Johnny Manziel isn’t the only 2014 first-round draft pick of the Browns who needs to show he’s fully dedicated to football.
Justin Gilbert, the cornerback whom the Browns selected with the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft, was also criticized during the season for not working hard enough. Now Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is saying he wants to see Gilbert prove that he’s committed.
“Justin clearly needs to mature,” Haslam said, via Ohio.com. “I’m not telling you anything I hadn’t told him in the past and hopefully he’ll be able to do that.”
Haslam said he still thinks big things are coming from Gilbert, even if Gilbert didn’t do much as a rookie.
“But we’re fully supportive of Justin,” Haslam said. “He’s a very gifted athlete and you saw a flash of it [when he returned an interception for a touchdown] in the Indianapolis game. [You] could argue that was maybe the best play we had all year. So he’s clearly gifted, and we hope he can mature and understand what it means to be a professional. And it’s a long year and long days. It’s much different from college, where I think the work week’s 20 hours, plus you play a game on Saturday. You play 12 games versus 16. The adjustment for some of these rookies is tough.”
Haslam thinks it’s unfair to write off Gilbert and Manziel just yet.
“I think the jury is still out, despite the struggles they had at the end of the year, on our two first-round picks,” Haslam said. “We’ve not given up on them at all. We still think they can be contributors to the team, maybe outstanding contributors. I think after one year with 22-year-old individuals, it’s a little quick to write them off. Now if we’re sitting here two years from now and they haven’t contributed, that’s fair game and comment.”
Haslam is right that Manziel and Gilbert can’t be labeled busts after one year. But he’s also right that Gilbert, like Manziel, needs to mature. Or else they will be labeled as busts in a year or two.
