COURTESY OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
On the Browns selecting TE Harrison Bryant:
“Harrison really impressed us throughout the spring, starting at the Senior Bowl, working through the Combine and up to some of the post-combine virtual stuff we did. He is a really blue-collar young man. His work ethic is great. He is going to bring really good leadership. As a football player, his pass-catching ability is probably what stands out the most. You will probably hear that a lot, but he is an athletic, natural sure-handed guy, really tough and competitive after the catch. It got to the point where we were staring at the board and you kind of couldn’t ignore the fact that he was still up there.”
On why Bryant was available at the time, given his college numbers:
“I can’t really speak for the rest of the league. It could be a level of competition or questions about if he could produce at the same level in the NFL. We really just thought his skillset and adding that talent to the room fit for us, especially at that spot. We thought it was a pretty good pick.”
On if this year’s college all-star games became more important due to the impact of COVID-19, particularly for Day 3 selections:
“I think we really push our guys to hone in at the at the all-star games, not because we knew this situation would come up but because you have much more access to the players, both on and off the field, that you can garner a lot of really valuable information. Between the ability to see them throughout the week in different meeting settings or just across different exposures and then definitely competing on the field, you can you can glean a lot from that week-long experience.”
On differences evaluating skill players on offense and defense and their skillsets as the NFL game has evolved:
“I think that those positions, at the end of the day, it is really the production on the ball. Guys get in positions in unique ways. Some of the bigger corners use their size and instincts, and some of the guys with maybe less size use more athletic traits in quickness and speed. At the end of the day, it is producing on the ball. As a receiver, for me, the price of admission is catching the football. If you can catch the football, whether it is in contested situations or underneath and making things happen after the catch, those are really the things that we look for. Really, production is key. Being able to produce in whatever manner you can consistently is really the calling card for those two positions.”
On evaluating a player like Bryant from a program that faced a handful of major college programs but also played smaller schools:
“It is a fair question. I think you really just have to hone in on the skillset. I think that is one of the things that we really liked about Harrison is from our coaching staff and our scouts, they both really appreciated his ability to get open in a multitude of ways. He is just pretty consistent at catching the football. He struggled a little bit early on this season, which was a bit uncharacteristic, but across his lifespan in college, catching the football is something that he did really well. We kind of expect him to carry that over. That is how we reviewed him and why we thought this was a good pick.”
On the personnel department’s process this year at all-star games when the Browns had not yet hired Head Coach Kevin Stefanski and Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry:
“I think our group did a really good job of coming together and really just using some of the experienced guys that we did have in our group to help direct us in that time. We kind of stayed the course. We had somewhat of a layout written already in terms of assignments and responsibilities. We kind of just stuck to that and married that with AB’s philosophy and planning when he came in. It worked out pretty well. It didn’t throw us off too much. Obviously, you like to have your group in place, but I think we did a really good job of adjusting.”
On the significance of Stefanski’s use of tight ends in the offensive system when evaluating players:
“I don’t think it hurts to make the head coach happy. He has a strong affinity for that position. I just think with this selection, like I said earlier, he just kind of stuck out on our board based on where we had him. Obviously, we want to add talent to the roster, add competition and guys that can produce in the passing game. He kind of checked off a significant number of boxes. That is why it worked out the way it did.”
On if Bryant had games against major college programs in particular that stood out to the team:
“No, not necessarily. I think everyone will kind of lock in on Ohio State, but we try not to take competition into too much consideration. It definitely is a factor, but he played at a major D-I school. The kid was really, really productive. Like I said just across all his exposure, you really couldn’t poke too many holes in the things that he does really well.”
On Bryant’s character and leadership as a captain at Florida Atlantic:
“He is high character, blue collar and has a really strong work ethic. He is not going to say much, but you will feel his work on the field. He is just going to be a great addition from that piece, as well, just to add a lot of professionalism early on coming into the building. We are really excited about that piece of it as well.”
On if it was more difficult to evaluate players from smaller schools this year, given the absence of individual workouts and other opportunities during a normal offseason:
“It was, but I will say this is probably one of the more fun times for the pure scout. It is one of those moments where you kind of just have to rely on the tape and leverage that as much as you can. We really dug in as much as possible and inserted a lot of cross-check situations and parameters to get us more comfortable with some of those smaller school guys. Also, I think with what we are using now — Zoom, (Microsoft) Teams, WebX and all the technology – we really leveraged that to its maximum extent to get as much access and exposure to all these players. Regardless of where they are now, every 18-22 year old has an iPhone or some type of device so that was helpful.”
On the last time he looked at this much film of a player:
“I would say coming in as a scouting assistant, you probably do get a lot of the leg work of the smaller schools and really digging on that tape. I wouldn’t say we watched any more tape. To a degree, it could become a little bit of an issue if you second guess yourself too much. I think we did our due diligence. We stuck to our schedule as much as possible in terms of the phases that we went through. You had a few more weeks or time here and there to say ‘Oh, let me take just one extra look at this particular player,’ but I wouldn’t say I watched a ton more film.”
On Bryant’s transition from OL to TE:
“Just coming out of high school, sometimes there are unique transitions. He kind of came into college at 215 and he has worked his way up to about 235-240. I think he filled out maybe a little bit and maybe a late bloomer physically, but he transitioned pretty well to the position, if you ask me.”
On how selecting Bryant impacts other TEs on the Browns roster like TE David Njoku and if the team needs an abundance of TEs in this offensive system:
“I don’t think we can have enough good players, first and foremost, especially at that position with some of the packages and sets that we are going to use in Kevin’s offense. This isn’t any indication on Njoku’s future, (TE) Stephen (Carlson) or anyone else. I think you just continue to try to add good players in the right spot, add competition and see how it works out. We are still pretty optimistic about Njoku’s future and like the things that Carlson did, but we think any type of competition and anything that can help our roster get better, we are going to take a look into it.”
