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Ohio State’s Coleman clicks with Browns

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By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 10:19 PM Friday, March 5, 2010

He had been briefed by former Ohio State teammates about what to expect, but the NFL Scouting Combine still must be experienced to be believed.

“More than anything, it’s just draining,” safety Kurt Coleman (Northmont) said this week after emerging from the four-day process in Indianapolis with a better idea of how he is perceived by teams.

“You really have to stay alert and on top of your game. There were meetings with coaches at 10 p.m., and you still had to be sharp.”

Coleman thinks he clicked with several teams, including the Cleveland Browns, who need help in the secondary. Others showing more than casual interest have been the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, he said.

“I talked to the Browns’ secondary coach and we were vibing right away,” Coleman said. “My agent said they liked me a lot. I think the coaches saw I was intelligent and a leader.”

The league leaves few stones unturned — and no body part unexamined, as Coleman discovered after submitting to three MRIs to check on the status of old injuries. That process took about three hours, he said.

An abdominal strain kept Coleman from running, but teams learned he could bench press 225 pounds 19 times (same as more-heralded Tennessee safety Eric Berry), that his hand measures  9 1/8 inches and his arms are  30 3/4 inches long.

Coleman is being projected to go anywhere from the third round to the fifth. A good 40 time at OSU’s pro day March 12 could make the difference. One scouting report: “He should be a contributor on special teams as a rookie, but may take some time to get on the field defensively.”

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