Here's an article on Sheard. Thought this was a good enough thread to post it in . . .
http://www.cantonrep.com/browns/x157802136/Browns-rookie-Jabaal-Sheard-ready-to-get-to-workBrowns rookie Jabaal Sheard ready to get to work
By Steve Doerschuk
CantonRep.com staff writer
May 24, 2011 @ 11:46 PM
PERRY TWP. — Jabaal Sheard can’t wait to take his talents to Cleveland. For now, he’s stuck in Miami.
The second-round draft selection is sweating out the lockout, literally.
“I’m just staying in the best shape I can,” Sheard said Tuesday minutes after finishing a workout in Miami. “I just try to stay in contact with the veterans. I talk to (2010 Browns captain) Scott Fujita a lot.
“I’m basically unemployed right now, with no income. Saving money is big ... not that I have any.”
With that, he laughed. He just turned 22 and exudes energy right through the cell phone. The money will be fine when it comes.
Sheard projects as a starting defensive end on a team that went into the draft paper thin on the line. Unable to sign an NFL contract during the lockout, he is following a program outlined by his Miami-based agent.
Drew Rosenhaus can be an ulcer-inducing negotiator, but Sheard seems to like him.
“Drew always keep something positive in your head,” he said. “He had me on a plan in the beginning. He anticipated what we would need to do during a lockout.”
Sheard’s workout routine is inspired by Buddy Morris, his strength coach at Pitt. Morris was with the Browns from 2002-04.
Morris called his weight room at Pitt “The Iron Works.” Muscle and Fitness magazine rated it one of the “10 toughest gyms in the USA.”
“Buddy gets after you,” Sheard said. “He had us working all year long.”
General Manager Tom Heckert says the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Sheard is a sophisticated pass rusher for his age. Some of that goes to Sheard’s speed and makeup. Some goes to the fact his head coach at Pitt was Dave Wannstedt, once the defensive coordinator of a Dallas team that won a Super Bowl.
Sheard grew up in Hollywood, just north of Miami, and was a Dolphins fan when Wannstedt was head coach from 2000-04. The Dolphins went 10-6 in 2003, but a 4-12 year cost Wannstedt his job.
Sheard learned how fans talk about their NFL teams.
“Ricky Williams came to the team, and one week people would say they loved him. The next they would say, ‘I can’t stand him,’ ” Sheard said. “There was some negative vibe about (Wannstedt) sometimes.
“He kept a place in Miami after he got the Pitt job. Once I got to meet him, I found him to be a great dude.”
Sheard played in 4-3 defenses in high school and college. Now he will play in a 4-3 for Browns coordinator Dick Jauron, who got the job after Wannstedt also was interviewed.
Wannstedt and Sheard developed a mutual trust. Sometimes Sheard would interpret an assignment differently than it was drawn up, with Wannstedt’s blessing.
What does he expect from Jauron’s 4-3?
“I don’t know a lot,” Sheard said. “I just know it’s a 4-3, and I have a basic knowledge of the 4-3. I think it will be a smooth transition.”
Sheard was Big East defensive player of the year in 2010 after making nine sacks and 14 1/2 tackles for loss. That and $1.39 will get him a gas station coffee during the lockout.
“I want get to know my Browns coaches and teammates,” he said. “I want to get in a playbook.
“It gets a little frustrating. I’m tired of sitting around.”
Copyright 2011 CantonRep.com. Some rights reserved
Yeah,...we passed until the fifth so the WR's really feel like they're faster.