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Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini looks on a players stretch during football minicamp at the Browns training facility, Thursday, June 11, 2009, in Berea, Ohio.
Rucker to compete at TE for Browns
By STEVE DOERSCHUK
The Canton Repository
BEREA — “K2” is gone, which maybe hurts the Browns but certainly opens the gates for Martin Rucker.
“There’s a big opportunity,” Rucker said recently before the team moved into training camp mode. “It’s a great situation. I’ll just cherish it. I’ll give ’em anything I can.”
The Browns open training camp on Saturday at their Berea headquarters.
Rucker, the second of the Browns’ five draft picks in 2008, would welcome a chance to replace Kellen Winslow Jr. as the No. 1 tight end.
“I’m just looking to improve everything,” he said. “Recognizing defenses. Route running. Blocking. Everything. This is my craft.
“Catch the ball. Block. Whatever they ask me to do is what I’m going to do for this team.”
Rucker hits camp as the No. 3 tight end behind veterans Steve Heiden, a ninth-year Brown, and Robert Royal, who was signed away from the Bills in the offseason.
Heiden is in his 12th year as a pro. His NFL years are numbered. Royal isn’t as old, but at 31 he doesn’t figure as a longterm starter either.
Heiden and Royal are experienced blockers, giving them a serious edge on Rucker, but Rucker shapes up as a more talented receiver.
Granted, it was college ball, but it’s worth noting that Rucker caught 184 passes in his last three years at Missouri, including 84 in 2007. In Royal’s last three seasons with the Bills, he totaled 81 catches. Heiden’s number in his last three years with the Browns is 71.
Rucker came away from the Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and minicamps with an open mind.
“They’re just finding out what everybody can do,” he said.
Most of what was discovered about Rucker in 2008 unfolded right under new Browns coach Eric Mangini’s eyes.
After one preseason game, Rucker was put on the shelf with a knee injury that required minor surgery. He didn’t see the light of a game until Nov. 30. He was an afterthought while appearing in five games, producing two innocuous catches, one against the Colts, one in the season finale at Pittsburgh.
That one preseason game, though, was against Mangini’s Jets. He caught five passes for 70 yards.
It was the only fun he had all year.
What was that like for a guy who spent 2007 as a Missouri captain and setting a school record for catches in a single season?
“It’s tough,” Rucker said. “You’re a competitor. It’s tough for anybody to sit.”
It’s tough to tell whether Mangini is as high on Rucker as former general manager Phil Savage was.
Rucker might need to be more intense, a little meaner. One time during spring practice, he was one of the guys who didn’t put much energy into running a penalty lap after making a mistake.
Mangini seems the sort to take note of such details. He loves hungry players. But he also knows that Rucker has seen what it takes to succeed in the NFL. His brother, Mike Rucker, was a top defensive lineman with the Carolina Panthers.
During the 2008 draft, when the Browns didn’t have a pick until Round 4, Savage gave up a third-round pick in 2009 to acquire an extra Round 4 pick and reel in Rucker.
Mangini seems to have an open mind as he heads into training camp. The first full-squad workout will unfold on Saturday.
Rucker headed for camp seeming confident enough.
“I’m getting a lot more comfortable,” he said.