DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns 2007 Draft grade via Scott Wright.

Not only has the Browns track record when it comes to the NFL Draft been bad but it's been historically bad. In fact, their first four #1 picks (Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, Gerard Warren and William Green) were total busts for them and their fifth (Jeff Faine) didn't find success until he was traded away. More recently however the tide has seemingly begun to turn with guys like Kellen Winslow II, Braylon Edwards and Kamerion Wimbley helping to form a solid young nucleus but it's their 2007 haul that might mark the true turning point for this franchise. Three of the four most important positions in the game (along with defensive end) are left tackle, quarterback and cornerback but they're also the hardest to find studs at yet the Browns might have taken care of all three this year. There are no guarantees when it comes to the NFL Draft but if Cleveland's top picks live up to their potential the team will be set at all three spots for the next decade and that would be quite a feat.

At #3 overall it came down to either Wisconsin's Joe Thomas or Brady Quinn but in the end they went with the offensive tackle, which probably shouldn't have come as much of a surprise. After investing huge free agent dollars in LeCharles Bentley, Kevin Shaffer and Eric Steinbach the past couple of years it's pretty obvious how dedicated the team is to improving their offensive line and adding Thomas to their current group could help turn a weakness into a strength. A potential franchise left tackle who is probably a better all-around player than D'Brickashaw Ferguson was a year ago, Thomas isn't quite in the same league as guys like Jon Ogden or Orlando Pace were coming out but he's just a notch below and he should be starting for them almost from day one.

When the Browns took Joe Thomas at #3 they never dreamed they'd get another shot at Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn but that's exactly what happened when he began to fall and you have to give them a lot of credit for being aggressive to ensure they landed him. Granted they paid a high price to get back into round one, having surrendered next years #1 pick to Dallas in the deal, but they might not have even had the opportunity to select a prospect of Quinn's caliber in 2008 so why not get a guy into your system right away rather than delaying the inevitable for another year. A potential franchise player with everything that you look for in a quarterback, Quinn certainly has all the physical tools but it's his top-notch intangibles that really set him apart and if he can take care of some accuracy issues he could develop into one of the best signal callers in the league. Now there was a lot of talk about how Quinn was overrated and that is why he dropped but after the Dolphins passed on him his freefall was simply a product of teams between #9 and where he was chosen not needing a quarterback and it had very little to do with his talent and had a team like the Kansas City Chiefs been picking #10 instead of #23 he likely would have gone much higher. Quinn may have been overhyped but he was not overrated and there is a big differene. All young quarterbacks struggle and Quinn will be no different but he should start for the Browns as a rookie and there is no doubt in my mind that he will make a lot of teams regret passing on him. Way back in 1983 a guy by the name of Dan Marino fell all the way to #27 and this could wind up being a similar type of situation.

After making a move for Brady Quinn the Browns were not done dealing and they pulled off another trade in round two so they could bring UNLV cornerback Eric Wright into the fold. A great coverman who really has all the physical tools, Wright would have been a first round lock if not for some off-the-field troubles early in his career that led to his transfer from USC but if he keeps his nose clean Cleveland will have a steal on their hands. Outside of Leigh Bodden the Browns really didn't have another starting caliber corner on their roster and Wright has already drawn a lot of praise from the coaches in mini-camps so he could be starting sooner rather than later and he'll most certainly play a significant role for the team as a rookie. It would not be a stretch to suggest that the Browns might have gotten three Top 10-type of talents with their first three selections of this draft. In round five Cleveland went back to the secondary and chose cornerback Brandon McDonald of Memphis, who is actually related to Steve McNair and Correll Buckhalter. Even though he only played two years of DI ball after coming in as a JUCO transfer McDonald showed enough natural cover skills to intrigue scouts and he should provide depth as a rookie while competing for a role in the Browns dime package.

With their next two selections in rounds six and seven the Browns opted to bolster their defensive line depth by bringing in Melila Purcell of Hawaii and Chase Pittman of L.S.U. Both Purcell and Pittman are actually very similar types of players in terms of size and style of play but that isn't necessarily a good thing because neither offers much in terms of upside. Neither Purcell nor Pittman bring much to the table as pass rushers but they do a nice job versus the run and can serve as base defensive ends in the Browns 3-4 scheme but odds are neither will ever be anything more than backups at the pro level. Needless to say I feel like they could have done better with those selections. With their final pick of the draft Cleveland chose Arizona wide receiver Syndric Steptoe, whose greatest impact will likely come on special teams. Steptoe doesn't have the height (5-9) or timed speed (4.60) that you look for but he has a solid build and is more quick than fast and as a rookie he'll compete for the #6 wideout job while helping to replace Dennis Northcutt as a return man.

Even though their efforts on Day Two were somewhat questionable landing Thomas, Quinn and Wright was more than enough to earn Cleveland an excellent grade and on paper the Browns had the best draft in the league. Even with the influx of top young talent the team might still be a year away from taking that big step forward but the future now looks extremely bright and you just can't say enough about the job general manager Phil Savage has done because even though the win/loss record might not reflect it yet this franchise is light-years ahead of where it was when he took over when it comes to their talent base. Hopefully he'll be around to reap the benefits in the coming years because brighter days are definitely on the horizon for this franchise and they're finally on the right track.

GRADE: A

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/features/reviews/teams/clevelandbrowns.html


This comes from nfldraftcountdown which is a very well respected site, and Scott Wright has only given one perfect A grade, and that is to the Browns. I know its been a while, but I've been waiting for his opinion on our draft and it just makes you feel better every time theres another positive review

Nice little read, but for a professional site, the guy sure had a lot of run-ons in there.

He's a scout and a draft guru, not an English major

Agreed though, he could use an editor

Anybody else worried about Quinn? Now we are starting to hear that his arm isn't any stronger than Frye's.

Quote:

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A potential franchise left tackle who is probably a better all-around player than D'Brickashaw Ferguson was a year ago,

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Thats hilarious. all the Thomas nay sayers were chirping about how he WASN'T as good as DaBrick.

LOL

I've only read that Quinn was having a slight difficulty with the reads and some accuracy issues......not arm strength problems. He'll fix the others with more practice and comfort in the system.


....that doesn't mean he'll be a great QB. He'll improve from where he is now.

I hate grading drafts this early...

For him to grade the Browns 2004/ 2005 draft would not be as exciting.. lol.. so they do the most up to date...

actually I would like to see draft grades from 2004/2005, heck any retrospective draft would be fun to read. It might actually have some substance!

Well actually, I think draft grades early like this do tell a good story. And that story is How well did a team do with the information available. Now a guy may bust out...but why should that be an indictment of the guys picking. Unless of course there was ALOT of information to go in a different direction. Sort of like when Butch went with Warren instead of Seymore.

The draft is always a crap shoot. And when draft picks work out for the best. It shows that those picking had the right amount of information and knowledge of how that information incorporates into the team. When they don't work out it is usually because there was information that either was not obtained or not available. Or it could be the information obtained was used incorrectly in relation to how it is integrated to the team. Sort of like Ryan Leaf was a mental case. At that time it was rare to have the players take mental exams...the Colts did...and they in the end made the right choice. The Chargers didn't and took the kid. The information that was lacking came back to bite them in the rear.

So in looking at draft grades early...I think they are more a testiment to how the GM's perform with the information at hand. The long term grades can judge the information gathering skills and the processing & incorporation of that information.

I must admit , I was a little confused by our day two picks !

My thoughts..what a draft..well what a first day ..
I jokingly said the week of the draft I wish we could get both Thomas/Quinn but I know thats impossible..

STOP! It happened..and then to get a starter at CB was also a high point..
It's safe to say we broke the bank to get three potiential first day starters..how often has that happened to one team let alone Cleveland?

Of course it left us empty in round 4 ...
Round 5 I get the CB selection , we need depth..not street FA depth but our own depth to develop..

Both Purcell and Pittman are actually very similar types of players in terms of size and style of play but that isn't necessarily a good thing because neither offers much in terms of upside.
Neither Purcell nor Pittman bring much to the table as pass rushers but they do a nice job versus the run and can serve as base defensive ends in the Browns 3-4 scheme but odds are neither will ever be anything more than backups at the pro level. Needless to say I feel like they could have done better with those selections.

I tend to agree with that ..on one hand there were some others we could have targeted..I just hope this doesn't mirror the 05 second day draft.

It wasnt that strong of a draft past the 2nd round. So it was really thin by the time we got to the later parts of day 2.

I think Savage did the best thing he could have done by trading back into the 2nd. I wouldnt have taken Wright but I can certainly understand Phil's thinking.

Now I still love the move back up to get quinn also, unless of course we have the #1 overall next year and that certain running back enters the draft. If that happens yea i will be pretty sick lol.

Purcell and Pittman have the frame to bulk up a bit and push at DE in the future. I expect both to be PS this year and maybe next as they develop physically.

I was liek "wtf is Purcell" when Savage picked him....he wasn´t an anybody´s radar..but then I looked up his stats....well, stats aren´t everything, sure, but he had better stats than his DE-teammate Alama-Francis, who was being pimped hard around here...and I was part of it, lol

I´m the official Purcell-pimp now....join the Bandwaggon NOW....

Purcell is not as good Francis...Francis is gonna be a stud in this league!

j/c
I think the only weakness that Phil has shown consistently in his 1st 3 drafts is on the DL, where he has not drafted one guy who is starter material right now. This will be our biggest need next year besides RB. I don't think he understands the type of guys you need for a 3-4 DL.

When Phil came in... We ran a 4-3 and had a horrible, underachieving DL. From there, he traded and attempted to fix the line with Free Agents. We all know that Free Agents are only a temporary fix, or are that one extra person needed to put you over the top. In our case they were a temporary fix. Someone to fill the gap until we could get a more permanent solution. He did draft Wimbley, an OLB, true...but one who lines up outside the Defensive End.

We needed an OLB, we needed a LT, we may have needed a NT more than a QB, but Phil made a choice. I would have preferred Alan Branch to Brady Quinn.... because I think Branch would have helped us this year and Quinn will not. That's not saying that Quinn doesn't fill a need, it's saying that Phil thought his FA moves on the D-Line were an improvement, and picking Quinn would be a better choice, in the long haul, than drafting a NT. It also says that Romeo has a lot of faith in Ted Washington.

Romeo is a 3-4 Defensive coach and was asked on draft day last year, "Which one do you want, a Pass Rusher, or a Run Stuffer? Romeo answered a Pass Rusher. So we picked Wimbley....

What doesn't Phil understand????

I don't think it's about not understanding...I think it's about doing what you can when you can...and we had/have a ton of stuff to do.

I won't start getting mad at Phil unless he ignores DL in the first two rounds of next year's draft.

Scott has the only draft site on the web that I trust. He's the best who is not affiliated with a network like ESPN or NFLNetwork at getting the inside scoop IMO. But I always give him hell b/c I always outdo him in the mock drafts.

I think the only weakness that Phil has shown consistently in his 1st 3 drafts is on the DL, where he has not drafted one guy who is starter material right now. This will be our biggest need next year besides RB. I don't think he understands the type of guys you need for a 3-4 DL

He hasn't drafted any interior Dlinemen but he drafted DE/OLB tweeners.
He brought in several UDFA linemen and one is in the rotation the other will be worked as a DE..
He has opted to get the interior ones in FA where they had already gained some experience..
He understands the 34 better than you do..the Rats ran it...but what you don't know is Phil loves LB's..he knows they are the key to a monster 34..he has brought in some good ones ..