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Highlights of WR Mohamed Massaquoi, No. 50 Overall Pick for the Cleveland Browns

Mmassaquoi_medium

After selecting WR Brian Robiskie at No. 36 overall, I don't think anybody expected us to take a second receiver right after him. That's what the Browns did though, drafting Georgia receiver Mohamad Massaquoi (pronounced mass-a-qwah). For some reason, I think we're going to see a lot of misspellings in that name when it comes to casual comment posting.

He might have had an advantage in college with the quarterback who was throwing to him -- Matthew Stafford. In case you're wondering, he was the first overall pick of the entire draft.

What are we getting in Massaquoi? While Robiskie was almost as close as you could get to a sure thing, Massaquoi might be on the other side of the spectrum. Take a look at what SB Nation SEC website Team Speed Kills had to say about him:

Perhaps one of the most interesting seniors to leave the SEC this year is Mohamed Massaquoi, who made a career of flashing his brilliance in between bouts of near-irrelevance.

Massaquoi played from the beginning at Georgia, earning an All-American Honorable Mention nod from The Sporting News and an Offensive Newcomer of the Year award in a year where he ranked second in the number of catches for the Dawgs, who won an SEC title. Massaquoi had 505 receiving yards that year, including a 108-yard, 1-TD performance in a 31-30 loss to Auburn.

Then, for a long while, he stopped looking like the next big thing. Despite leading the team in receptions in 2006, he had more than 50 yards receiving in just two games (back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt). He would finish with 366 yards. And despite four 50-plus performances in 2007, Massaquoi would finish with just 491 yards that year.

Link

Inconsistency stems along the lines of Braylon Edwards. At his best though, the selection could result in a higher payoff considering where he was drafted. For the record, Massaquoi seemed to end his career at Georgia on a high note.

CONFERENCE CALL HIGHLIGHTS

(On the difference of playing football in northern climates as opposed to the South) - “I’ll chat with Brian a little bit and ask him how he prepared up there at Ohio State. I’m sure he’ll fill me in a little.”

(On if he can have an immediate impact on wins and losses with the Browns) -
“We just know that we’re going to go in there, we’re going to work hard, run it buy into what everyone is telling us to. Great coaching staff up there, they know what they’re talking about and we’re just going to go out there and prepare every game and put together some wins.”

(On Brady Quinn) - “I had a chance to watch him when he was at Notre Dame. I was a huge fan of his and I know he’s a smart guy, he’s a guy that’s anxious to go out there and perform at a high level.”

Read the full conference call transcript for Mohamed Massaquoi

SCOUTING REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

Mohamed Massaquoi - Wide Receiver, Georgia
6'2", 210 lbs, Age: 22

Strengths: He has good enough speed to remain a threat on straight deep routes, and his long arms give him the ability to win toss-ups with defenders. His elusiveness is solid for a receiver his size, and he seemed to have good vision to find lanes to run through after the catch.

Weaknesses: Like we resent hearing after seeing Edwards last season, Massaquoi drops too many passes. In other words, he shouldn't be looking up to Edwards on how to hang onto the ball. He's not quick off the first step and needs several strides before his full speed kicks in.

2005: 38 catches 505 yards and 2 touchdowns.

2006: 30 catches for 366 yards and 2 touchdowns.

2007: 32 catches for 491 yards and 4 touchdowns.

2008: 58 catches for 920 yards and 8 touchdowns.

DawgSports.com, our Georgia SB Nation affiliate, did a tribute piece to their beloved receiver.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Massaquoi's Scouting Pro Day:

TD Catch and Two-Pointer:

Sports Videos, News, Blogs
Massaquoi's Finest Game:

Sports Videos, News, Blogs

 

CONCLUSION

I am intrigued by Mangini's decision to take receivers were two of his first three picks as opposed to just one. I definitely agree with the fact that we needed not only a second receiver, but a third receiver. Days after the draft though, we were rumored to be looking at WR Drew Bennett. There are also a few other veteran receivers still out there.

Did we really need to take Massaquoi as opposed to a defensive player? We took a linebacker two picks later -- were there two linebackers at that point we could've needed? Maybe, but only one of them probably would've had a shot at starting this year. Third receivers are utilized more in their first year, so if that's what Mangini wanted to go with, I'll stand by his decision. Not as much as I did with Alex Mack and Robiskie, but I'll stand by it nonetheless.

GRADE OF THE PICK ITSELF: C+

GRADE OF THE PICK AT NO. 50: C

Poll
Did you approve of the selection of WR Mohamed Massaquoi at No. 50 overall?
Yes
287 votes
No
99 votes

386 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 15 comments |

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Comments

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This is the pick I am most ambivalent about from the entire draft. I love Massaquoi. I think he is a more complete receiver than a lot of scouts gave him credit for, I like his athleticism, and he seems like he has a lot of “upside”. If ManKok really did their research and know that this guy loves football, works hard, and is smart, I love the kid.

McShay thought MoMass was our best pick, if that means anything to anyone.

The only potential OLB I liked who was still on the board was Paul Kruger, who was picked up by Baltimore at 57. The Veikune pick made me feel a lot better about passing on Kruger.

Sen’Derrick Marks would have been a good fit at DE and could have helped rush the passer, especially if we were to do some one-gapping, but he isn’t very versatile and 300lb DL who rely on great but not elite quickness and have questionable work ethic come around pretty often in the 2nd round.

Sean Smith would have been a nice compliment to our other DBs because he is enormous. I can’t tell if he is a CB or S, though. And I’m not convinced he’ll be great at either position.

Ramses Barden and Jarron Gilbert were the only other two players I might have thought about there.

So yeah, 2 WR seemed like a lot at the time, but we can use both and I’m not convinced there were many other players at that spot.

by rufio on May 5, 2009 9:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

UGA fan's thoughts

I’m really intrigued to see what kind of NFL career Massaquoi has. He had a pretty interesting career in Athens. He came out of superpower Independence HS in Charlotte, NC, where he set every receiving record in the state. He played with Chris Leak (UF, Chicago Bears) and Joe Cox (current UGA QB) and I believe he never lost a HS game.

His very first game was in the 2005 opener vs. Boise State and he only had 2 catches, but they were both of the spectacular variety. He put the Georgia fans on notice and gave us high hopes for his collegiate career. As you pointed out Chris, his production dropped sharply from his FR to his SO season. A strongly overlooked reason for that was the departure of D.J. Shockley (Atlanta Falcons) and the QB-by-committee that Georgia suffered through in 2006. He did drop a lot of balls that season, but in fairness, so did the rest of the Dawg receivers. A lot of it was due to the fact that they went from catching Joe Tereshinski’s knuckleballs to trying to catch Matthew Stafford’s high heat. As Stafford learned how to throw it with more touch, the entire group caught the ball better.

As far as his strengths, MoMass (easy to spell!) is a tenacious blocker, a superb route-runner, and has above-average downfield speed. He will also win a lot of jumpball situations. He is also a solid community guy, and a team-first guy. Of course the other side of this is that he doesn’t come across as the most competitive or even selfish guy – and that has become a beloved trait in WR’s recently. He wasn’t a vocal leader as an upperclassmen – he was a lead-by-example type guy (witness taking A.J. Green under his wing).

by Hobnail_Boot on May 5, 2009 11:17 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Thanks for this. It’s very interesting to hear the perspective of someone who has watched him for a number of years. Let’s hope you turn out to be a prophet, and he’s a big professional success.

by drjeo on May 6, 2009 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I can see why rufio is ambivalent about this pick… but I absolutely love it… on one hand… he seems like a reach at pick 50… but it just looks like the Browns targeted and went after their guys… they seem to be building a team with a specific philosophy in mind… rather than just selecting the typical… “best player available”… I absolutely loved watching MoMass at UGA… hes strong… aggressive… and smart… He looks like a true football player…

by thelonius7 on May 6, 2009 2:39 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I like MoMass, but i would have rather traded up and offered our Don Carey pick(our least relevant pick of the draft) and grabbed Everette Brown. Jarron Gilbert would have also been a good pick here. He is as fast as Veikune and is very strong.

Eric Berry Bandwagon

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 6, 2009 4:53 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Gilbert can not move like Veikune and plays a different position.

by rufio on May 6, 2009 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I know i was just pointing out how fast he was.

Eric Berry Bandwagon

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 6, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That’s what I am saying: Gilbert is not as fast as Veikune. He might run a similar 40 time, but I bet Veikune’s 3 cone or short shuttle times would be better. I also bet that Veikune plays football a lot faster.

If you are going simply on combine results, Veikune is a lot stronger than Gilbert, besting him on the bench press by 7 reps. I would bet a lot of money on Gilbert being able to play stronger than Veikune.

by rufio on May 7, 2009 2:03 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Im just saying Gilbert is fast. I know David is quicker, but Gilbert is fast for such a big guy. thats all im saying

Eric Berry Bandwagon

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 7, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That I can agree with.

by rufio on May 8, 2009 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Hobnail's right . . .

about his blocking and about calling him “MoMass”. It’s just easier that way, because the “Mohamed” vs. “Muhammad” thing seems to get most people, not Massaquoi.

And his hands did improve significantly his senior season. He hardly dropped a thing. He’s also an absolute magician at getting open on busted plays. He had one TD catch against South Carolina this season in which I think he made four different moves against man coverage on what started as a 7 yard curl route.

And thanks for the link, BTW. I like the site.

MaconDawg
www.Dawgsports.com

by MaconDawg on May 7, 2009 12:38 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

think we should have took a receiver with a little more speed

by Rocland on May 14, 2009 9:00 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

 Chris, is there gonna be one of these posts about Veikune

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 16, 2009 3:49 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Dwyer beasted that GT vs. UG game

by BradyQuinnisBeast on May 17, 2009 2:01 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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