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Athleticism is Cameron’s Selling Point
USC’s Cameron needs his football IQ to catch up with his athletic ability.

By Don Delco
OBR Reporter
Posted May 28, 2011

“Experienced football player” is not an attribute to be associated with Jordan Cameron, a tight end from the University of Southern California. Instead, to describe him using the words “athletic” and “basketball player” work best. Based purely on potential, the Cleveland Browns drafted Cameron (6-foot-5, 254 pounds) with the 102nd pick in the fourth round of last month’s NFL draft.

In order to find out more on Cameron, The Orange and Brown Report contacted Michael Lev, who covers USC football for the Orange County Register. He was on the beat when Cameron transferred from Brigham Young and the expectations were high.

“We thought at first he was going to have significant impact as a red zone specialist,” Lev said. “He had such extraordinary size and leaping ability. It didn’t work out that way.”

At Newbury Park (Calif.) High School Cameron was an All-area wide receiver. During his senior season, Cameron caught 73 passes for 1,022 yards and 12 touchdowns. That winter, he averaged 21.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.0 steals. He opted to play basketball at BYU, but it didn’t last. After he was redshirted his first year, 2006-07, he transferred to USC.

According to Lev, Cameron turned heads in his first training camp in 2008. Yet as quickly as Cameron flashed his potential, it was gone. He never was able to settle in at the wide receiver position. Before the 2010 season, new coach Lane Kiffin moved Cameron to tight end. It proved to be a better fit.

“Seeing him in practice, you saw how much he improved at tight end,” Lev said. “You like to see that. From the time they decided to make him a full-time tight end in the spring of 2010 until he left USC, he got a lot better especially as a blocker.”

“He couldn’t have played in a game when he first started out as a blocker, but he became functional,” Lev said. “He’ll never be a great inline blocker, but he can flex out. I’ve seen him compare to Jimmy Graham, who played for New Orleans last year as a rookie from the University of Miami.”

Cameron finished last season at USC with 16 catches for 126 yards with one touchdown.

“There were times in games he made really nice plays,” Lev said. “He caught the ball in traffic and he showed good hands. The questions are is he going to be tough enough and instinctive enough as a guy who was a basketball player and then started as a wide receiver? He does not have a lot of experience at this point.”

As Lev referenced in Graham, basketball players making the transition to pass receiving football players are not uncommon. Graham (6-6, 260) had 31 catches for 356 yards and five touchdowns for the Saints last season. In 2009, Graham caught 17 balls for 213 yards with Miami before New Orleans drafted him 95th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. Graham attended Miami to play basketball.

Other notable basketball-players-turned-NFL-players include Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates.

“I understand the natural comparison with Gates,” Lev said. “When you watch Gates play, he’s so smooth and natural. I don’t think Jordan is as natural as a player, but that doesn’t mean he can’t become a very good one.

“A lot is going to depend on how he’s used. In the West Coast style of offense you can move him around, flex him out, isolate him on a linebacker or safety and he could be very effective that way.”

Cameron’s lack of on-field production was overshadowed by his performance at the NFL Combine.

In Indianapolis, Cameron had the second-fastest time in the 40-yard dash among all tight ends (4.59 seconds), the second-highest vertical leap (37.5 inches) and led all tight ends in the three-cone drill, the 20-yard shuttle and the 60-yard shuttle. He also ranked third in the broad jump and fifth in the bench press, making him the only tight end prospect to finish in the top five of every drill.

"We like this kid," Browns GM Tom Heckert said at a post-draft press conference.

"We think he’s talented and there’s been some receivers or tight ends in the past that have come out that have been basketball players or that didn’t have as much. This kid’s got a feel. This kid, he plays. I mean he’s been on the field. It’s not like he’s a one-year player. This guy has played football. I don’t think we’re looking at it as, ‘He’s going to help us four years from now.’ We hope he helps us this year.”

For now, Cameron will rely on his athleticism and hopes football IQ quickly improves.

“I think people are a good judge of talent and see that I have the athletic ability to make a difference at this next level with coaching,” Cameron said in a conference call with local media after he was drafted last month. “I have limited experience in the football aspect of things so they can help me with that and they can kind of see what I can be able to do in the short future.”

Now I see why we drafted him instead of an experienced RT, RB, or LB.

That's the spirit.

Still a question mark, but avery INteresting one. Impressive combine performance. Hope he is as coachable as he seems to be physically capable. What apackage if he "gets" the NFL. How was the interview stuff?

I hope he works out. It would be nice to catch a break and find that diamond in the rough.

Dave Logan was another basketball player turned tight end, and I always liked him. Nice guy and a super talented athlete. I'd be happy if he is in the same mold, and delighted if he's a notch or two better.

Quote:

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Looked at the 2007 NFL draft and out of that draft here are the guys that really contributed: Michael Bush, Tanard Jackson, Doug Free, Dashon Goldson, Clint Session, Le'Ron McClain
http://football.about.com/od/nfldrafthistory/a/2007draftresult_3.htm

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I think it was a bit more fruitful than that...

Brian Robison is a solid rotational player in Minnesota that just happens to play behind Jared Allen.
Paul Soliai is considered a very good starting NT in Miami.
I expect Marcus Thomas to make more of a contribution in Denver now that they're going back to a 4-3. (But then with a new coach he could also get cut.)
Bushrod is the starting LT for the Saints.


*edit* you're right about that 2008 4th round, though. It was pretty useless.

Sorry, I missed Soliai when going through the list.

I don't know how since I saw quite a few Saints games, but I don't recognize Bushrod. Ah well, thanks for the correction.

All I'm saying is 3 (3 rounds) * 32 teams is 96 players a yr. 1,696 dress on gameday every Sunday. Wouldn't be able to sustain a league if only 3 players a yr were added to your team.

And that logic is flawed because it is based on some weird assumption that you aren't going to keep your 4th rounders (and below) because they're "iffy" when you have nobody else to take the spot.

You don't run with an understaffed roster just because your guys suck.... you staff a full roster and some of your guys end up sucking (hence me using the Browns as an example).

I am saying diamond in the rough because he's a basketball guy, with limited football experience. A great athlete can achieve in many sports. That is why I made the Dave Logan reference. Not a Pro-Bowl tight end, but a great athlete that could jump and make a catch.

As far as the 4th round thing goes, say a team keeps it's top 3 for 5 years. That's only 15 guys, and you need 22 starters. The reason most guys don't stick around longer is because they suck. Sure some get injured and retire, but good teams keep good players for 7, 8, 9 years. The Ravens haven't had to worry about Lewis and the Steelers haven't had to worry about Polumalu, they have looked elsewhere in the draft for years.

I personally hope to see Moore in the slot at times this season.
He may not have the speed, but he certainly has the hands and size to cause mismatches, especially in the red zone and on 3rd and short situations.
JJ didn't have speed, but he could catch the ball for first downs and wasn't afraid to take the hit.
JMHH

http://browns.ohio.com/2011/06/browns-ro...e-for-guidance/

Browns rookie TE Jordan Cameron looking to Benjamin Watson, Evan Moore for guidance

by Nate Ulrich on June 14, 2011

Despite the NFL's lockout, Browns rookie tight end Jordan Cameron said he has grown as a player since being drafted in late April. He credits the players-only workouts organized by quarterback Colt McCoy.

"At least I'm getting the playbook and looking over these plays and getting familiar with Colt and how he throws and (receiving) input from these older tight ends like Evan Moore and Ben Watson," Cameron, a fourth-round pick (102nd overall) out of the University of Southern California, said this afternoon in a phone interview. "The little pointers they give, it obviously can help, and I think it's been helpful so far."

So what is Cameron's relationship with Watson and Moore like?

"They're good guys," he said. "They're great guys, actually. They're helpful with everything. I ask them questions all the time and probably annoy them. But I need to learn, so I've been asking them a lot. They give pointers and they're doing a great job with me and trying to put me in the right direction, how to treat my body and how to be a pro."

Actually, Watson and Moore aren't the only teammates who have bonded with Cameron. The offensive skill players who have attended the players-only workouts, otherwise known as "Camp Colt," have all been meshing well this offseason.

"Everyone gets along," Cameron said. "That's a good thing. No one is kind of a cancer on the team so far with this chemistry that we've been building over these past two camps. Camaraderie is big with us, and I think it's beneficial for us."