Official Cleveland Browns Draft Thread

[Big Papa]

Teams possibly looking to trade with Browns to get 3rd or 4th pick to get Peterson. Here is story from Mel Kiper in ESPN Insider:

In my latest first-round projection, I have underclassmen making up half of the top 32 picks, including 12 of the first 20 spots on the board.
I still have LSU junior QB JaMarcus Russell going with the first overall pick to Oakland. However, the biggest buzz could center around Oklahoma junior RB Adrian Peterson (6-1?, 223 pounds). His workout numbers at the NFL combine should look something like this: 4.37 in the 40-yard dash; 38-inch vertical leap; and eight percent body fat. I have Peterson going to Cleveland, which will have either the third or fourth pick, depending on a coin flip tiebreaker with Tampa Bay; but there also could be several teams interested in trading up to get Peterson.
If Peterson does go to Cleveland, Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn could slide to the Dolphins with the ninth pick. The reason Quinn would fall to Miami? Teams picking after Cleveland (possibly Tampa Bay, Arizona, Washington, Minnesota and Houston) don't need a quarterback. You could make a case for the Texans or Vikings to draft Quinn, but I don't expect that to happen.
The Seattle Seahawks are the only team that does not have a first-round pick because of the trade they made with the Patriots to acquire WR Deion Branch. Seattle could use another wide receiver and, ironically, this draft has a lot of great pass catchers. (I'm projecting seven wide receivers will go in the first round.) My next first-round projection will be the first week of March following the NFL combine.

I am definitely not opposed to the Browns trading down a few picks. Especially if they pick up more picks or an established veteran that can help pick up the slack either on the OL or in the Defensive Secondary. I like what I have seen from Peterson and he very well could be the next Tomlinson, but the Browns have so many needs to fill and I just don't see a "must have" in the Top 5 this year for a position of need. Yeah Calvin Johnson looks awesome, and Joe Thomas could be a monster in the trenches, but its only speculation right now. I'm not saying give the pick away, but if a nice deal is put out there that can give us some immediate help along with getting some additional draft picks without dropping down too far in the draft, Savage has to take a hard look at it.

 

[23Skidoo]

Getting off topic... but how in hell did he convince himself Seattle's biggest need is WR? WR is probably the least concern for the Seahawks... Branch, Jackson, Burleson, Hackett (Restricted FA), Engram(FA) ... ?

Back to Cleveland... it'd be great to see Cleveland trade down and still get Brown or Okoye. But as long as we don't take a QB in the 1st and the guy doesn't manage to hurt himself, I think I'll be fine.

 

[king rhabuf]

Getting off topic... but how in hell did he convince himself Seattle's biggest need is WR? WR is probably the least concern for the Seahawks... Branch, Jackson, Burleson, Hackett (Restricted FA), Engram(FA) ... ?

Back to Cleveland... it'd be great to see Cleveland trade down and still get Brown or Okoye. But as long as we don't take a QB in the 1st and the guy doesn't manage to hurt himself, I think I'll be fine.

Okoye really doesn't fit in the 3-4...hes a 3 technique in the 4-3

Trading down is overrated....there is a HUGE difference in talent between Peterson and Brown.

 

[23Skidoo]

Okoye really doesn't fit in the 3-4...hes a 3 technique in the 4-3

Trading down is overrated....there is a HUGE difference in talent between Peterson and Brown.

Okoye is big enough to play an end in a 3-4 and young enough to maybe even grow into the NT.
And we've been over your perceived "talent gap" before... for this huge talent gap that you claim is there, it's odd that you also claim nobody would ever want to trade up. So which way is it?

 

[king rhabuf]

ESPiN's NFL Live just finished discussing whether BQ is a great pick for Cleveland. The last guy said he makes perfect sense because he is the most NFL-ready QB in this draft, and attempted to support this assertion by claiming Leinart was the most NFL-ready QB of last year's draft.
Unfortunately, I disagree on both parts. Cutler was probably the most NFL-ready signal caller out of last year's draft with VY right there. Nothing about Leinart impressed me all year, despite having a ton of talent around him at the skill positions. IMO, Leinart is not a shoe-in as a starting QB yet, he's still getting by on his potential and needs to make some improvement over the next year or two.
As for Quinn, he has done nothing to impress me yet. His arm is marginal at best by NFL standards (like Leinart), and he does not have the "it" factor (Vince and Troy) nor strikes me as a very hard-working kid with his head in the right place who can lift up a subpar team. (Cutler, maybe Stanton)

How exactly was Cutler the most NFL ready QB?

I thought Matt Leinart was the best QB in last years draft and when its all said and done, I think he will go down as the best of the three. The Cardinals have a terrible running game and his line couldn't keep him protected very well. He did a very good job this past season.

Quinn's arm is strong.....its not Jamarcus but it is far from marginal. A marginal arm is someone like Drew Stanton. Charlie beat the crap out of BQ and when Charlie was hired, BQ watched every game tape of Tom Brady. He is a hard worker and very intelligent.

And I'm sorry, Troy Smith doesn't have the it factor, nor is he anything close to VY. VY would NEVER let his team get blown out in a national championship game. His performances in the 2005 and 2006 Rose Bowl's speak for themselves.

 

[king rhabuf]

Okoye is big enough to play an end in a 3-4 and young enough to maybe even grow into the NT.
And we've been over your perceived "talent gap" before... for this huge talent gap that you claim is there, it's odd that you also claim nobody would ever want to trade up. So which way is it?

a 3-4 end is a space eater and its a huge waste of talent to put okoye there....he weighed 287 in mobile and he'd need to pack 30 lbs to be considered a 3-4 NT

if CJ is on the board maybe the vikings throw the house at us, but other than that, I can't see it happening.

 

[Mike80]

How exactly was Cutler the most NFL ready QB?

Cutler didn't exactly fall on his face when he went in there.....

I thought Matt Leinart was the best QB in last years draft and when its all said and done, I think he will go down as the best of the three. The Cardinals have a terrible running game and his line couldn't keep him protected very well. He did a very good job this past season.

You must've seriously been watching different games. Lienart has talent, but he's far from "very good"

Quinn's arm is strong.....its not Jamarcus but it is far from marginal. A marginal arm is someone like Drew Stanton. Charlie beat the crap out of BQ and when Charlie was hired, BQ watched every game tape of Tom Brady. He is a hard worker and very intelligent.

You just can't stop humping Brady Quinn's leg can you??

And I'm sorry, Troy Smith doesn't have the it factor, nor is he anything close to VY. VY would NEVER let his team get blown out in a national championship game. His performances in the 2005 and 2006 Rose Bowl's speak for themselves.

Ask Michigan if Troy Smith has the It factor.

 

[jwinslow]

And I'm sorry, Troy Smith doesn't have the it factor, nor is he anything close to VY.

Smith certainly does have an it factor... VY may have more, but both are special players.

VY would NEVER let his team get blown out in a national championship game.

But he would let his team get shut out in the Red River Shootout (conclusions based on one game are pretty foolish)

His performances in the 2005 and 2006 Rose Bowl's speak for themselves.

His rose bowl performances showed how he could run on porous defenses... his gritty victory in Columbus showed far more.

 

[king rhabuf]

But he would let his team get shut out in the Red River Shootout (conclusions based on one game are pretty foolishHis rose bowl performances showed how he could run on porous defenses... his gritty victory in Columbus showed far more.

2005 oklahoma was a LOADED team. AD, mark clayton, mark bradley, travis wilson, davin joseph, jammal brown, dan cody, brodney pool, rufus alexander....USC was loaded that year and they overshadow how loaded that team was.

do you watch usc in bowl games? caroll is great in them, USC knows how to stop a teams running game..see 2004 chris perry, 2005 peterson, 2006 selmon young/taylor, 2007 mike hart

michigan also did a great job against cedric benson in that game

VY is a SPECIAL player with the ball in his hands.

 

[23Skidoo]

a 3-4 end is a space eater and its a huge waste of talent to put okoye there....he weighed 287 in mobile and he'd need to pack 30 lbs to be considered a 3-4 NT

if CJ is on the board maybe the vikings throw the house at us, but other than that, I can't see it happening.

Quality DL are far and few between. Okoye will be an asset wherever he plays. As for the 30lbs -- maybe you didn't hear, he's just 19. He'll be up to 300 before it's all said and done, and *might* be able to grow into a NT. Either way, he'd be a great pickup for anyone.

So we agree CJ is the only great guaranteed player in the top-5. So much for that huge talent dropoff...

 

[Smooth Olaf]

I tend to think the Buckeye-blinders are the reasons why some people don't want the Browns to draft Quinn. Here's how I see it. If Russell, Peterson, and Thomas are gone by the time the Browns pick, and if they can't trade down, it wouldn't be a bad pick. I hate Notre Dame, but I still think Quinn's a hell of a lot better than Frye.

That being said, if those three are gone by the time the Browns pick, I hope they address the run defense. But if they do take Quinn, I'm not going to start hating the Browns or stop following them.

 

[jwinslow]

2005 oklahoma was a LOADED team. AD, mark clayton, mark bradley, travis wilson, davin joseph, jammal brown, dan cody, brodney pool, rufus alexander....USC was loaded that year and they overshadow how loaded that team was.

only three of those names are defenders... UF was a pretty stellar defense as well. The media doubted vince based on that game, and looked very stupid afterwards.

Will Troy's game translate well to the pros? Probably not, most QBs of any sort don't. But writing him off after one game is pretty foolish, imo... especially games where nearly everyone outside of Pittman didn't bring enough, and their best defender was destroying our injured LT.

do you watch usc in bowl games? caroll is great in them, USC knows how to stop a teams running game..see 2004 chris perry, 2005 peterson, 2006 selmon young/taylor, 2007 mike hart

Yes I watch USC in bowl games... do you watch USC outside of them? Their 05 D had issues at times...

I'm not denying VY was a special player, but when evaluating his ability to overcome adversity/heavy pressure by elite defenders, I'd rather use the OSU game.

 

[23Skidoo]

I tend to think the Buckeye-blinders are the reasons why some people don't want the Browns to draft Quinn. Here's how I see it. If Russell, Peterson, and Thomas are gone by the time the Browns pick, and if they can't trade down, it wouldn't be a bad pick. I hate Notre Dame, but I still think Quinn's a hell of a lot better than Frye.

That being said, if those three are gone by the time the Browns pick, I hope they address the run defense. But if they do take Quinn, I'm not going to start hating the Browns or stop following them.

I've defended Quinn elsewhere, beleiving he has the potential to grow into a very good QB. But I think he's a bust waiting to happen in the top-5, especially for the Browns. Like I pointed out earlier when King threw out all the standard excuses for Quinn's poor-to-mediocre performances in big games -- those conditions aren't going to be any different in Cleveland. Frye already plays like Quinn did in those games and does so without a very large salary.
Having said that, if the Browns did *hypothetically* trade down and all the preferred picks were off the board, he could be a nice pickup there. But IMO he's not top-5 material, and only top-10 material because QBs get pushed up.

 

[Mike80]

I tend to think the Buckeye-blinders are the reasons why some people don't want the Browns to draft Quinn. Here's how I see it. If Russell, Peterson, and Thomas are gone by the time the Browns pick, and if they can't trade down, it wouldn't be a bad pick. I hate Notre Dame, but I still think Quinn's a hell of a lot better than Frye.

That being said, if those three are gone by the time the Browns pick, I hope they address the run defense. But if they do take Quinn, I'm not going to start hating the Browns or stop following them.

I will simply because Brady Quinn won't be worth a damn behind that offensive line.

He might be a good NFL QB. I seriously doubt it, but he might just be a good one. But behind the line the Browns have right now he could be Dan Fuckin Marino and still go 6-10 every year.

No it's not worth the trouble. They need to strengthen their lines. That's how teams build in the NFL, at least the ones that are successful at it. QB isn't the most pressing need right now.

 

[king rhabuf]

Quality DL are far and few between. Okoye will be an asset wherever he plays. As for the 30lbs -- maybe you didn't hear, he's just 19. He'll be up to 300 before it's all said and done, and *might* be able to grow into a NT. Either way, he'd be a great pickup for anyone.

So we agree CJ is the only great guaranteed player in the top-5. So much for that huge talent dropoff...

so theres absolutely no difference between a AD, a player with a HUGE ceiling or someone like Brown, whose at best, a solid LT?