MYLES APART
A&M pass rusher makes Browns’ top choice easy
So, what does a defensive lineman have to bring to the field to be the No. 1 pick in the entire NFL Draft?
“You have to be a game-changer,’’ Myles Garrett said. “You have to be able to turn the tide of a game at any given time. Somebody who, when it’s third-and-15 and maybe it’s the fourth quarter and we need a stop to get the ball back, they put you in and say you’re the guy. That’s how good you have to be.”
Does Garrett know anyone who fits that profile?
“I’ve been in those situations before, and I’ve made those plays,’’ he said at the scouting combine in March. “I feel that in crunch time I’ll make a play, I’ll cause a sack-fumble and I’ll be a game-changer and a playmaker.”
Clearly, Garrett — a prototype defensive end from Texas A&M — believes he will hear his name called when commissioner Roger Goodell announces the first pick in the draft April 27 in Philadelphia. Garrett will not get a hug from Goodell, though, because he will watch the draft from him home in Arlington, Texas.
“I feel like I’m the best player in the draft,’’ Garrett said. “It shows I’m top dog, at least from the beginning. Once I’m in the NFL, I can’t just, you know, hang my hat on that. I have to keep on rising.”
That Garrett can be so sure of himself and yet not come across arrogant is one of the reasons why he is considered such a can’t-miss prospect, why the perennially quarterback-needy Browns almost have no choice but to select him with the first pick. The Browns need a surething, and Garrett is as close as they come.
ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper said taking someone at the top of the draft with Garrett’s talent and production is “like stealing.’’ The Browns seem ready to pull the heist.
“The Browns are in the beginning stages of a rebuild, and Garrett would be a foundation piece,’’ Kiper said.
In his first year at Texas A&M, Garrett’s 11.5 sacks broke Jadeveon Clowney’s SEC freshman record. He had 12.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore. Garrett made just nine starts this past season as a junior, battling an ankle injury that forced him to play hurt for the second half of the season. Still, he managed to get 8.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss, all while constantly being double- and triple-teamed.
Garrett has been likened to Von Miller of the Broncos, probably because both starred in College Station, and Garrett’s 32.5 career sacks for the Aggies is a half-sack behind Miller. Garrett is a much bigger athlete than Miller, though, and a more apt comparison, given the tall frame and long arms, is DeMarcus Ware.
There are no blemishes on the résumé. Garrett is a student of the game, and as such, says his favorite athlete is Deacon Jones — a Hall of Fame pass-rusher whose damage came before the sack was an official statistic. Garrett dreams of sacking Tom Brady most, admitting he is “a Peyton Manning fan.’’
If there were any doubts about Garrett’s worth as the top pick, they were dashed as he dominated the combine, bench pressing 225 pounds 33 times and recording a 41-inch vertical jump, tops among all defensive linemen. NFL teams that conducted private interviews came away impressed with how he carries himself off the field, but he says there is a different Myles Garrett between the lines.
“There has to be,’’ he said. “I can’t be smiling while I’m sacking people.’’
Next stop? Cleveland, perhaps. The Browns cannot mess this one up.
“I feel like I’m going to bring some work ethic into practice and into the weight room that will change things around there,’’ he said, “and maybe be a voice of leadership that can help swing things.”