Ricardo Louis sees Auburn's 2013 hunger in his new NFL teammates – AL.com
Wide receiver Ricardo Louis sees something of the 2013 Auburn Tigers in the 2016 Cleveland Browns.
Louis was a sophomore when Auburn bounced back from its 3-9 showing in 2012 by winning the SEC title and reaching the BCS national championship game, where the Tigers lost a nail-biter to Florida State to cap the 2013 campaign.
Louis was on the receiving end of the Prayer at Jordan-Hare to beat Georgia that season. He closed his Auburn career as the Tigers’ leading receiver last season – 46 catches for 716 yards and three touchdowns – before joining the Browns in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on April 30.
“Everybody was hungry,” Louis said of Auburn’s 2013 team. “The year before, we went 3-9 and we had this bad taste in our mouth. We didn’t want that to happen again. (Auburn coach Gus) Malzahn came in and jumped right in, and he was hungry, too. We just turned it around. We didn’t want to lose. We weren’t into that anymore, and we took it all the way. Unfortunately, we lost in the championship game. But to turn around the program from 3-9 and not win an SEC game was very big for us.”
Louis participated in Cleveland’s rookie minicamp this weekend, and he sees a similar hunger in his new NFL teammates.
“The receivers that came in, we were talking and we are all hungry,” Louis said. “We all want to come in and make a huge impact. The word around the locker room is that everybody wants to win and everybody’s mindset is focused on getting better and turning this thing around. As a rookie, that is the mindset that we are coming in with, so we are going to fit right into the mood that (Cleveland coach) Hue Jackson has put in.”
Cleveland most recently posted a winning record in 2007, went to the playoffs in 2002 and won a postseason game in 1994.
Jackson has come over from his spot as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator to lead the Browns’ offseason shakeup.
Wide receiver Josh Gordon led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards in 2013 with the Browns. He missed all of last season because of an indefinite suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, and the NFL denied his request for reinstatement earlier this year.
With Gordon out, Travis Benjamin became Cleveland’s leading receiver in 2015 with 68 catches for 966 yards and five touchdowns. But Benjamin left the Browns in March for a free-agent deal with the San Diego Chargers.
That left Brian Hartline, who had 46 receptions for 523 yards and two touchdowns, as Cleveland’s top returning wide receiver.
The Browns sought to beef up their pass-catching corps in the 81st NFL Draft last month, picking four wide receivers. This year was the first time that Cleveland had picked four wide receivers in the same draft since 1966, when the Browns’ WR selections included Auburn’s Danny Fulford in the fifth round.
Louis was a standout at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, turning in the best broad jump among the wide receivers at 11 feet and posting a 40-yard dash time of 4.43 seconds and a vertical jump of 38 inches.
That helped boost Louis into the fourth round, second among the Browns’ wide receiver picks. Cleveland selected Baylor’s Corey Coleman with the 15th pick, then added UCLA’s Jordan Payton and Colorado State’s Rashard Higgins in the fifth round.
But Cleveland didn’t sign any undrafted wide receivers and didn’t invite any wide receivers for tryouts at rookie minicamp. So the four drafted wide receivers got plenty of work this weekend catching passes from Cody Kessler, Cleveland’s third-round pick from Southern Cal, and tryout QB Ricky Stanzi, who’s been with the Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans without playing in an NFL game.
“I think they are a group, but I think over time they will start to individually distinguish themselves,” Jackson said of the drafted wide receivers after the first day of minicamp on Friday. “It’s a very talented group. I watched them. I think the first-day jitters of some, the smoothness of some and just watching them compete was exciting for the first day. That being said, I think they all understand we’ve got some catching up to do to even have a chance to compete with the varsity guys because those guys can run all day right now, and these guys have to get to that point.”
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Cleveland’s wide receivers coach is Al Saunders, who was the head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 1986 through 1988 and is entering his 34th season on an NFL staff. Jackson said Saunders would get the young receivers up to speed.
“He is one of the best coaches that this league has ever seen,” Jackson said. “I think you all know what he means to me, personally and professionally. He is as good as there is. Not only is he a motivator, he knows how to take guys all the way from Step A all the way to Step Z. He’s the best I have ever been around. I am not worried about where these young guys are right now. Trust me when I tell you, when we get where we need to be, these guys will be exactly how we want them to be when it is time for them to be that way.”
The weather cooperated for the Browns on Saturday, getting the new players ready to play in the fall in Cleveland. The temperature fell throughout the day and was at 50 degrees at noon. It also was drizzling when the players hit the field for the second day of rookie minicamp.
“You like to have all the elements if you can, whether it’s rain and snow and whether it’s hot,” Jackson said. “You like to see guys perform in all those elements because we’re going to face them all. That’s another opportunity for us to prepare and get better.”
