Browns got 'a steal' with Martin Emerson Jr., former NFL defensive backs who know him say

Martin Emerson Jr.'s shoulder popped out while he tackled an opponent in Mississippi State University's 2020 season opener, and his reaction stunned cornerbacks coach Darcel McBath.

McBath knows how painful a dislocated shoulder can be. He suffered one during his playing days at Texas Tech but didn't brush it off quite like Emerson.

“Give me some ice and a Gatorade,” McBath said with a laugh.

Emerson, however, took a different approach on the sideline. He begged an athletic trainer and McBath to let him return to the action against Louisiana State. Playing with essentially a single arm, Emerson immediately entered the fray on another tackle, prompting McBath to pull him from the game in the third quarter.

“That just showed his toughness,” McBath said Tuesday during a phone interview with the Beacon Journal. “The next week, you would think he would be out for a few days. No, he didn't miss a rep in practice. To me, that kind of sums him up. It's who he is. He loves ball. He loves practice. He loves to get better.”

Emerson's passion for football is among the reasons the two position coaches who guided him at Mississippi State, McBath and Terrell Buckley, believe the Browns will be pleased with their decision to select him April 29 in the third round of the NFL Draft. After General Manager Andrew Berry traded down 24 spots and out of the second round, he chose Emerson 68th overall, making him Cleveland's first pick this year.

“The Browns are getting, I think, a first-round talent in the third round, so I think they're getting a steal,” Buckley, one of the XFL's new head coaches, said Tuesday by phone.

“A lot [scouts] told me they were surprised that he would even get out of the second round," McBath said, "so I think [the Browns] got a steal and a great one.”

To say Emerson has mentors capable of informing him what to expect in the NFL would be an understatement.

The Denver Broncos drafted McBath in the second round (No. 48 overall) in 2009. He played safety for the Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers through the 2012 season.

The Green Bay Packers drafted Buckley in the first round (No. 5 overall) in 1992. He played cornerback for 14 seasons and won Super Bowl XXXVI with the New England Patriots on Feb. 3, 2002.

“He used to come and just hang out in my office,” Buckley said of Emerson. “He knew why he was there, and he wanted to learn as much as he could from me. He would just come back and forth all day.”

McBath and Buckley believe Emerson, whose nickname is “MJ,” will take advantage of joining a Browns cornerback group led by two-time Pro Bowl selection Denzel Ward and 2021 first-round pick Greg Newsome II.

“It's a great fit and a great opportunity for him,” McBath said. “When he gets to go in there and learn from guys who are doing what he wants to do at the highest level, you can't ask for much more than that. He's a guy who's going to soak up everything that he can and emulate and try to duplicate the success that other people are having.”

Emerson's former coaches admire the way he comports himself. He's confident and competitive. He received honor-roll recognition in the SEC in 2019 and 2020. He also carried a grade-point average of more than 3.5, McBath said.

McBath coached Emerson the past two seasons after Buckley and former Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead had recruited him out of Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Florida, and spent 2019 with him. Emerson picked Mississippi State over his other top considerations, Miami and Oregon.

“I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I'm Steelers fan,” Moorhead, now the head coach at the University of Akron, said Monday by phone. “So as my youngest son and I were watching the draft, we were excited for Martin to see his name called [when the Browns picked him]. But then at the same time, we were like, 'Damn it.'”

Moorhead explained he'll root for Emerson in 15 regular-season games a year. The two exceptions will be when the Browns face the AFC North rival Steelers.

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Moorhead recently texted Emerson about having dinner together now that they're both going to be living in Northeast Ohio. The two talked via FaceTime as Emerson prepared for the NFL Scouting Combine in March, when Moorhead heard his former pupil would likely become a second- or third-round pick.

Moorhead raved about Emerson and his family, adding the Browns are “getting a great human being.”

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Buckley thinks highly of Martin Emerson Sr., and it's one of the main reasons the longtime NFL starter coveted the younger Emerson throughout his recruitment.

“His dad is a no-nonsense guy that made sure that whatever direction Martin's going to go, he's going to give it 100%. Not 98% — 100% every single day, and I love that,” Buckley said. “When you have parents like that and they don't play around, they know it's a job you have to do.”

The cornerbacks coach at Akron from 2012-13, Buckley describes himself as old school. He wants players to arrive 15 minutes early for meetings. He demands they pay attention and take notes.

Buckley explained Emerson didn't hold up his end of the bargain for a stretch as a freshman because he had been talking too much to a teammate during meetings.

“I called dad one time, and [Emerson] didn't speak to me for a week,” Buckley said. “He was mad at me.

“Obviously, dad don't play [around]. After that, it was back on. [Emerson] ended up starting toward the end of the year. Work ethic, understanding, all that, is second to none.”

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Emerson started five of 13 games in 2019, compiling 32 tackles, including 1½ for loss, two passes defensed, a forced fumble and an interception.

He became a full-time starter as a sophomore in 2020 and tallied 72 tackles with 1½ for loss to go along with a team-high 11 passes defensed in 11 games.

Last season as a junior, Emerson started all 12 games before declaring for the draft and opting out of the Liberty Bowl. He finished with 50 tackles, including three for loss, and three passes defensed.

Emerson has prototypical size for his position. He measured 6 feet, 1⅝ inches and weighed 201 pounds at the combine, where he posted an official time of 4.53 seconds in the 40-yard dash. His resume is boosted because he faced elite collegiate competition in the SEC.

“I think he's pro ready right now,” McBath said, “and I'm excited to see him get the opportunity because I think he's going to excel.”

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The most glaring criticism of Emerson is he registered just one interception in 36 collegiate games. He faced 130 targets, according to ProFootballFocus.com.

“I know I can get the ball,” he said last week on Zoom. “I just want to prove it to myself and make that happen.”

Emerson was targeted on 50 of his 375 coverage snaps last season (13.3%) and 59 of 388 (15.2%) in 2020. He said there were still plenty of opportunities to generate takeaways, though.

“He got less targets because he was the strongest piece of our defense,” McBath said.

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Emerson, 21, played wide receiver growing up and switched to defensive back during his sophomore season in high school. McBath said Emerson's hands are not an issue.

“He's never dropped a pick that I've seen,” McBath said. “That's why we harped on it so much because it's like, 'Man, you've got good ball skills. We've got to take advantage of this.'

“I think he was in some positions to make plays on the ball, and he did [last season]. He had one [interception] called back for too many men on the field in press coverage. He jumped a couple routes, and the ball airmailed or things like that.”

McBath considers Emerson's ability to quickly diagnose plays his greatest strength.

“What I told of [Browns scouts] is he is as smart as any kid I've ever been around,” McBath said. “He learns in every way. Any way you can teach it, he remembers. He can recall. He's a football junkie, and he has the best work ethic of anybody on our defense. He set the tone for our defense on how to work. He's a leader. He's a guy who grows every day. Like I told them, he's only scratching the surface on how he's going to be.”

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On the other hand, there are facets of Emerson's game he needs to polish.

“I always tell him the thing he has to work on is controlled aggression,” McBath said. “He's an aggressive guy, and 95% of the time, it works out in his favor.

“Martin is a big guy, and he can go up and press anybody right now in their face, get in their face and lock them down. He can do it. But I always tell him you've got to pick and choose those moments. He would like to do it every play, but I told him you can't do it 75 snaps a game, although he would try.”

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Berry has stressed he views the draft through a long-term lens. In other words, not every pick will play a significant role as a rookie.

Barring injury, Emerson will begin his career as a backup because Ward and Newsome are entrenched as the starting cornerbacks. The Browns' impressive strength at the position, plus needs at wide receiver and defensive end, kept draft analysts from predicting Berry would take a corner with his first selection.

The Browns traded nickelback Troy Hill to the Los Angeles Rams for a 2023 fifth-round pick the day after they drafted Emerson, but they consider Emerson primarily an outside corner. Emerson practiced in the slot on occasion at Mississippi State, but he played on the outside for the Bulldogs.

“We wanted him on the outside because most of the time we wanted him to either take away one side of the field or take away a receiver,” McBath said. “He could play in the slot because he's very smart, and he'll pick it up really quickly. For us, he was kind of our [emergency slot] guy, like if anything happens, we know we can just put it him in there 'cause he knows the defense, and he'll figure it out.

“Athletically, he can do it all. He's a bigger guy, and you're used to smaller guys being in [the slot], but he can get it done. He has those movements — the change in direction and the quick feet — and the hands and the ball skills to get in done in there.”

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It should come as no surprise if Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods were to cross-train Emerson in the slot this summer during training camp. Yet a more likely scenario would be Emerson competing with Greedy Williams and A.J. Green for playing time as the No. 3 corner who would line up on the outside as Newsome moves to nickelback. The Browns could also use one of their safeties in the slot or sign a free agent to fill Hill's shoes.

Either way, Woods places a premium on versatility, and Emerson will have a chance to prove he posses it.

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns got NFL Draft 'steal' by picking Martin Emerson Jr.