The Pittsburgh Steelers have another new wide receiver in the AFC North that they can plan on facing twice this upcoming season as the Cleveland Browns selected former Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon in the second round of the 2012 NFL supplemental draft earlier today.
Gordon officially measured in at 6031 and 224 pounds at his workout this past week in Houston, where there were reportedly representatives from 21 teams in attendance. He reportedly ran the 40 in 4.52 seconds and pulled his left quadriceps on his second run. As a result of the injury he did not participate in the three cone or shuttle drills. He did, however, register a 36″ vertical jump, as well as a 10\’1 broad jump. Despite the quadriceps injury, which was described as minor, he went on to run routes and catches passes for the scouts.
In 2010 Gordon had 42 catches for 714 yards to go along with 7 touchdowns for Baylor. The year prior he registered just one catch for 7 yards. Gordon was arrested in October of 2010 for marijuana possession and reportedly failed a drug test during his time at Baylor. After being indefinitely suspended by head coach Art Briles, Gordon decided to transfer to Utah, but was forced to sit out the entire 2011 season due to the NCAA\’s requirement that mandates players sit out one year if transferring to another FBS program. He decided to enter the supplemental draft this year because of financial reasons.
The Browns decision to draft Gordon in the second round means that they will now forfeit their second round pick in the 2013 NFL draft. It also shows that the organization has no faith in their current receiving unit by drafting a player with questionable character and only one year worth of production to his credit.
Heading into today the Browns depth chart at wide receiver consisted of Greg Little, Mohamed Massaquoi, Joshua Cribbs, Travis Benjamin, Carlton Mitchell and Jordan Norwood. Little led all Browns receivers in 2011 with 61 catches on 121 targets for 709 yards. He had just two receiving touchdowns and 4 drops.
