It's time to wrap up the Browns draft, and when we do we should always keep in mind what Steve Young said on ESPN: The 'X' factor for a lot of guys is they love football.
Got it.
I do love the draft analysts, and it appears ESPN is grooming Todd McShay to ease out Mel Kiper. McShay's video analysis of the Browns included this statement: "This is a team clearly rebuilding." No kidding? And he added that second-round choice David Veikune "is going to be their best pass rusher, I think, from this draft." Well, since he's really the only pass rusher in the draft, I'd say that analysis is spot on.
Yes, it's easy to be cynical, especially about the draft, which features endless analysis of everything that could possibly be known about a player – and many things we don't want to know. God knows I've made similarly silly statements. It's what we do.
So as I think about the draft, I think that perhaps I was a tad unfair to Alex Mack, the team's first-round pick. It's certainly not Mack's fault that he plays center. From all accounts he's a good center, which is a good start. Mack probably will be a very good NFL player. He's smart, seems dedicated and has a lot of what you want.
The only drawback is that he was acquired for a guy who will ostensibly be the franchise quarterback in New York. Imagine Philadelphia trading Donovan McNabb for Dave Wohlabaugh and a bunch of other guys. That does not provide a lot of sizzle.
But … sometimes winning football is not about sizzle. It's about tough, smart, non-turd football players who care more about the team than themselves.
Mack appears to be one of those guys. So, too, does Brian Robiskie. So perhaps the Browns are changing a little bit about the culture in the locker room. Which is good.
The complicating factor is that even a new culture needs talent. Which is why I think it also was a good move to stick with the two quarterbacks on the roster. Let's see what happens. They've both been around long enough to be able to succeed. Adding Brett Ratliff from the Jets (what's that, a player from the Jets?) has some folks buzzing he might compete for the job. To which I say: Really?
I also think it was a good move not to trade Braylon Edwards. Because he has amazing talent and possibilities. I know, potential gets coaches fired. But sometimes players respond to different kinds of approaches. If the team can keep Edwards from staring at the pictures of himself he has hanging around his house, it will be a step forward.
Edwards was a head case last season, but if said head can be attached properly, he's also a head case with ability. The Browns owe it to themselves to try to tap into that talent – if only because eliminating that talent might have left the offense a tad void of talent.
This draft produced questions, like any draft. It gave us a center, which isn't that thrilling. But I'm starting to think the expectations for 2009 should be tempered and if the Browns finish .500 then it's a good season.
That won't get the team to the playoffs, but I suppose it's something.
Here's a rundown of some other draft summaries on the Browns:
Ross Tucker was a center in Cleveland once, so he knows what Mack is in for. Well, Tucker made a cameo one training camp in Cleveland, the year when the Browns used everyone at center but John Morrow. Tucker now writes for SI.com, and he opined: "Alex Mack was the best interior lineman in the draft, and his passion for the game will wear off on his fellow linemates."
Fox felt that "There's a good chance that Eric Mangini's former employer, the Jets, picked the Browns' pocket. Cleveland didn't get enough value for the fifth overall spot in the first round from the Jets, unless you really love Jets safety Abram Elam, DE Kenyon Coleman and third-string QB Brett Ratliff."
Coldhardfootballfacts.com wrote before the draft that Mangini needed to improve the team's lines, which were weak in 2008. After, it wrote: "Mangini showed a desire to address his needs in the trenches when he made California center Alex Mack his top pick - he also made Mack the first center taken in the first round of an NFL draft since Mangini, then head coach of the Jets, grabbed Nick Mangold with a No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft." So Mangini has a thing for centers?
Mike Lombardi wrote on the National Football Post: "Don't count out Brett Ratliff as a real threat to be the starting quarterback." If that happens, I may apply for a job at Waffle House yelling "g'morning!" to everyone who enters.
Finally, Jason Cole of Yahoo hit on a key fact: Teams usually mirror the personality of their coaches – "New Browns coach Eric Mangini has this penchant for getting guys who are in his image: quiet, hard-working and industrious. But there's a point at which you need to get great athletes and this draft just doesn't have it."
{ 27 comments }
Pat great article. I had a friend who thought this was one of the Browns worst drafts ever. I told him it wasn't their worst but it was odd. I say odd because like you said there was no sizzle or flashy picks. Mack makes sense at center. Is it possible Fraley could move to RG and play better than the others considered for that spot? Is it possible the Browns dangle Edwards or Anderson in front of the Raiders for say Michael Bush? That would be the larger type RB(Jamal Lewis type) this team needs to pound things up the gut in the AFC North. I do love the 2nd Rd picks, and Maiava in the fourth.
Nicely said…I agree! This draft improved this team…no leaps & bounds…BUT in the right direction!! RUN the ball RUN…PROTECT BRADY!!! Short yardage to Robiskie…BAM TD to Edwards. I like it.
The Browns need more "football" players and that was what this draft (and Jets trade) was all about. Drafting the supposed superstars (Couch, Warren, Courtney, etc.) has not worked. I for one am glad the new regime has a different philosophy…
First you say that with the addition of Mack and Robiske the Browns "are changing a little bit about the culture in the locker room. Which is good."
Then, two paragraphs later you say, "Edwards was a head case last season, but if said head can be attached properly, he's also a head case with ability. The Browns owe it to themselves to try to tap into that talent – if only because eliminating that talent might have left the offense a tad void of talent."
So, which is it? Not that I'm a big believer in consistency, but maybe you should at least wait till your next column to change your mind?
My biggest problem with this draft, aside from the rediculousness (is that a word?) of trading a first-round pick three freakin' times during the same draft, is they acquired SIXTH-ROUND picks for them.
When you're trading a "franchise" quarterback, which the Browns effectively did by effectively trading Sanchez, doesn't NFL history pretty much dictate that you, at the very least, also acquire a future first-round pick and/or a budding star in return? You do not acquire a collection of warm bodies simply because they happen to be a collection of warm bodies.
With the draft no longer 17 rounds, instead now a mere seven rounds, isn't a sixth-round pick as good as a guy who shows up at the Browns practice facility as a free-agent that would have been an eighth-round pick?
Sorry, I just don't get it.
Also, if Terry Pluto wrote stuff and used terrific expressions like "tough, smart, non-turd football players" as opposed to finding the Lord and permanently going Charmin soft in the mid-90s, I would still be reading his columns religiously. No pun intended. "I will pray for Paul Byrd. I still faithfully believe he is a non-turd."
i have to give pluto some credit for shining the spotlight on the fans fixation on the draft on this turd of a team.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2009/04/its_the_best_day_of_the_browns.html
while cleveland's resident non-turd quietly swept the pistons, cleveland sports fans were locked in on a losing franchise with a losing coach and who they were going to draft. truly pathetic. at one point on the peedee the articles with the most comments were all draft related except for one (which was probably about someone getting shot on the east side). i swear, clevelanders are so afraid that the non-turd might actually turn out to be a turd that they would rather just love a consistently stinky, putrid turd.
it just goes to show that most cleveland fans deserve a loser.
go cavs. go to hell browns.
What some people are overlooking about this draft is the fact that in the Browns' division, 25 of all games are against the Steelers and the Ravens. That means one-quarter of the time, the Browns' center is lining up against either Casey Hampton or Hlati Ngata. On any team, the center is the second-most-important offensive lineman. For the Browns, he might be the most important. Getting a bigger, stronger kid who's also smart and showed well in the Senior Bowl is very smart.
As thin as the team is at wire receiver, choosing the prospect considered most NFL-ready was also very smart; they need someone who can play right now, and this is probably the guy most likely to replace Joe Jurivicius as the get-the-first-down receiver. The two cornerbacks are also great values at the picks.
By the middle of next season, people are really going to like this draft.
"Henry" almost took the exact words from my mouth. The Browns are going to have to develop those two receivers they picked in the second round relatively quickly. Not only did Jurevicius retire, but Stallworth is headed up the river. David Patten is 35. Steptoe stubbed his toe and then there's Paul runs-like-old-mother Hubbard. Wouldn't you all say the Browns needed to add receiver depth?
I've been a Brown's fan since before the Cardiac Kids. Every time a new regime comes in and ensuing drafts take place, I am full of eternal optimism. Not anymore. I'm done judging with optimism. I am still a season ticket holder (Dawg Pounder) and I will always bleed brown and orange. Just show me some results on the field already. Give me some wins and playoff appearances. Paul Brown always believed in building a team from the inside out. He was a winner, right? Well, you can't get anymore inside out than picking a Center in the first round. Ngata and Coleman made Fraley look like chopped liver last year.
I have spoken!
Actually, Paul Brown was the very symbol of Cleveland mediocrity when it came to the only games that mattered. His career playoff record was only 9-8.
There's nothing wrong with picking a center, but the methodology of acquiring low-level draft picks and another team's discards just for the sake of having more warm bodies from which to ultimately choose … well, that's really not too smart. Not really idiotic, per se, but really not too smart.
This "building from the inside out" stuff is just a lot of double-speak apologist hooey. Unfortunately, it's a football roster, not a house. If folks want to watch something being built from the inside out, then Lerner doesn't need Mangini, he needs Mexicans.
Look McManamon, it has never made a difference to you since I've been reading your stuff who is in charge. It has never made a difference to you who the players are. Face it, you really just don't like the Browns. I just can't understand why the heck you continue to write stories there (can't you find another paper to write for?). What is so compulsive about you that you have to write skeptical stories about the Browns (guess what, they don't need any help). Maybe you should become the ombudsman for the Patriots, I'm sure you would get a good following on the east coast…. or for a real challenge, maybe you could become Al Davis's spokesperson. That would keep you on your toes…..
I don't think so… the rag you work for gives you an easy check, you can write all the garbage you want and probably still be at the bar by 2pm.
Hey, Alan!
Point well taken on Paul Brown's playoff record. Playoff records are nice. I like to look at the number of championships won (as there was no Super Bowl in those days). To me, number of championships is a "show me" stat. Paul Brown was a professional football pioneer. He revolutionized how offenses looked at the vertical pass. There can be no arguement made there. Say what you want about building from the inside out, but when Fraley is surrendering injuries to our QB's at such an alarming rate because he is overmatched by opposing NT's twice his size, it doesn't matter if you have Otto Graham back there. A guy with the back fat being toted by a guy like Fraley is likely to start a grease fire once in contact with a guy like Casey Hampton. You better recognize.
The draft is a gamble. It always has been and always will be. Otherwise, Pro Bowl players like Tom Brady, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Zach Thomas and our own Joshua Cribbs would have been first round picks. The writers at Sports Illustrated seem to think soem of our choices were sound. Alex Mack was described as a solid 10 year starter. Both wideouts seem to be seen as good pro prospects. Plus, even Peter King predicted that Abram Elam ( acquired in the first trade) would be a Pro Bowl safety in Cleveland. In a couple of years, if this draft class (and players acquired via trade) produces a Pro Bowl safety and solid players at center, wideout and elsewhere, we will view this as a great draft. It may not have had the sizzle, but sometimes steady is the way to go…just ask the Patriots, Steelers, etc., who seem to make steady, hardworking players the nucleus of their championship teams.
The reason why the Browns moved down the way they did is because they knew that Mack would still be there. Why pay him 17th spot money when they can pay him 21st spot money and they get 2 picks in the 6th that may work and may not. Obviously Mack was who they wanted all along.
On the Jets players coming in. Mangini is changing a mindset of a locker room. The more people that understand him and have the mindset he has the faster the transformation.
This draft was no different from any other draft, When the snow starts coming down late in the year we should know whether these guys are the real deal or just imposters. Give me 45 players who are very bright, really love the game and have a great attitude and I'll be very happy indeed.
Mangini drafted football players who are not necessarily "Combine Warriors". You win with football players. Watch out for Veikune and James Davis, as well as Mack and the receivers. Also, Don Carey has good tools at corner. Stop whining until we see these guys on the field, Browns fans.
Paul Brown as owner/gm/coach of the Bengals took a center with his 1st draft pick in the Bengals 1st draft. You need to control the run, nose tackles and protect your qb if you want to win. Yes there is not much sizzle in this draft, but 16 ppg will not win a super bowl even if your defense was the 85 Bears.
Rob,
I agree, seems many are missing the point on salary cap and balancing the budget …. we had many holes to fill coming in ….The trade of the 5th pick
allowed us to fill many holes , draft Mack / Robo who will start for years to come ( low gamble ) …..bring in at least 2 starters from the Jets ( an upgrade of what we had prior IE did not have to spend fa money on a S )
Took some long shots at CB and Rb in the latter rounds ( I like Davis a lot )
But most of all it give us flexability with the CAP money…..this is the unfortunate truth if sports that we have to deal with but some including the national media don't realize ….
My only dislike of the draft is drafting two WRs back to Back …..I love Robo not because he is an OSU guy …but because he catches with his hands …runs his assigned routes ….the secong WR we took has that no hands quality that seems to be the trate of Browns WRs since their return.
I understand he is big and will block ….I just would have looked for some thing diffrent with that pick.
all in all I like the draft and the trades ….and that we still have Brady, DA , Edwards .
I think we at mimimum preventing the need to hit bottom before we re build.
We should have a record in the 8-8 nect year and that will prevent us from picking in the top 10 …where as we all know it has been more of a curse for us to pick then a blessing ….too many EXPENCIVE misses.
BJ Raji would have looked good for the Browns at #5. Perfect anchor for Mangini's 34 defense.
Mack is the perfect anchor for the offense. You need a solid center to control the NT.
Why doesn't any of these sports writers, or fans acknowledge the extreme difficulty of trading out of any of the first 5 picks of the first round? Instead, they write that the Browns didn't receive enough for that #5. Which team really had the leverage…think about it?
The Browns did a great job of picking up additional picks and reducing their overall risk. The Jets put all their eggs in one very high risk basket.
They're still gonna stink. Go Steelers.
"Imagine Philadelphia trading Donovan McNabb for Dave Wohlabaugh and a bunch of other guys. That does not provide a lot of sizzle."
I am sure the Chargers would take that for Ryan Leaf, or the Redskins (I think) for Heath Shuler, or the Texans for David Carr or the Lions for Joey Harrington, or the Bengals for Akili Smith, the list can go on and on. The one thing these guys have in common, nobody even heard of them until a couple of months before their respective drafts. A month before the draft they are superstars.
This is unlike Peyton Manning, McNab and many others who made names for themselves over a 3 or 4 year college career. But it does generate "sizzle"
To me it's the Jets who were conned.
Alan T says: Paul Brown was mediocre????????
Back then to be in the championship game you had to be the top 2 teams in the league…one from the east and one from the west….no playoff games…..only the best two teams in all of football……….there was a runner-up bowl for the two teams in 2nd place……one from the east…..one from the west…..so we had a championship game and a runner-up bowl, after a whole season of play only the best 4 teams in all of football played after the regular season was over…….Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns never placed lower than 2nd place in the history of the franchise until Uncle Art came to town and bought the team……the 1964 team that Uncle Art won the championship with………..was the team Paul Brown left him………the cleveland browns owned the cowboys and the steelers(check the records)…….the cleveland browns were the winningest team in football……until 2 or 3 years of mike phipps( under Uncle Art)……….So alan t. how mediocre is that????? Playoff record????? there were no playoffs……year after year no lower than 2nd place….5,6 7, players going to the pro bowl year after year….If there had been a Super Bowl there would be 9 or 10 rings on the fingers of the browns, what is that, BOTH HANDS???????? standing room only in a 86,000 seat stadium watching the winningest team in football……MEDIOCRE??????????? I wuz there, you must have been sucking on a baby bottle….if you were even born yet…………….
Uh … no, YOU said he was mediocre. I wrote his PLAYOFF record was mediocre. Learn how to read.
Oh, two more things … what do you think the postseason is? It's the PLAYOFFS. What, do you want to argue semantics? Hell, on the Browns' own website, they even refer to the 1950s postseason games as the PLAYOFFS … Second, standing room only in an 86,000 seat stadium??? … since when? In the 1950s, they averaged from less than 40,000, gradually getting closer to 60,000 as it went into the 1960s … In 1956, they were selling 20,000-25,000 … From 1956 until 1964, they didn't win one single game after the regular season ended, and only appeared in two postseason games TOTAL … there is a reason Brown was eventually fired, albeit it was handled about as well as dumping Bernie Kosar … Hell, if 86,000 people paid for tickets every game after Modell bought the franchise, then he probably wouldn't have moved it … and yeah, if it makes you more secure with the actual facts, I'm old and I have the basketball-sized prostate to prove it.
there was no playoff only a championship game, the top two teams…..that's all that happened in the post season……and a runner up bowl for the 2nd place teams………Uncle Art said in the paper the reason he got rid of Paul Brown was that as long as paul brown was around the team would "never be his"………..kosar was dumped in an argument with Bellichik, when kosar pasted bill in the mouth……fired the next day
Again, why are you arguing semantics? They indeed were playoff games. The very dictionary definition of "playoff" is "any final competition to determine a championship."
Belichick turned out to be 100% correct about Kosar's "diminishing skills," and Modell turned out to be 100% correct in firing Brown. The players were sick of his crap, including Jim Brown.
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