liking what I am seeing after day one from this FO. I will say that I think the KJ signing has a high upside. Not saying he will reach it because of his injury concerns, but he has some skills.

I'll take guys who can run, have good hips, break on the ball, and change directions to make tackles over big, hard-hitting, straight-line, terrible angle pursuits, and playing on ice skates in the open field any day of the week.

People overrate size and big hits. The game is much more complex than that.

Edit: I hope that did not come across as hostile towards you. I did not intend it that way. I think you are an excellent poster. I'm just a big aggravated w/some of these moves.

I didn't read your post as hostile at all.

Have we cut Mitchell? I didn't see this signing meaning we would cut/get rid of or be a replacement for Mitchell.

What tape have you seen of Olumba to say he hasn't played well? Please share. Also, I have no way of knowing how they would use/position Olumba, but bc of his size I'm thinking he'd play more safety than corner. But again, IDK.

Not sure what you mean by "tape." It is my understanding that he didn't play. Maybe I am wrong about that?????? If so, I apologize.

I know he was undrafted. I know his 40 time is around 4.6. I am pretty sure he didn't play. I am NOT sure if that is because of injury. I do know that he is being talked about as a corner and linked to Sherman because of our coach. I did read the article where Mitchell being cut was mentioned.

Sorry, I don't get this signing. That doesn't mean I am saying I am right. I will say I wonder where these questions are when folks say "good signing" on so many other players? LOL

I'm going to be upset if we get rid of Mitchell.

In general, with these moves, i'd like to see the contracts.

It seems like we're signing a ton of guys. More than we ever have.

Then we have 7 draft picks. 4 in the top 100 and the 115th pick as well. (So five very good picks).


Are all these guys we are signing getting guaranteed money? I can't imagine all of them making the roster? Not with all those draft picks. So, maybe Money Mitch will still make this team if he beats out one of these guys in camp......



I mean, he's a UFA next year and is due 3.6 million (.6 million guaranteed), i think next year the plan is to sign significantly fewer FA's and try to get compensatory picks the year after........

Some of these moves are reminding me of the last time Berry was here.

Remember letting Schwartz walk? Who replaced him?

They didn't want Gipson? We were a mess at FS for two straight years.

Cut Gabriel and let Benji walk and kept stiffs like Louis and Payton.

I don't know........maybe Turk is right and they brought this dude in to convert to safety. If so, it might end up working out.

I am not drawing any lines in the sand. Just trying to talk some football.

Wow! That's all he is making? I didn't realize that. That is dirt cheap for that caliber of a player. Thanks. No way we cut him. I guess I blindly bought into that article.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. I read the reason the Anthony Harris deal fell through had not nothing to do with the draft picks Minnesota wanted in return. It was the contract extension he wanted. Therefore, we still have no safeties. We have no linebackers.

The defense is downright putrid. Even if Baker gets back on track, this defense isn't stopping anyone. And I have this terrible feeling that Mitchell and Vernon will be gone before the season.

Meanwhile, Pitt and Balt defenses are straight up scary.

I question things, but it's too early for doom and gloom. They might make some dramatic moves to shore up the FS and LBer spots. We don't know they won't.

I'm just a bit confused about some of these signings and the neglect for our most pressing needs.

I am a big believer in drafting BPA and using free agency to address needs. I despise using the draft to address needs. I don't care where you went to school...........that is simply ignorant.

On the positive side..............that is why I loved the Conklin, Hooper, and Keenum signings. They were all at positions of need and all three can ball. Great moves!!!

You have to keep in mind who is saying what. The statements about Mitchell's future with the team was made by an OBR sportswriter, not by anyone affiliated with the team. There was no mention of a team source suggesting that Mitchell is on the way out. Mitchell has been a stabilizing force in the secondary. Does anybody really believe that before the first OTA coaches have decided this guy is the second coming of Richard Sherman and Mitchell is being released?

Typical careless reporting.

It's a low-risk signing IMO.

guard, that is true. However, why are the Browns signing corners instead of safeties?

We are already strong at corner. We are weak at safety. I can tell you are real high on this FO because you keep praising and defending them. You didn't do the same when some posters trashed Dorsey's moves. I'm good w/you feeling that way because I think you're a good dude.

But, given their history.........are you sure they aren't bringing in all of these corners and are going to keep a quality player like Mitchell? And why aren't they bringing safeties? Or linebackers who can play?

I'm sorry, bro. I don't get moves like this one.

Vers, I supported Dorsey. Overall he did a great job. As with all of the decisions that Dorsey made I would rather see the player perform before making a final judgment. I simply can't evaluate a guy to be a bad player or say that because a guy didn't work out on a previous team he's automatically trash. In the case of Olumba he was with a pretty stacked organization. Being a contributor on that defense is probably more difficult than breaking in with the Browns.

We went out and spent a ton of money on the offensive side of the ball. There wasn't enough cap room to do the same on the defense after those signings. So they implemented this strategy. I think it's a good strategy given the reality of the cap. We need depth and we're using FA to get it. I think our draft will be heavy on defense. We still have the opportunity to get impact players.

Another aspect of what they are doing that I read about was that because these are one-year deals if they are not re-signed for the 2021 season the team could get compensatory picks in 2022. That's next level.

Good reply. I don't totally agree, but I do respect your opinion. Thanks for answering, my man.

He's JAG. He's the equivalent of an UDFA. No big deal to me either way. I just hope we don't cut a useful contributor and keep him.

I don’t know what the intentions are in regards to this player but checking the roster we only had 6 CBs. If I had to guess this is just a camp body that caught the eye of the coach that came from the Cowboys.

I hope you are right and you very well could be right. No debate on that claim.

Meanwhile............I am interested to see if anyone wants to respond to this:



I believe it is a fairly significant topic. I remember how so many loved TJ Ward and I thought he was so overrated. What say you about what makes a good DB?

A lot of Sports writers, fans, analyst are going overboard atm. The only thing going on in sports is the NFL Free Agent signings. If nothing out else, people are reacting and speculating more than usual ( which is saying something ) for click bait and traffic numbers because there is nothing else going on. I'm surprised the "sports writers" have not started speculating if a player uses Lavoris or Scope, and how that will effect their play in September. Let's all just see how it all plays out in the draft and into training camp. I'm pretty sure these bottom of the roster moves will not change the players selected in the draft, or players kept on the 55 man roster. Let them prove their worth in camp.

I don’t think you will get anybody to disagree with you, especially the way you have laid it out. lol. Personally, in a strong safety I am willing to give up a little in the way of speed for the ability to hit. I am not big on guys who can’t take proper angles. Those players are the worst.

How many of those guys are available right now?

My guess is we are going to look at him as a safety. A big, slow corner doesn't work in the NFL.

LOL------I did not mean to stack the deck in my favor through the clever use of language, but now that you mention it, my descriptive words were one-sided. Sorry about that.