DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2020 NFL Season 2020 NFL Draft your thoughts on our draft? Much too early grades etc..

I remember fishing on a remote lake with some locals in the UP of Michigan. We drank way more than our share trying to keep up with them. Started getting into some good natured ribbing, and they were laughing at the way we spoke, claiming that their dialect was actually more correct as far as the English language goes. As soon as he said that, he looked at the water and said, "hey, where's my udder bobber, eh!". My brother and I laughed so hard I thought we were going to throw down.

The theme of this draft was all about drafting for NEEDS. the team had needs so they drafted to fill those needs. I am not so sure they got the best players available though. In general when a team drafts based on needs they tend to settle for lesser quality players but since they fill a need they tend to start right away whether they deserve to or not.

I was not thrilled with drafting a RT to fill our LT spot because whenever there is a switch to the other side of the field it slows down the learning curve. Joe Thomas made a fair point though when he mentioned a player will receive more practice in his rookie year than he does his entire college career. Also, Joe knows a thing or two about Left Tackles and if this kid is truly the one he wanted the Browns to pick then there must be something. Hell, if the kid will just soak up what Joe is willing to share with him then there is a chance he will do great things.

If we have our new LT and he plays at a pro level then this draft is great. I don't even care if the rest bomb if we have our LT position fixed now. It's that important a pick.

Some solid picks. I give it a B.

We haven't had a team meeting together, not a single combined practice of any sort...yet, grade the draft. OK, I'll bite.

Love the tough, accountable, smart, etc mantra of this regime.

Believe the "normal" high selections should be starter for many years....except in Cleveland where we've thrown away top picks.

With all that- I give us an A. Why, because from what I've read and seen so far.....NOT much on seen...our first round pick IS dedicated to his craft, is very young and talented, and is from among, IF not, the BEST college football program. He has shown WANT TO, and Callahan, who has been around forever stated character and smarts win over most, our "kid" has superb athletic ability to go with his want to....and Joe Thomas is helping him. AN A+ pick....and a NEED, sweet!!!!

Delpit, many stated he was first round talent, slipped due to tackling concerns....he was hurt, and he wasn't going to make his money by tackling, rather by covering. PLUS, comes from among the best college programs, faced top talent yearly- another A.

The rest are potential starters, role players....Mackey winner in a TE heavy O....when, we got some good value for picks late in my humble opinion. Homer, yes, but living in Fl still give us a much needed A. Go Browns!!!!

I loved the draft.. I didn't get nearly as into it this year (pre-draft) as previous years but from all that I've read, I'm very happy with it. Nobody is calling it the sexiest draft or making outrageous predictions like last year.. nobody is really mocking it or making fun of it... the general consensus among people who know a lot more about it than I do is that it was just a very solid draft and we got some very good football players. It reminds me a lot of most of Ozzie's drafts with the Ravens, not a lot of flash or flair, just football players who project well to do what it is we are going to want them to do.

The one big assumption is that Baker can return to (and improve on) his rookie season.. if he can do that, we are an 11 or 12 win team on paper... the question is do we have an 11 or 12 win coaching staff and how, with the likely shortened and modified offseason, how is that going to impact teams with new staffs...

Veteran staffs with veteran teams in key positions are likely to have a HUGE advantage going into this season.

Just to add on to your last post...

Maybe I just haven't watched enough drafts yet, but I get really encouraged when the consensus of talking heads (not one or two, but many) say the majority of our picks were expected to go higher than we selected them. To me, that means we picked good players, and we were largely picking BPA. Both of those things are big positives.

One more add - the more I read up on Delpit, the more I think teams will be kicking themselves for passing on him. Fingers crossed that's true.

I hope you’re right. We really need that secondary presence. He certainly is athletic as heck

I absolutely love, LOVE the Delpit selection.

I felt our draft deserved an A. I think the Phillips pick at LB is going to be a lot better than most people think. I really like his hustle, tackling, attitude and desire to play the game.

He is a good, smart player.

If we are going to two LB sets a good deal of the time, you need some speed as well, and he has that.

j/c

I don't blame anyone for trying to project how a draft will turn out. It's the nature of the beast I suppose. I however choose not to. I'm not the crystal ball type. Not only do fans often get it wrong, NFL GM's and the self appointed draft gurus do as well. Just looking at NFL GM's averages on picks shows you just how wrong experts can get draft picks.

All I'm willing to do is say how I feel it looks on the surface at the time of the picks without projections. On the surface, on paper it looks like a very solid draft to me. We addressed several positions of need be that at the starter or depth positions.

How it pans out in the long run is anyone's guess.

I remember people ready to ride Dorsey out of town because he picked Mayfield over Darnold/Rosen and Ward over B.Chubb.

I too hope this new group is the group that can turn it around. And I certainly agree with you about the continuity issue. At the same time, looking back, other than elevating Shanahan to HC I really can't think of a single guy who has been here I would have stuck with for the long haul.

This year is like nothing the NFL has ever seen. The circumstances make it very difficult for a coaching staff to fully implement all new schemes, verbiage and playbooks. Nothing can replace the team working together in person.

I just hope the fans are realistic about that. Especially early in the season.

We got pretty fortunate with our first 3 games IMO ... we have baltimore week 1, but we can spend MONTHS to prepare.

Then a short week against a rookie QB and a “bad” team ... and we host it in prime time

Followed by a mini-bye week and an awful team with a new coach/system

If we can’t be 2-1 it’s a disappointment IMO

With all new coaches, systems and verbiage during the restrictions the virus will place on us, I simply won't allow myself to be disappointed that early on.

My thoughts on the draft are...It is over...

Justin Gilbert disagrees with that.

JC: I'm very excited about the draft.

First, i only really knew the first two guys we selected. After that, only what i've really read on them.


But. I did do my homework on Jedrick Wills. I did my homework on the guys i deeemed to be the top 7 Left Tackle Candidates (Wills, Thomas, Wirfs, Becton, Josh Jones, Austin Jackson, and Ezra Cleveland). That's how i had the guys graded too.

So Wills was my top guy, and clearly my top guy. Thomas was the next tier. The third tier was Wirfs and Becton. And i was okay with the third tier guys at 10 (assuming that there were no character concerns i didn't know about with those top four guys).

What i saw in Wills was, certainly the best pass blocker in the draft. And that's what you want in your LT. He always seems to be a mauling runblocker who has good movement skills. People he blocked just always seemed to end up on the ground. He just plays mean.

I'm not that concerned the way others have been about the switch from right to left. No one could ever explain to me why folks don't seem to worry about the switch from left to right, the way that they seemed to be from right to left. There's no reason why learning how to switch your technique is any harder from one side to the other, it's just a difference in competition. And that has been changing as more DE's line up over the RT. Vers made the point that he might play next to a TE more often and not on an island as much as LTs do, but, watching his tape, i didn't seem to notice that.

Then i started noticing actual guys who actually played the position at a high level (like Joe Thomas and Ronnie Stanley) back me up. Stanley made the point that covering the blindside is a major responsibility, but, that's the responsibility that Wills had at Alabama anyway. Closer to the draft, as Joe Thomas talked about how Wills moved like an NFL tackle, i felt even better about what i saw. I'm ecstatic about the Wills pick. As far as i'm concerned, we got the best tackle in the draft.


As i watched Round 2, i saw the Penn State DE go, who was the top guy i wanted, and after him, Xavier McKinney and Grant Delpit were the next guys I keyed in on. McKinney went before our pick as well. So, i was standing at the TV praying for Delpit (with a backup prayer for Winfield), and we got the guy i wanted the most in Delpit. Guy's all over the field. A total playmaker. And he's not like Earl Little. He's not afraid to make a tackle. He missed a fair share of tackles this year. Some of that is due to the injury, some is due to poor technique. But, it's something that he isn't afraid to do. And hopefully, it's something he can improve on. Otherwise, he's versatile, good in coverage, and he can play the Deep FS position we need. So i was very excited about that.


After those two, i really didn't know the rest of the players. I like what i've read about them, and i enjoy their highlights (but anyone can look good in highlights).

So, we got the two guys i wanted to get in our first two picks. That rarely happens. So i'm ecstatic. Although, the guys i've wanted us to draft have often failed. (Corey Coleman, Justin Gilbert, Johnny Football, Brady Quinn, Sean Jones, can't think of any others off the top of my head). Hopefully i do better this time

I was listening to a Ringer podcast about the movie Draft Day .. anyways, they mentioned Gilbert and him being a top 10 CB bust of all time. Tough to argue with that.

Jeannie was a control freak bully hoodie wanna be ...

I think he is by far the thing we disagree on the most since we’ve known each other ... and he went on to do literally almost nothing after he left here .. not even a hint at another HC job ...

I liked Mangini too. He had us playing tough disciplined football and we were winning games. We will never know how far he would have taken us but we were on the right track.

I think the 1st 2 games will tell us where the Browns are at. They could be 2-0 1-1 0-2.
And they are North games.
The Ravens will be a difficult match up.
And the Bengals game isn't a automatic win.
I saw where PFF had them as a potential playoff
Team this year.

Mangini is was no better than Freddie Kitchens
He's so loved on here by the 6% yet Mangini
Couldn't even get a interview as a coordinator
After the Browns fired him.
He's a positon coach at best. He's tough guy act
Here was phoney and transparent here

You make valid points about Mangini’s personality and lack of success after leaving Cleveland, but I’d still take him over Kitchens. IMO Kitchens was the worst head coach in our franchise’s history ... and I can’t believe I’m saying that after enduring Hue, Palmer, Shurmur, etc

Your valid on that .
Kitchens was worse than Mangenius.
In fact FK might be the worst top 5 all time in the NFL.
He was so bad his 6 win season didn't feel
Any better than the 0 16 season
I remember a couple posters on here actually
Wanted FK retained but they won't admit it.

Yeah, there aren’t many coaches worse than FK in the NFL ... I agree w/you

Let me guess ... your referring to me ... if so ... ...

I love Freddie ... good peeps ... he was as bad of a coach as he is a good dude ... and he’s a really good dude ...

I never thought anyone could be as bas as him as a HC ... i didn’t think it was possible ... there’s not one aspect of coaching i thought he handled well ...

Freddie wasn’t ready but KEV CAN ...

Nope not you at all.
You always stand behind your views and dont run
And hide .

Yeah. I agree. Freddie is the worst Browns coach we've had since I've closely followed the team (Butch Davis)

I've never been more dissapoointed. We were a disorganized mess. It quickly became clear week 1. Last season felt awful. The playoff push was exciting. But overall, it was a clear let down. We could see the talent there, but it was just a total mess.

Although, I read somewhere that Chudzinskis team was a mess too. It was one year. I know there was some powerplay between Joe Banner and Lombardi. I think Joe Banner, had he been given the chance, would have done okay. Far better than Ray Farmer. But he's the one who picked Chud, so who knows

I have much higher hopes with Stefanski. Berry too. These guys just seem to have their act together. Of course, looking like they do might be different than actuallity.


That being said, I'm happy Freddie found a job. I hope all our coaches find a job. Hue Jackson too. I wish he could find a job. I don't think he's as bad a guy as some make him out to be. He deserves to be coaching football in some capacity.

Mike Pettine deserves a second shot at some point. His mistake was sticking with Jim ONeil. It's too bad because it was easy to see coming

There's no coach we've had where I've said, man he deserves a second chance except Pettine. Maybe Mangini, although he was terrible at drafting. I liked how Mangini coached, wish he could stay out of the team building process. But Pettine deserves another shot. More than Pat Shurmur did (I had to explain to Giant fans as soon as he was hired that he just wasn't cut out for the job)

I agree w/you about week 1 last year .. it was probably the most embarrassed I’ve been as a fan ... we were flat out unprepared and undisciplined. It was like the wheels were already off the wagon. Such a deflating moment.

I also agree though ... anyone who’s a head coach should be able to find a job at some level, even if it’s a position coach

Freddie got hired by the Giants....TE coach.

Just (very) casual considering what the results might be in Never-Ever Land if we were to hand this roster off to past-fail coaches. I think Pettine could do well; managing might be able to flog quite a bit out of these guys. Intensity matters. Freddy showed lack of it matters as well. The real interesting one is what palmer and his UFO mighthave been able to produce with a viable NFL group, which I consider this to be.

i thought it wad NYG thanks

It's not a crime that Freddie failed as a HC. Right now his forte is that of a position coach and there's nothing wrong with that. Some guys coach 30-40 years as a PC coach because that may be all they want or what they are best at. There are many examples too numerous to mention but Bud Carson, Buddy Ryan, Norv Turner come to mind. Freddie is a good guy and I wish him nothing but the best.

No, I agree .. it’s not his fault he was hired. That’s on Dorsey and Baker.

Let’s just hope Stefanski is the right pick