Former University of Florida defensive back Joe Haden was the first draft pick of the Mike Holmgren-Tom Heckert Jr.-Eric Mangini Thursday night.
While some questioned his speed after a slow showing at The NFL Combine, Heckert and Mangini knew a defensive playmaker had fallen to them at the No. 7 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
“Joe was a guy that we spent a lot of time with and a lot of time evaluating him,” Heckert said. “He’s a bigger corner that can really play the run. We think he’s got good cover ability; he’s a smart kid and he’s tough and he’s a guy we liked all along.
“Compared to all of the guys that were available, we thought he was the best fit for us,” added Heckert. “It wasn’t a positional thing; we just thought he was the best fit for us at seven. We thought this was how it was probably going to turn out.
Haden played in 40 games at Florida and started in every one of those games. He registered 157 solo tackles, 3.5 quarterback sacks and broke up 34 passes.
“He did a great job the day that he visited,” Mangini said. “You could feel the intensity; you could feel the passion. It was easy to see what a smart guy he was; how much he cared about playing football and continuing to improve on the already good body of work that he has. It was real.”
Though he ran slower than expected with a 4.57 in the 40-yard dash at The Combine, Haden impressed scouts and front office personnel with the fact that he honored his word to run. Haden hurt his back and aggrevated it on the bench press at The Combine.
However, when his Pro Day at Florida rolled around, Haden had restored his speed.
“It probably hurt him a little bit, but he ran at his workout and he ran fast,” said Heckert. “We weren’t concerned about it. We took that as a positive.”
With Haden now in the mix in the secondary, the Browns have some depth in the defensive backfield. He will join 
“I think you can never have too many good corners,” said Mangini. “One of the things that you’ve seen throughout the division and a lot of teams we play, there’s a lot of good receivers, so we’re probably going be in multiple defensive back sets.
“I have used corners in the past to play safety that have them come to cover slot receivers so you don’t have to substitute in,” he added. “The one thing that Joe gives us right away is depth at the position. He’s intensely competitive. He’s what we call a ‘Green Sticker’ guy, which means he meets all the core characteristics. I think he’s going to come in here and compete to start.”
