DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2014 NFL Season NFL Draft 2014 Browns select Pierre Desir with the 127th overall pick

Big corner. A lot of upside.

Kiper gave him a 2nd round draft grade.

Supposedly an Interception machine.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1714348/pierre-desir

PLAYER LOWDOWN

COMBINE RESULTS
40 YD 20 YD 10 YD 225 BENCH VERTICAL JUMP BROAD SHUTTLE 3-CONE DRILL
4.52 2.53 1.59 11 35 11'1" 4.30 6.86
WORKOUT RESULTS
40 YD 20 YD 10 YD 225 BENCH VERTICAL JUMP BROAD SHUTTLE 3-CONE DRILL
4.52 2.68 1.52 - - - - -
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

STRENGTHS: Sports a lean, athletic build with excellent height for the position. Fluid athlete with light feet, flexibility and balance. Has a low backpedal, controlled transition and is a smooth accelerator with good top-end speed. Trusts his athleticism, showing the patience to allow receivers to get close before opening his hips to turn and run downfield.
Aggressively closes on underneath routes. Locates the ball well, showing good hand-eye coordination and body control to adjust to make the tough grab. Has dominated lower-level competition based largely on his natural gifts.

With refining, Desir could emerge as an NFL starter.

WEAKNESSES: Overly reliant on his athleticism and may need significant development from a technical standpoint before competing for playing time in the NFL. Dominated lower level of competition and rarely had to extend his arm to jam receivers when in press coverage, which led to struggles with quicker receivers during the all-star game circuit.

Plays with cover corner mentality against the run, making the tackle when necessary but showing less-than-ideal physicality when attempting to fight through blocks and when making tackles.

COMPARES TO: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Denver Broncos - Like DRC, Desir possesses intriguing size, athleticism and ball-skills. With improved physicality -- especially in run support -- Desir could emerge as a legitimate NFL starter.

--Rob Rang

PLAYER OVERVIEW

An annual tradition at the Senior Bowl is the explosion of at least one "small school" cornerback onto the national scene. Though his collegiate career was spent at two universities most college football fans couldn't find on a map, with 25 interceptions Desir didn't have to wait until his impressive performance in Mobile, Ala. to catch the attention of scouts.
Born in Haiti, Desir grew up playing soccer and the fluidity with which he plays American football is testament to this experience. He was lightly recruited out of high school and wound up at Washburn before transferring to Lindenwood in large part due to the financial burden of raising a family. At both programs - just as he did at the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game - Desir's length and athleticism stood out.

Desir is clearly a work in progress from a technical standpoint but with the NFL increasingly willing to gamble on size at cornerback, he could wind up among the top 100 selections of the 2014 draft.

PLAYER NEWS
05/08/2014 - 2014 DRAFT SCOUT FINAL TOP 100: 85/11. Pierre Desir, CB, Lindenwood, 6-1, 198, 4.52, 3...Haitian-born, Desir moved to U. S. when he was four and spent youth playing soccer, the sport in which his father, Wilfrid, starred. But while playing football at two Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) colleges -- Washburn and Lindenwood -- Desir showed natural ability and collected 25 career interceptions. Fluid, flexible mature athlete with wife and two children who dominated low level competition. Frankly: Best MIAA prospect since? Of course you said Pittsburg State's DE Troy Wilson (21 sacks in 1991 to help win DII National Championship; 46 career sacks from 89-92; drafted in seventh round by San Francisco in 1993, in time to win a Super Bowl ring after 1994 season). - Frank Cooney, NFLDraftScout.com

Heard that out of Kiper. I was shocked we got another CB. I like the pick though, really going defense! I love D picks.

Kid is a baller. We got two small school guys that I loved in West and Desir.

Copying Seattle.

Heavy run, elusive QB, strong D and no-name WRs.

Project, that won't contribute as a rook, might not even suit up because he's not a ST.

Luxury developmental pick while we need starters at WR

This is a great pick and terrific value. Our secondary will definitely be a team strength. Great depth as well.

I really like this pick.

I wanted another big corner, and I picked this kid in my "will never happen" draft. I am glad that I was wrong.

I think that this kid will help the Browns a lot this year. Teams will find tit more difficult to go 3-5 wide on us and expect easy completions.

Our top 5 corners are now:

Haden
Gilbert
Skrine
Desir
McFadden

That's solid depth at a vital spot.

Pettine has always coached up raw defensive players. I trust him more than most with these type of players.

This was the correct pick at this point.

No, he isn't a wide receiver, but he is talented and fits Pettine's scheme well. Lots of chatter before the draft about him possibly being a second round pick, so taking him in the fourth is great value. He needs to be coached up, but he has length and excellent athleticism. Only thing he lacks is long speed.

I like the defensive backs on this team a lot!

Please tell me how you see him suit up on sundays when the top3 CBs are healthy. We even had McFadden as 4th CB, who's more suited to play Nickel/dime. Desir is a pure perimeter CB and he won't suit up on sundays.

Maybe they want to trade Haden? Or don't want to pay him?

Follows the draft theme of "decent prospect, but wrong decision"

Browns select Pierre Desir with the 127th overall pick

Like the pick...

Was this the guy from the ESPN draft special? I like this pick.

Quick question...can this guy play FS? Sounds like his skills would translate very well to that position.

Desir is no ST guy, not physical, doesn't like to take on tackler. Pure big Cover CB, like Gilbert.

Pettine said that in his scheme, the CBs don't have to be good players vs run

You call it moaning. I say he's right on the money.

He is a solid backup at this point, and can play against the 3-5 wide sets that teams favor these days. This is the kind of guy Pettine seems to like working with. Even if he takes a year to develop, it is always important to have depth at CB. Haden hasn't played a full year in the past 3 years. We need depth, and this guy is one who could potentially even be a starter one day.

I like having bigger corners. We will probably lose Skrine next year, because we aren't going to pay Haden huge, and then turn around and pay Skrine a moderately big deal as well.

As far as special teams .... why can't he play special teams?

Further, in the late 4th round ..... if I can get a guy who could start one day ..... I take him ... especially at CB.

This kid isn't starting CB material either and isn't well suited for ST's.

I guess this means that Skrine will not be on the roster next year? IDK. I was surprised we picked up another corner.

great pick!

Pettine, like Rex Ryan, loves having a ton of corners. We are going to be in nickel and dime packages the majority of the time, we needed more corners to do that.

Btw, another guy that got good reviews in the SR Bowl/postseason, 3rd hype player from that game after Bitonio and Kirksey. Farmer was there before he was named GM, just saying. Wouldn't be the first rook GM to fall for postseason hype instead of watching the tape.

I see a lot of hype and "hot name" prospects. Sure seems like buzz is getting to Farmer more than picking "his guys".

Not even saying it's good or bad, just an observation of a pattern I see

Pettine also uses a lot of different personnel on defense.

I remember a game where the Jets played the Peyton Manning Colts, I think they used seven corners in the game (or something along those lines).

We just need something better than Benjamin, who's start outside as of now and there are plenty. Not saying the WR prospect would be clearly better, but Desir won't contribute much as a rook, he's a developmental roster stash and that's why he fell too, btw. That, and his mix of stiffness and lack of physicality, which made him a no fit for many schemes.

No way he could be S, as I've seen him shy away and step back from tackling. He doesn't like that aspect of the game and you can't teach toughness.