The Cleveland Browns believe they got good value by selecting Jamoris Slaughter in the sixth round on Saturday, saying their medical staff said he was recovering well from his injury.
BEREA, Ohio -- The good news is the Browns drafted the kind of versatile free safety on Saturday that defensive coordinator Ray Horton can line up in many spots on the field.
The bad news is he's rehabbing an Achilles tear and it's unclear when he will be lining up or whether he can regain his previous form.
The Browns selected Notre Dame's Jamoris Slaughter in the sixth round of the NFL Draft with the No. 175 overall pick. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder admitted in a conference call he was surprised to be drafted due to the injury, but believes he will be ready for training camp.
"We feel like we got a player who has a chance to be a contributor much more than you normally would get in the sixth round," Browns CEO Joe Banner said. "Our medical staff was very optimistic about the medical part of it. We thought this would be a good value."
Slaughter tore his left Achilles tendon in the third game of last season against Michigan State. The fifth-year senior unsuccessfully lobbied the NCAA to grant him one more season of eligibility.
In the immediate days after the injury the graduate student, who's taking business courses, feared his career was in jeopardy. Seven months later, Slaughter wants to compete for a starting job.
"I'm about 90 percent now," he said. "I'm able to do sprinting and cutting and I've been doing back drills. Pretty much everything, position drills. So it's all coming back in line. The main thing for me now is getting my power and explosion back."
But the Browns head to camp with little NFL experience at the free-safety position. Tashaun Gipson, an undrafted free agent a season ago, and Eric Hagg have a combined seven NFL starts. It's believed the organization, which waived Usama Young earlier this month, liked the late-season progress they witnessed in Gipson.
"From what we've been able to see (we're) very positive on Tayshaun with his work ethic and how he's approached things out on the field," coach Rob Chudzinski said. "He has some good instincts as a player and solid skills. Again, a younger guy and we'll see once we get into pads and get into real football how he looks."
Slaughter made 13 starts over the past two seasons for the Irish. Brian Kelly used him at safety, cornerback and -- when opponents ran the option -- outside linebacker. Horton, who's installing a multi-front defense, loves to line up players at different spots.
"We saw a player who was extremely productive and very versatile, who had played on the slot and was able to cover people man to man and also blitzed and played back deep," Chudzinski said. "He was able to do a number of different things and we really like the player . . ."
Since he began playing youth football, the ability to deliver a jolt has been part of his game.
"I was known as being the skinny kid who could hit," Slaughter said. "I think I just have a laid back, cool, collective side to me. But on the field, it's kind of like I can be my alter ego and be another person and I just kind of feel like a warrior out on the field. I kind of play like that."
Some athletes never fully recover from Achilles tears, but Slaughter doesn't plan on being one of them. While he has a degree in a industrial design, the defensive back is in no rush to use it.
"I think by the time training camp starts, I will be in the competition [to start]," he said. "I just have a competitive mind and I always want to be first."