DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum WR Mayle emulated Gordon in college, has Bowe for his mentor

While this is "fluff", I do like the fact that he has already made a habit of studying receivers to see what they do well, so that he can add to his own game. A rookies who comes in already studying tape will stay prepared mentally, even if he can't get full reps on the field.

I like this kid, and think that he is going to be a good one for us.

Browns' WR Vince Mayle emulated Josh Gordon in college and is Dwayne Bowe's protege | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/06/browns_wr_vince_mayle_studied.html

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's no surprise to Browns rookie receiver Vince Mayle that he draws comparisons to Browns Pro Bowl wideout Josh Gordon.

"That was the goal,'' Mayle said this week after the Browns Youth Football camp at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Every Monday at Washington State, his off day from practice, Mayle would get Gordon's film from Browns games and study it in detail. The open stride, the effortless way Gordon glides open, the maneuvering for yards after the catch.

"He was the first guy I picked out,'' the fourth-round pick said. "Then I started watching Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, just picking up different pieces from everybody's game.''

Isn't it ironic that he landed in Cleveland, where he'll be called upon to help replace his idol this season?

"Yeah, it really is,'' said Mayle, who also revealed to Northeast Ohio Media Group this week that he often gets mistaken for LeBron James.

A converted basketball player, Mayle started with Gordon because he felt the All-Pro mostly closely matched him in size and skillset. Mayle is 6-2, 225 and Gordon, who's serving a minimum one-year ban for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, is 6-3, 225.

"He's a bigger body, he catches the ball and is explosive after he catches it,'' said Mayle, who's recovering from right thumb surgery. "That was one of our big aspects at Washington State. We had to get a lot of YAC yards and he was really good at it, so that's something that I wanted to implement in my game, which I was able to be successful at.''

A student of the game, Mayle noticed on film that Gordon's running style is a key to his success.

"He's a great runner,'' said Mayle. "He runs with his stride wide open and that's something that I wanted to pick up my senior year -- get to your full stride and trust your speed, because he trusts his speed a lot.''

The first receiver drafted by Browns general manager Ray Farmer in his two seasons at the helm, Mayle knows he'll have plenty of help this season in trying to fill Gordon's elite shoes. The Browns also signed Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe as free agents.

"It's just going to be a team effort,'' said Mayle. "We're not really worried about replacing Josh Gordon. We're focusing on the guys in the room. We'd love to have him, but right now we're working with what we've got. They're a great group of guys. They all have really good strengths and they're all really good to learn from.''

Despite the fact Gordon is still living in the Cleveland area and playing pickup basketball with a lot of the Browns, Mayle has yet to meet him.

"I'll be excited like I was to meet all of these guys in the locker room,'' he said. "You see these guys on T.V. and it's kind of an awe factor when you first see them.''

Mayle, who's been wearing a cast in practice to protect the surgically-repaired thumb, is being coached up here by another big-body Pro Bowl wideout in Bowe (6-2, 222), signed as an unrestricted free agent after spending his first eight years in Kansas City.

"I'm learning a lot from Dwayne Bowe,'' said Mayle. "He's taken me under his wing. His route-running, we came in similar sizes, similar athleticism, so he's teaching me what he learned when he was young. He's also teaching me what he knows now, so I don't have to go through that learning curve that he had to go through. He said he was the top dog coming in and he didn't have anybody to learn from. He's teaching me everything.''

Bowe has shown Mayle how to use his body to gain leverage on defensive backs, how to come back for the ball and how to take care of his body with ice baths, stretching and rest.

"It's been real big,'' said Mayle, the 17th receiver off the board in this draft. "I'm really blessed to be in that situation and learn from somebody like him who's been doing this for years at a high, successful rate. At first I was a little shy coming into an NFL locker room. You don't know what to expect but what he's done is helped a lot. ''

Mayle, who caught 106 passes last year for 1,483 yards and nine touchdowns, has also learned a lot from Browns receiver Marlon Moore, who's from the same area near Sacramento, California.

"I actually grew up watching him play high school football when I was middle school,'' said Mayle. "He's taken me under his wing with the special teams part of it. Right now I'm on all of them. Whatever I've got to do to get on the field.''

The film study that Mayle began in college has carried over to the pros, where he's scouring the games of his fellow Browns receivers.

"They all have really unique games and you can take pieces from all of them,'' he said. "(Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel), when you watch those guys, they're quicker. When they stick their routes, they can really separate. It's something you can really learn from. Being a bigger guy using their techniques, you can separate a lot quicker too. It's hard to explain. It's something you just see on film.''

From Hartline, he's learned how to be more precise in his route-running.

"He's real technical,'' said Mayle. "He knows exactly where to be. If I ever have a question about positioning or placement on the field and the quarterback knowing where you're going to be, I can go to him.''

Mayle, who began his college career as a basketball player Shasta Community College in California, already had a big fan in new receivers coach Joker Phillip, who recruited him to Kentucky out of junior college when he was the Wildcats' head coach.

"One of the things I like about working with a rookie is that you get to start from the ground up with him,'' said Phillips. "We're establishing a relationship and that's been really good.''

Phillips has tried not to let the clunky cast on Mayle's right hand get in the way of his progress.

"We got him here and he has not been disappointing,'' said Phillips. "The disappointing thing is he can't catch right now, but I don't use that as a negative. We're using that as a positive because we can do a lot more footwork with him. The game starts from the ground up. If you've caught 106 balls, we know he can catch. He's gotten a lot better, and we'll reap the benefits of this when he gets healthy."

Mayle first broke the thumb during Senior Bowl practices in February, but thought it was just a sprain. It wasn't until the NFL combine in February that he learned of the fracture.

"I was at the table and the doctor comes up to me and says, 'you know your thumb is broken?''' Mayle said. "I was like 'no.' That's when I found out.''

The injury may gave caused him to slip some in the draft, but Mayle doesn't mind.

"I ended up in a good position, a great place to play,'' he said. "I'm happy where I am.''

During rookie camp last month, Mayle tried to fight through the pain, but finally succumbed. He had two pins permanently inserted in the thumb last month.

"It was something we knew before I was drafted I was going to need,'' he said. "But I tried to fight through it and it didn't work out.''

Ever since then, Mayle has been wearing a red caution jersey in practice and running routes, but not catching the ball. When practice is over, he wears just a splint on the thumb.

"I'm picking up the offense pretty well,'' he said. "When I'm not in, before I hear the playcall and then before the snap I run through what I have to do at three different spots, so I'm taking three mental reps on each play.''

Mayle will be limited during the mandatory minicamp next week, but hopes to be full-go by training camp at the end of July?

In the meantime, that big-bodied guy out there in the red jersey might just remind some of his teammates of Gordon when he streaks downfield for a pass.

I hope Bowe and Hartline are embracing their veteran roles, because we have many young WRs. Taylor, Mayle, Smith... yeah, we got some youngins that hopefully can learn from our veterans.



Yep, memories are all we have of Josh because he's too damn stupid to be in a situation to give this city anything else. Let's hope Mayle isn't emulating all of Gordon's college and etc habits, because many of those bad ones have obviously carried right over into the NFL.

Mayle is something I can't get too amped up for. Until he can prove otherwise, he's a Greg Little who led the nation in drops last year and I can't really get past that yet.

The title made me gag a little. Emulating Gordon and having Bowe as a mentor??? I am like, could he pick two worse guys?

But, the article went much deeper than that. It was actually a pretty good article.

I just can't get past him dropping way too many passes. Guys can improve their route running, ability to make sight adjustments and hot reads, body positioning, etc.........but some guys just can't catch the rock no matter how much time they spend on the Jugs machine and catching passes before, during, and after practice.

Dime a dozen player.

Dime a dozen article at this time of year.

Wouldn't surprise me if he did not make the team.

I would agree if he was a walk on. But a 4th rd. I would say he has an upper hand as in if it's a close call between UDFA and himself.

Who's the odd man out?

Bowe, Hartline, Hawkins, and Gabriel are for sures.

He's competing with Benjamin, Moore, and one or two UDFA types they seem to really like.

Seems like it's going to get crowded in the back end of that group.

While emulating Gordon, I hope he skips the me-first-knucklehead part of Gordon's makeup.

I don't know, let the games begin.

I'm supposed to be out painting the trim on the house, as you can see I'm dragging my feet by being on here

Vers I thought the same thing. lol Gordon and Bowe as mentors lol but this was a really good read. I would also agree that with him not being able to catch right now may be the very best thing for him. I thought the big issue on his drops was that he was often looking like he was looking to where he should be running instead of looking the ball into his hands.

Led college in drops but was also 3rd in receptions per game. We will see how he develops. He may be a bust but never know. He showed as much as a lot of receivers folks were wanting to take much earlier. I really felt there was 3 receivers and then the next 20 were all crap shoots.

I think if Mayle can be productive in camp and the preseason, he's going to get the roster spot over Travis Benjamin. Benjamin took a big step backwards last year in the return game, and has always been inconsistent at best as a receiver. If not Benjamin, then Marlon Moore. Fluff article or not, it's always good to read about how hard one of our rookies is working to make the team and improve.

Bowe
Hartline
Hawkins
Gabriel
Benjamin
Mayle

I agree with you about Benjamin. Fielding a punt and sprinting to the sideline is not really what we had in mind, Travis. IMO, he plays scared. Understandable, at his size, but not helpful. They should show him film of The Ice Cube, Gerald McNeil.

Trying to be optimistic about this guy. Big body, good speed. Hopefully he can become a big time NFL wr like the guys he mentioned that he studies. The down side is he did lead the nation in drops last year in college and with the thumb injury he can't work on the part that he needs to work on most..."catching the ball".

LOL My first thought also.

Looks about right to me. Of that group, Benji is the one who could get bumped.

A friend of mine texted me during the season and advised I keep an eye on Mayle. I have to say, I'm not seeing a whole lot outside of a project, but my fingers are crossed.

It's only been OTA's.

Nobody on the team has played any real football yet this year. Let's wait until training camp and the preseason to make any educated assumptions.

Marquese Colston was a 6th round pick out of Hofstra.

Doesn't need to be a 1st round burner to contribute and make a difference.

Mayle should only be used as a backup for a year or two IMO. This will be crucial for his development as a WR. Many of his drops came in hearing footsteps and running before securing the ball. A converted TE and basketball player! And still he emerged as one of the elite FCS WR's to make triple digit catches in 2014. He can catch. He has great hands, and can make the overhead catches with ease. Still he's a project. Much like the 1974 4th rd Steelers pick John Stallworth. Stallworth was a backup for 3 years before emerging as a starting WR in Pitt.

Pettine was here and he knows....

Not all WR's need groomed from the get-go.

If Mayle shows in camp and preseason that he should be on the field and playing, then he'll be on the field playing.

Fixed that for ya.

Huh?

I removed "this year".

Kelso..........I believe he was referring to watching Mayle last year while he was playing in college.

Man, you guys just love shutting down a discussion.

I may have taken his comment out of context.

There's just been a lot of negativity going on around here among some of the posters. I took it as Mayle was being branded as a project with little hope, despite not playing any significant NFL snaps yet.

I just like that they are going for bigger guys. In the redzone it is a must