Browns select WR Gordon in second round of supplmental draft
The Browns drafted wide receiver Josh Gordon in the second round of the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft.
Gordon, a 6-3, 220-pound receiver who ran a 4.52 40-yard dash at his private workout for scouts Tuesday, was first reviewed by the Browns during the team's in-depth evaluation of two other Baylor products drafted in the first round in April -- quarterback Robert Griffin III and wide receiver Kendall Wright.
Both players were targeted by team president Mike Holmgren and his scouting staff but Griffin went second to Washington and the Browns traded up to select running back Trent Richardson third overall. With a second pick in the first round, the Browns opted for quarterback Brandon Weeden. Wright went off the board 20th overall, two picks ahead of Weeden.
Cleveland forfeits its second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft as compensation for utilizing the corresponding supplemental pick.
Gordon was suspended indefinitely prior to the 2011 season following a marijuana arrest. He transferred from Baylor to Utah and sat out the year. Rather than playing for the Utes this season, Gordon opted for the supplemental draft.
Gordon was one of seven prospects the NFL cleared for the supplemental draft.
The Browns last drafted a player in the supplemental draft in 1985, when they chose Bernie Kosar out of Miami (Fla.).
Holmgren and the Browns traded into the second round of the 2010 draft to select running back Montario Hardesty. The team's original second-rounder last year, Greg Little, was the team's leading receiver in 2011 and can relate to Gordon's learning curve.
Little did not play college football for a full year after being declared ineligible for the 2010 season at North Carolina, and the offseason workouts and minicamps he missed -- along with the rest of the league during the 2011 lockout -- kept him in near-constant catch-up mode mentally and physically, according to coach Pat Shurmur.
Little also compares to Gordon physically. He ran a 4.53 40-yard dash at the Combine and posted a vertical jump of 40.5 inches. Gordon (4.52), had a 36-inch vertical but didn't do other agility drills Tuesday because of a pulled quad.
