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The Jets signed an intriguing prospect on Tuesday by the name of Curtis Brown. He was considered one of the better cornerback prospects (after the top tier of Patrick Peterson, Prince Amukamara and Jimmy Smith) in the 2011 draft.
I’m not putting him in Canton, but we are talking about the third round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2011 draft.
His first two years in the Steel City, he did a nice job on special teams.
However, the issue is he didn’t make enough of a splash at cornerback.
Perhaps he would have emerged in his third year, but he blew out his knee in middle of the year. The injury was pretty severe and he ended up missing the entire 2014 season. He was not on IR with the Steelers last year. They released him in March.
But this guy has talent and drive.
Coming out of high school, he was a five-star recruit, a big-time prospect, when Texas used to land a lot of those during Mack Brown’s hey-day in Austin. Back then, seemingly, anybody who was anybody in the Texas high school ranks, generally went on to wear the Burnt Orange.
One thing you will notice when you see Brown, is that he is a little on the slender side, at 5-11, 183, but don’t let that fool you, he will is very willing in run support.
Brown runs around 4.5, and has good leaping ability.
This was a smart personnel move by the Jets.
As we know, cornerbacks are hard to find. The 2014 Jets can attest to that.
Jets pro personnel director Brenden Profitt, who so far has been retained by the new GM, did a nice job of monitoring Brown last year in his rehab. When he was clearly back to 100 percent, the Jets pulled the trigger on signing him.
Profitt does a solid job in pro personnel for the Jets, and I would not be surprised if Mike Maccagan retains him. A lot of guys are on a trial run until after the draft, when myriad changes could take place.
Profitt did a good job of finding Marcus Williams for the Jets last year when Houston tried to take him off their practice squad for a few days (to sign a punter). They intended on bringing him back. The Jets swooped in, and made sure they got him, before he could go back to Houston, offering a better cornerback opportunity. He ended up starting for them.
Brown is a nice guy to take a flyer on.
This guy is extremely athletic, and is battled-tested.
When he came out of Texas, he was considered a #2 cornerback prospect. If the Jets get that out of him, they will be ecstatic.
At the very least, he can be a good backup corner and core special team’s player. He is a superb special team’s player from his time at Texas and then with the Steelers.
I’ve said this before, and some people think I’m crazy, but the Jets cornerback situation could be decent next year if the cards fall right. Let’s say Dee Milliner and Dex McDougle stay healthy, and you throw in Darrin Walls who is solid, Williams who got some nice experience last year, and now Brown, that isn’t a terrible group. Obviously they are going to add a free agent or two along with a draft pick or two. But even before the get to adding more players, if Milliner and McDougle move past the injury bug, they are two pretty decent corners, and both could surprise people next year.
February 11, 2015
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