Cleveland Browns Comprehensive NFL Draft Review: Greg Newsome II, CB Northwestern
With the 26th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Greg Newsome II, corner out of Northwestern. There was a belief the Browns would have to move up to get Newsome, but general manager Andrew Berry held his water and was fortunate to find him sitting there available at their pick.
Newsome was named to second team All-America by both Phil Steele and Football Writer Association of America as well first team All-Big Ten.
Athletic Profile
Age: 20 (Born May 18th, 2000)
Height: 6'
Weight: 192 lbs
Arm Length: 31 1/8"
40-yard dash: 4.39
Broad Jump: 123"
Vertical Jump: 40"
3-cone: 6.90
Shuttle: 4.26
Bench Press: 18 reps
Newsome offers excellent speed and explosion at his size. His agility and balance are not ideal, but they don't prevent from being successful. His age is ideal and he's got pretty good size as well.
Jim Cobern @Jimetrics
Production
2019 (Best Season)
Solo Tackles: 28 (5.9%)
Pass Deflections: 11 (23.9%)
2020 (Last Season)
Solo Tackles: 8 (2.4%)
Pass Deflections: 9 (21.9%)
Newsome's production falls a hair short of a Pro Bowl average in 2019 because he missed three games due to injury. Had he played in those contests, he likely gets enough tackles to qualify, which helps to illustrate the biggest concern with Newsome coming out of college.
If Newsome can stay healthy, he can be a great player.
Jim Cobern @Jimetrics
Game Tape
Newsome has experience playing in numerous coverages comfortably including off man, zone and tight man. He has played almost exclusively on the outside, but has played on both sides and has no issue operating from inside or outside leverage.
In coverage, Newsome is pretty polished. He's patient in declaring his hips and does a nice job recognizing route combinations. When receivers want to go deep, Newsome does a great job of playing the hip, enabling him to turn to locate the ball without losing the receiver in the process.
When he's able to locate the ball, he can play it and knock it away or potentially intercept it. In situations where he can't find the ball, he's still able to play the receiver's hands while taking away his body, exactly how it's coached.
Playing over the top and coming up, he's looking to keep position behind the opponent to prevent further yardage after the catch while poking his arm through to knock the ball away.
Newsome shows a great deal of discipline in coverage and doesn't gamble. Even the one interception he has in his career was on a late throw where he's in great position. Newsome does what he's coached to do.
In the uncommon situation where Newsome feels off balance or beaten, he has a tendency to grab the opposing receiver, which can result in pass interference calls. As much as teams hate flags, it's absolutely possible that he was coached to do this, particularly in college where the penalty is no more than 15 yards rather than risk giving up a bigger play.
The other issue that Newsome will occasionally run into in coverage is being overpowered. Some bigger receivers were able to create separation by using their strength against Newsome, causing him to lose balance.
As a tackler, Newsome has the ability to do it correctly and make form tackles. He will take advantage of his length to wrap up the opponent and run his legs through contact to drive them back.
There are times where he's in position to make the right tackle and then opts to throw a shoulder or otherwise make a less secure play. Newsome gets them on the ground, but at times, he's putting himself at risk in addition to increasing the odds he will miss the play.
Fit, Usage and Projection
The Browns brought in Newsome to play the boundary opposite Denzel Ward and it's simply a matter of time before they believe he's ready to start. That could be in training camp or part way through the season. That much is obvious.
What's going to be interesting is what they want to do with Newsome in terms of coverage. His usage and experience playing both off man and tight man coverage as well as Cover-3 seems like it would be exactly what the Browns want to be able to do, having upgraded the unit with more speed and ability.
In the first year under Joe Woods, the team wanted to operate out of Cover-3 primarily, but injuries forced them to play a ton of quarters. The Browns still may operate from a base of being a Cover-3 team, but the ability to play both off man and tight man allows the Browns to switch up their looks and keep opponents guessing.
The style of tight man coverage Newsome played in Evanston is exactly the way Ward plays tight man. Not pressing, simply running with the receiver in coverage. This could be particularly valuable in third down situations.
The other element that could open up is playing matchups. The Browns could have one or both corners shadow an opposing receiver in a particular matchup as opposed to simply playing sides, which had been the case the last two seasons.
Based on the data, Newsome projects to be a long term starter in the NFL, though that is largely based on production, which was impacted by Newsome missing games. So while Newsome may be more likely to be a long term starter, which can be an excellent player, it's possible that if he can stay healthy, he might be able to make a Pro Bowl or few.
The Rest of the Browns 2021 Draft Class
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB Notre Dame
Tony Fields II, LB West Virginia
