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THE AFTERDRAFT: LOOKING BACK
Now that we’ve all had about a month to digest everything that was draft weekend, I thought it was high time for me to give you my thoughts what happened – not only during the draft, but what transpired as early as the morning of the draft. During the NFL combine, Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett solidified himself as the head-and-shoulders-above-everyone-else prospect of the 2017 NFL draft. This would prove to be one of the more top-heavy defensive drafts in quite some time, with seven of the top ten draft prospects lining up on the defensive side of the football. Even so, it was speculated that perhaps as many as four quarterbacks could go off the board in round one.
After much anticipation, it was draft day at last. We woke up that morning with tales from the rumor mill that our Cleveland Browns were giving serious consideration to taking North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky first overall instead of Garrett. The rumors were so prevalent that both of my sons either texted or called me on my cell phone to express their concerns. I had to re-assure them that not even the Browns could blow the first pick this year by telling them, “They’re taking Myles Garrett – and you can etch that one in stone.” However, the rumors persisted, and it had almost gotten to the point where I was starting doubt to myself. After all, this WAS the Browns . . . the organization that has blown more high draft picks than any other NFL team since their inception in 1999 as an expansion franchise. Could they possibly try to “outsmart” all the other 31 teams that would run their draft card to the podium in record time to select the physical freak from Texas A&M by taking a quarterback that was no better than the 9th best player available? I had to keep telling myself . . . “No, they’re NOT going to drop the bomb on this one!”
Anticipation continued to grow as the work day had reached an end; at which time I left my place of employment in Cleveland and headed back home to Barberton so that I could pick up my wife and daughter to take them to our middle son’s home in Canton. The objective was to watch round one unfold together as a family. Not long after we arrived and filled our dinner plates, Commissioner Goodell walked up to the podium to announce that the Browns were indeed on the clock.
Within ten minutes we would find out if the rumors were indeed true or just rumors. As it turned out, the rumors were just that . . . rumors. Cleveland indeed selected Myles Garrett. But who could’ve been spreading those rumors?
As the 49ers were on the clock with the second overall pick, it became apparent who was the guilty culprit; as the Chicago Bears gave up 2 third round picks and a fourth to move up one slot to take North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The Niners announced that they were open for business from the time that John Lynch was named the new GM. The 49ers found a way to bait the Bears, and they took it hook, line and sinker. With extra picks in their pocket, San Francisco took Stanford DE Solomon Thomas third overall – which is the player they would’ve taken at number 2.
The Jaguars at 4th played true to form and took LSU running back Leonard Fournette. Then Tennessee added some much needed receiving help with Western Michigan’s Corey Davis in the five hole. Following them was the J-E-T-S, who solidified the back end of their secondary with LSU safety Jamal Adams. Next up at 7th was the Chargers, who bolstered their receiving group with Clemson’s Mike Williams. Then the Panthers and Bengals selected Stanford open field specialist Christian McCaffrey and Washington speed receiver John Ross respectively.
By this time Buffalo was on the clock at 10th. Evidently there was some information (or misinformation) going around that either the Saints or the Browns were looking at taking Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes if still on the board. So the Kansas City Chiefs made a move to take the gun slinging youngster from Lubbock. Then it was time for the Saints to address their defensive secondary woes by finally taking Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
Now the Browns were on the clock with their second pick and a lot of quality players were left on the board, including all of Alabama’s top four players. Somewhere during that ten minutes, the Houston Texans made the Browns an offer they couldn’t refuse. Granted, moving down to 25th from 12th is a pretty big drop. However, picking up yet another first round pick is pretty substantial. And considering that the Texans QB situation is pretty much up in the air – even with the addition of rookie Deshaun Watson – it could be a first round pick somewhere in the top half. That move left the Browns set up in 2018 with two first round and three second round picks. This move also left Houston with ZERO picks in the first two rounds of the 2018 draft.
Picks 13 through 24 came and went without any more trades; and with a lot of highly ranked players still surprisingly available, the Browns selected TSUN safety Jabrill Peppers. I wasn’t initially a huge fan of the pick because of his lack of coverage skills, but his physical gifts are something that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams can and will take advantage of.
The big surprise of the night – as far as the Browns are concerned – was when they packaged their first pick in the second round to move up to the 29th spot – just ahead of Pittsburgh – and take Miami TE David Njoku ( pronounced Nuh-JO-koo). This was an exceptional value pick, as he was rated 13th of all combine prospects and 14th on my big board. This kid is only 20 years old and has the size and athleticism to make plays downfield with a catching radius that’s nothing short of excellent. Just throw it to the same zip code, and he’ll come down with any 50/50 ball.
Round two saw the Browns allowing the draft to come to them, as they waited patiently and took Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer 52nd overall. This was another good value pick, as some draft pundits had Kizer going off the board late in round one – possibly to Pittsburgh. He has the prototypical height, frame and arm strength NFL teams are looking for. So, why didn’t he go earlier? I don’t know. Maybe it was Notre Dame’s record last season. This much I will say. Coach Jackson now has a young quarterback with prototypical gifts that he can develop into a starting NFL quarterback. Can he do it before season’s end? I don’t really know for sure, but I wouldn’t bet against it.
The rest of the Browns draft looked like this . . .
65: Larry Ogunjobi – DT – UNC Charlotte . . . Athletic player with a quick first step and can be an excellent 3 technique at the NFL level. Needs to be more consistent. Rated #63 on my board.
126: Howard Wilson – CB – Houston . . . Love the pick! Doesn’t time well but has excellent cover skills and a nose for the football. Broke his knee cap in rookie mini-camp. Hopefully he will still be able to contribute this season. Rated #101 on my board.
168: Roderick Johnson – OT – Florida State . . . He’s the reason why Cameron Erving moved to center. Certainly not a finished product, but he is talented enough to play either bookend position on the O-line. Excellent value pick, as he was #104 on my board.
185: Caleb Brantley – DT – Florida . . . Steal of the draft because he was #16 on my board. As for the legal issues, there’s not a leg his accuser can stand on. He’ll need to be a bit more careful of where he goes and the company he keeps, though.
224: Kane Gonzalez – K – Arizona State . . . Most accurate kicker in college football last season with a strong leg, which will come in handy when the Lake Erie winds are howling in the dead of winter. Was rated #203 on my board.
252: Matt Dayes – RB – North Carolina State . . . Rated much higher than selected (179th overall). Not a flashy runner and not particularly fast, but is well versed in pass protection. Decent all-purpose back.
IN CONCLUSION: Sashi Brown and the rest of the Browns decision making team – once they got past the first overall pick (which was basically a no-brainer)- acquired a good number of players that were rated more highly than what they were actually selected. The only exception was Jabrill Peppers, who was rated 28th overall. However, considering the need for a safety that’s a ball hawk and a sure tackler, that difference is negligible. This is particularly true if you also account for his ability as a kickoff and punt returner. He may even excel at being a gunner on the punt team. As for a letter grade, I do think that it’s premature; but overall, I will give it two thumbs-up. I definitely think that the extra year together as a front office staff helped in the player selection process.
Am I going mad, or did the word THINK escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic landmass!
Good stuff Bill. I had a lot of the same thoughts through the draft. The 3 big things that had me upset initially but grew on me a couple days after the fact we’re:
1.) passing on Watson at 12
2.) drafting Peppers
3.) drafting KizerWatson, I wasn’t completely sold on but I still liked him at 12. Though, he had some accuracy issues and I know there was the one combine measurement where the velocity on his throws was less the Kesslers, and really low altogether, so I’m over him.
Peppers and Kizer I was more upset initially because I had gotten so used to the talk of drafting them at 12 and 33, and I HATED them at those spots. Where they were drafted, I have to admit it’s potentially a steal if they can play up to their potential.
Personally I wanted tme to draft hooker then trade back up and see if they could of nabbed peppers as well. but alas that was not to be.
http://cloudassetserver.com/STL/posts/185/sp_04_976x0.jpg
We came into this season with a ton of needs. You’d be foolish to think we could fill them all in one off-season.
Yet we did a hell of a lot better than expected. Shored up both lines,invested in productive players, and drafted at least 6 players that will likely start this year and be an upgrade to what we already have.
That is a damn clinic on how you rebuild a team. Sure, they didn’t get this or that player when he was available, but because of Sashi working his magic, we own 5 of the first 64 picks next season. That’s excellent work to get all of that and have the draft that we did.
And a side note- we were in about 4-5 games last year with a stripped-down team that wasn’t very good. Between the bad playing and the bullshit calls (the Duke non-fumble comes to mind) we lost those games. Imagine what happens when we field this team in those games.
We are going to shock some people this year. Doubtful this is our playoff year, but I expect to see a ton of improvement. And the record will reflect it.
Assuming the Brown’s big board looked anything like Wunkle’s, this was an excellent draft. Sticking to their board, not panicking when all the QB’s started getting picked.
This was a great draft got the best player in the draft, got perhaps the second best tight end prospect and the third rated safety now that’s a haul, I liked the Kizer pick for where we got him all the other picks are dead on solid. add this to the improvements we made in FA and were getting closer to not being the butt of espn jokes.
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