Cleveland Browns 2012 NFL Draft Prospects: South Carolina WR Alshon Jeffery

The Cleveland Browns are presumably the favorites right now to land Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, and rightfully so. Griffin won the Heisman trophy and has risen his draft stock a whole heck of a lot over the last couple of months, to the point where he is considered the second best quarterback in the draft only to Andrew Luck.

But if and/or when Griffin gets to Cleveland, the Heisman trophy winner is going to need some more targets. Greg Little had a solid rookie season for the Browns, but adding another receiver in the later part of the first round is certainly not out of the question.

One player who could add another dimension to the Browns’ offense is South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who was a sophomore phenom for the Gamecocks in 2010, taking college football by storm.

He was projected by many to be an easy top ten draft pick before a rough junior season that included his team losing their starting quarterback Stephen Garcia and arguably the entire second dimension to the offensive attack when running back Marcus Lattimore went down with an injury that ended his 2011 season.

Jeffery has great size at 6’4" 233 pounds, but some have questioned whether his speed is anything better than average or even below average, and he could slip in the first round because of it.

His loss could wind up being Cleveland’s gain, as Jeffery is an elite playmaker who can really make things happen in the red zone. He has a big body and knows how to shield defenders and go up and get jump balls. In short, he is the perfect type of playmaker for a young quarterback to develop with.

Currently, SB Nation’s NFL Draft site Mocking the Draft has him rated as the 21st best prospect available in 2012, and has a few pages of notes and analysis on him.

If the Browns can get Robert Griffin III and add Alshon Jeffery to the mix, they could be on the way to something special offensively.