Before the draft, one Hall of Fame defensive lineman, Warren Sapp,
said that he didn't think Myles Garrett
, who was eventually chosen as the top pick by the Browns, was worth the selection. On the day of the draft, another Hall of Fame defensive lineman criticized Garrett to his face.
Speaking
with reporters after Saturday's rookie minicamp in Cleveland, Garrett
told the group what kind of advice he got while studying tape with
former Bills star Bruce Smith on the day of the draft.
And according to Garrett, Smith told him he's "slow off the ball."
"He
said I was slow off the ball, but that is coming from the very best,"
Garrett recalled. "He is just trying to teach me the tricks that I can
get off the ball faster and do it even better. If I learn that and keep
on practicing that, then I will perform at a high level."
For the second time in the last 48 hours, Garrett's been offered the
opportunity to put a target on his back with a potent quote. He
pointed out that he's not "a savior" earlier in the week
and given a chance to fire back at Smith, he said he simply laughed off the comment.
"I
kind of laughed a little bit," Garrett said. "Most people wouldn't say
that, but he is one of the greatest if not the greatest pass rusher so
if he thinks so, and I want to be at his level someday, then I have to
take his advice and run with it."
According to the Browns
transcript, Garrett and Smith were watching the Texas A&M-UCLA game.
Garrett would finish with 1.5 tackles for a loss and one sack in that
one. Garrett believed he played pretty well in that game, so he was
surprised to hear Smith say that he looked slow, but, again, he also
understands that Smith is an NFL legend.
"Yeah,
he played leagues above what I am right now," Garrett said. "If I want
to get there, I have to soak in all that information and all that
greatness."
Garrett wasn't
always considered the top choice for the Browns
, although any waffling Cleveland may have considered probably wasn't that strong. (Maybe
they were worried about what he would do to them
if they passed on him?)
And while he was
easily considered the top prospect overall in this draft class, he
wouldn't have necessarily been the top choice out of the last five years
or anything. He's a very good prospect and he is a freakish athlete,
but he isn't some generational pass rusher.
That's why you saw
some backlash over the the hype from a guy like Sapp and maybe why Smith
was willing to criticize Garrett while watching his game.
The Browns just need to hope the two guys with gold jackets don't end up being too accurate about their No. 1 pick.
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