Haloti Ngata

Oregon nose tackle Haloti Ngata is getting a lot of buzz as a possible Browns' first round pick. Here's what the Canton Repository's Steve Doerschuk said in his team report on the Browns at The Sporting News.com:

"The Browns are taking a hard look at Oregon T Haloti Ngata. His listed size of 6-3 3/4, 336 pounds could change at the NFL Scouting Combine, but there's no doubt his body type fits Crennel's scheme. Ngata declared for the draft early, but he's not too young, having turned 22 on Jan. 21. As a junior at Orgeon, he learned not to rely only on his incredible strength. He found new ways to get leverage and use his feet to consistently tie up more than one blocker. His knack for blocking kicks speaks to his ability to get an inside push as a pass rusher, an element the Browns sorely lacked in 2005. Ngata would make sense for the Browns at the No. 12 position in Round 1, and early projections suggest he could be there."

I saw this guy play a couple of times this year (against Oregon St. and in the Holiday Bowl), and he can be a terror when he wants to be. If anything, he looks bigger than his listed size. Another thing that I love about this guy is that he was once kicked out of a national championship high school rugby game for unnecessary roughness. Ever see a rugby game? You've got to commit felony assault in order to get tossed out for unnecessary roughness. The Browns could sure use somebody like that to shore up the porous middle of that defensive line.

Here's a profile of Ngata. I don't know enough about him right now to have an opinion of him as a prospect, other than to say that it sounds like he's definitely worth keeping an eye on.