DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2016 NFL Season 2016 NFL Draft Rank our team needs

Rank these in the order you think we need them the most.

Is there something else I should have included on the list? Let me know.

Inside Linebacker
Running Back
Safety
Right Tackle
Center
Cornerback
Defensive End
Rush Linebacker
Wide Receiver
Quarterback

Note Safety, Center, and Right Tackle rankings are assuming that Mack, Schwartz, and Gipson all leave.

Quarterback - self-explanatory

Pass Rusher - We had 93 hurries in 2015, that was 20th in the league.

Wide Receiver - We have a bunch of #2 or #3 receivers (Bowe is a different kind of number two). Josh Gordon shouldn't be seen as anything other than a wildcard. We have to give our young QB someone to throw to.

Right Tackle - If we are going to have a young QB we need to protect him and run the ball. We need a good right tackle to do both of those things.

Center - Greco can move over to center, but that would just create another big hole. I have no faith in Erving.

Safety - We have Whitner and Poyer currently on the roster. Neither are good. I would like to see more of Ibraheim Campbell.

Defensive End - We have Desmond Bryant and that's basically it.

Inside Linebacker - Dansby looked like he was running with cement blocks on his feet at time. Kirksey is an above-average player. Robertson is a free agent.

Corner - I think Haden will come back strong and stabilize the position.

Running Back - I don't even see running back as a need at this point.

If the Browns can't make a deal with them, I would hope that the franchise tag would hold Schwartz. With Gipson, the transition tag would at least gage the market on his worth & the possibility of keeping him here.

Not the ideal situation but we need to hold the OL together & 3/4 of a healthy secondary under a new DC will be a positive start for 2016.( even though I'm not sold on Whitner )

At the very least, we can buy time & experience in replacing them.

I hope this is okay, but I am going to make my list by assuming that all of the guys on our roster will still be here. If we lose guys in free agency, I will rethink my list. I am just having too hard of a time figuring out who will--or won't--be here.

1. Edge rusher

2. Wide receiver

3. Quarterback

4. Cornerback

5. Inside Linebacker

The top three are very fluid.

You can only use one tag. At this point, my bet is that we franchise tag Gipson (Horton loved him when he was here last time).

I would love to keep Schwartz, but the franchise tag number for offensive linemen is going to be around $13 million. The franchise tag number for safeties is around $10 million.

Can we tag Gipson a second time?

He was never tagged. He was a restricted free agent.

Thanks, I was thinking that we tagged him last year.

For future reference, you can tag a guy as many times as you want, his salary just increases each year by a certain percentage.

Yeah like 20% more which just doesn't happen when you start with top 5 money.

1. Franchise QB
2. Top 10-15 NFL Caliber QB
3. Average QB under 30 years of age
4. Pass Rusher
5. WR that actually plays, and is taller than I am.
6. Pro Bowl Long Snapper

Hate to steal but this post sums my thoughts up. Possibly could switch two and three, but WR and rusher are important regardless of the ranking. I think Taylor Gabriel worked himself outta a spot with the season he had. Our supposed best sure handed WR as we read in camp had several cases of the dropsies.

I dont think anyone believes Mack is "easily replaced"

Most just assume he's going to leave (Because, Browns) and are trying to find the best way to move on from him if need be..

That color is just evil!

I just figured I give the Browns a little supernatural make over, hell we need something to get past the curse that is our Browns.

Assuming we stay base 3-4 and that Mack, Schwartz, Benjamin, and Gipson all stay.

Defensive End
Rush Linebacker
Wide Receiver
Quarterback
Inside Linebacker
Rush Linebacker
Safety
Running Back

QB fourth?!?! Our QBs are Josh McCown (who will be 37 when the season starts), Connor Shaw, and Austin Davis.

Even if you think there is not a QB worth drafting in this draft, you have to think that QB is our biggest need.

It should have been 3rd, with WR 4th, I pasted incorrectly.

And, we can survive a year with McCown and a 2nd-4th rounder plus Davis and/or Shaw. To me that is serviceable. I don't think our run defense or pass rush are serviceable.

That, and the first 30 or 40 picks is filled with more defensive impact players than offensive in my opinion. I think there's a decent chance one of the top 3 QBs are available at 32. And if we can move down a few spots in the first and pick up an additional 2nd, Cook or Hackenburg will likely be available.

Right, but the question wasn't our biggest need with respect to the talent available.

We have the worst QB situation in the league (with Houston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis behind us).

Quarterback--Fixed with Wentz/Goff
WR--Fixed with Gordon and Jones
ILB--Ragland at 32 (I'd move UP for this guy)
OG--Specifically RG--Garnett Stanford at 65
Pass Rusher
OLB
Safety
RB

Simplistically:

1) Pass rush,
2) Pass rush,
3) Pass rush.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we need a long-term answer at QB...

Defense
Offense
Front Office
Coaching Staff

So ... kicking game good?

My logic...

If we want immediate impact to win more games now, I think it's in this order...

DE- Stopping the run will do more to win us games now than anything else. The Randy Starks experiment at DE failed miserably and we desperately need a DE.

Rush LB- Once we are able to stop the run, we will be able to pin our ears back and rush the passer. While I think we are weaker here than at DE, a rush LB won't matter if we can't stop the run.

QB- This won't make any more wins for the team this year. There aren't any plug and play QB's in this draft. But we need to start grooming one for wins in the future.

WR- We need a #1 WR and only a #1 WR. If we can't find that guy, it's better to kick the can down the road another year than to try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

ILB- We are back to stopping the run. Dansby is starting to slow down and may be a cap casualty. Robertson is a FA and even if he is back, we could use an upgrade.

Rush LB - We need more than one.

RB- Crow is not the answer and Duke Johnson is not a 3 down RB.

RT- I'd like Schwartz back, but there are better guys in the FA market if he starts wanting crazy money

Center- If Mack goes, whoever we replace him with is a downgrade. He should be the FO's first priority.

Safety - Which was the fluke? Gipson last year or Gipson the year before? In any case we could use another guy for depth even if he does re-sign.

Corner - If Haden bounces back, we don't look too bad here, but if not we are in for a long year. We have $13 mil reasons to hope that he bounces back.

As long as we don't need a field goal longer than 45 yards, and Erving stays on the bench.

I started making an initial response on my phone when you posted this but never finished it...

Depends on what you mean for team needs. If you mean for the 2016 season, this is how I would rate them.
1) Primary Pass rusher -- we don't have anyone who has shown they can create pressure
2) Free Safety -- Poyer is the best we have under contract
3) Right Tackle -- Pasztor "
4) Wide Receiver -- I think we can get by with Gordon, Hartline, Hawkins as our main 3 for this season and be pretty decent.
5) Complementary pass rusher
6) Backup QB -- because McCown has no regard for his own life
7) Defensive line depth -- I think Horton will be an improvement over O'Neil, and our DL will play better. I think Starks will be cut so we will need some depth behind Shelton, D. Bryant, Hughes, and Cooper.


If you mean to build the core of the team going forward, this is how I rate them.
1) Quarterback -- need this to be a successful team
2) Impact pass rusher -- ditto
3) Z Receiver -- no playmakers on offense after possibly Gordon, who I don't think will be here more than one year
4) Right tackle -- we currently don't have one
5) Impact secondary player
6) Inside linebacker
7) Complementary pass rusher
8) X receiver -- adding a very good to elite X can push our O up into top tier, but isn't necessary to be good enough to compete
9) D-Line Depth
10) OL Depth

JMapproximateO.

"Safety - Which was the fluke? Gipson last year or Gipson the year before? In any case we could use another guy for depth even if he does re-sign."

Just to try to shed some light into this question. Gipson was highly touted by the Browns for years prior to his breakout season. I believe Horton called him the best coached player, or best defensive player... Something that made/still make a lot of us scoff. Maybe it wasn't a fluke, but at the same time, I saw a lot of those interceptions that year, and he didn't make a play on a few, the ball just fell to him, in those cases. And they were quite a few cases of that. I'm still not convinced that we should re-sign him, if he wants crazy money. But I don't think he will want what's out of his means for long.

He called him the MVP of the defense.

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2013/11/cleveland_browns_ray_horton_na.html

I like Gipson and now that Farmer is gone, I expect the Browns to keep him.

Scheme may be the big difference between the two years.

He was asked to help bail out our corners more this year because we were starting 4th stringers that needed the help.

Maybe he's best when he's allowed to play center field. Maybe he was playing hurt the whole year and the ankle injury was worse than we thought. It's hard to tell, but I do know that he was at his best playing for Horton so we have that at least.

You're correct, the request was to "Rank these in the order you think we need them the most." My thoughts were to include who is on the team now and the players available in the draft. That was my process, which likely differs than others on the board, but still it was my thinking.

And it is probably obvious, but I'm not a proponent of taking a QB at #2 just to take a QB. None are worthy of #2 in my opinion. It is arguable that the top 3-4 OLB or 3-4 DE are worthy of #2 either.

Quarterback HAVE to find a trigger man
#1 WR the "smurfs" aren't going to cut it. We need to find a tall fast #1
linebacker need all 4 positions we are bereft of linebackers
DE we only have 1 on the roster need a tall, fast, athletic DE
RB Coach Jackson will run the ball he needs a RB to do so Crow WON'T cut it
corner Haden's concussions are worrisome need more talent here
strong safety Whitner isn't getting any younger

My opinion is simple

First and foremost, figure out which of our OWN FA's we want and get that taken care of. Mack, Schwartz and some others.

after that:

QB
WR
Linebacker (several)
CB
Safety

More important than anything, we need to draft well this time. we'll have a miss, no question but we have to find a way to limit the horrid drafts we're used to.

Question: Is Joey Bosa a DE in our scheme, or is he an OLB? Is Bosa a 3 down player or merely an edge rusher? If he's not a 3 down player, I don't want him at #2. Your input please...

I think that he would be a 3 down DE.

Why does it seem like this is the same list each year. It always ends up being QB, WR, RB, and DE. I would add ILB as well. These have been our needs since 2007.