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With the fourth pick of Pride of Detroit's 2012 NFL mock draft, the Cleveland Browns select Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon. Bighaircut is serving as the Browns' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.
I'm a firm believer that a franchise QB can take a mediocre team and bring them to the next step even without big-time weapons. I'm also a firm believer that Colt McCoy is not that quarterback, but the Browns' front office seems to be keen on giving him another year. I'm also a firm believer that Ryan Tannehill is definitely NOT worth a top-10 pick let alone top five. So what do the Browns do? Give McCoy all the weapons he needs to succeed, starting with a wide receiver that can make big-time plays.
Justin Blackmon is only the second player in the NCAA to win the Biletnikoff Award for best receiver in the nation in consecutive years; Michael Crabtree is the other. Blackmon isn't 6'5", he doesn't have 4.3 speed and he's not going to out-jump three different CBs at once (well, technically only Megatron has that last one). However, he runs crisp routes, he has great hands, has elite strength for a WR and continuously makes plays, as his college stats pertain to.
| CAREER STATS | RECEIVING | RUSHING | ||||||||
| SEASON | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
| 2011 | 121 | 1522 | 12.6 | 67 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 1.4 | 6 | 0 |
| 2010 | 111 | 1782 | 16.1 | 81 | 20 | 4 | 77 | 19.3 | 69 | 1 |
| 2009 | 20 | 260 | 13.0 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
The thing that impresses me about Blackmon is that he put up those numbers in a system that doesn't pass every down, such as Hawaii or Texas Tech.
I did some research on Dawgs By Nature, and they seem to be leaning toward Blackmon more and more every day. Teaming him up with Greg Little would strengthen their passing attack tenfold, because I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother knows Little isn't No. 1 WR material. Blackmon doesn't seem to have any character concerns, either, which is a relief. The only other option I considered was Trent Richardson, but Browns fans are always complaining about McCoy not having anyone to throw to. They finally get their wish in Blackmon.
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Check out the 2012 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.
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