2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft: Pick No. 38

Rd. # Player Pos. College 2 38 Jerry Hughes DE/OLB TCU General Manager: latif

With the 38th pick of the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Cleveland Browns select TCU defensive end/outside linebacker Jerry Hughes.

Here is latif's reasoning for the pick:

This was a tough pick. The Browns have a lot of needs, and very few players are left that would both fill a need and be worth the pick. Before I get into why I picked Jerry Hughes, let's take a look at the Browns' team needs:

1) Safety: The Browns' current starters at safety are Mike Adams and Abram Elam, both of whom were backups before this season. That showed on the field as Cleveland was 29^th against the pass. I was hoping to make a major upgrade to this unit with either Eric Berry in round one or Nate Allen or Taylor Mays in round two, but all three of those guys were taken, which would leave this as still a need.

Continued after the jump...

2) Cornerback: like I said previously, the Browns' pass defense was terrible, and really a cornerback or safety is almost needs 1a and 1b, but I rank safety as a slightly higher need as I think the Browns are in need of two starting-caliber safeties compared to only one cornerback. The problem is, right after I made my first-round selection, two things happened: Earl Thomas had a pretty solid pro day, which later convinced me he’s worth the 7^th pick in the draft, and the Browns traded for Sheldon Brown, who is more than adequate at cornerback.

3) Outside Linebacker: The key to the 3-4 defense is to get pressure from this position; however, the Browns don’t have any premium talent at this position. Scott Fujita, who I think is better suited inside, and Matt Roth are the starters. Both are solid but unspectacular and aren’t really pass rush threats.

4) Defensive End: Kenyon Coleman and Robaire Smith, the Browns' current starters, are okay, but that’s really all they are. In the long run, I think Cleveland would want to invest some picks into this position, but for now it's okay.

5) Quarterback: They have Jake Delhomme, who I think has two or three years left in him, but the Browns need a franchise quarterback sooner or later.

Now, to why I selected Jerry Hughes. Like I said before, it was a tough decision. When I was doing my initial research, my dream scenario was to get Berry in round one and Mays in round two, and give Cleveland a pair elite safeties that complement each other’s skills. Other guys I was hoping to grab in the second round were Jared Odrick, Brian Price, or Nate Allen, but all three of them went ahead of me. That left me with choosing between Colt McCoy, who is a fan favorite over at DBN, and Jerry Hughes.

The fact is that the Browns need a franchise quarterback; the question is whether you believe Colt McCoy can be considered a franchise quarterback. I took a hard look at his stats, looked at some tape, and to be honest, I think the chances are very low that McCoy turns into anything special. A lot people compare him to Drew Brees, but I didn’t see anything that compared to Brees. Yes, both are short, accurate quarterbacks, but that’s where the similarities end. McCoy is much more of a safe passer than Brees. He’s also more athletic than Brees, but pocket presence and arm strength are not comparable by means (in my opinion). So in short: I don’t think McCoy will pan out.

That leaves me with Jerry Hughes, who is a two-time All-American and a guy that has registered double digit sacks the past two seasons. The biggest knocks on him were that he is too short and underweight to play defensive end in the NFL, or in other words he’s the perfect prospect to play OLB in a 3-4 scheme.

Check out the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.