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http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/04/in_the_shadows_browns_gm_tom_h.html

In the shadows, Browns GM Tom Heckert finetunes plans for draft: NFL Insider
By Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer
April 17, 2010, 10:41PM

BEREA, Ohio -- The forgotten man behind the Browns' draft plans is Tom Heckert.

How can the general manager be a forgotten man?

Well, Mike Holmgren dominates as club president like nobody else in the NFL at the moment. Even though Holmgren asserts the draft beginning Thursday is Heckert's show, the GM enjoys working in the sizable shadow of the Big Show.

So it's easy for pundits, experts, fans and draftniks to overvalue Holmgren when analyzing the Browns' draft plans and undervalue Heckert.

Like Philadelphia coach Andy Reid, the man under whom Heckert worked from 2002 through '09, Holmgren likes to make big splashes. Heckert is more low-key, said a former associate.

In Philadelphia this week, Howie Roseman, the man who succeeded Heckert as Philadelphia general manager, said the following when asked to compare his style with Heckert's:

"I'm probably a little more aggressive than Tom, in terms of my style. Tom is a very calm guy, very composed. I'm the kind of guy that wants to do something right now. That's just my personality. Tom helped me, in terms of [being more patient]. And I think I also brought some of [my style] out in Tom, as far as being aggressive and doing something."

In Heckert's tenure with the Eagles, they engineered 23 trades. Ten occurred in the last two drafts as the franchise felt the pressure to win a Super Bowl before quarterback Donovan McNabb's prime years passed.

The Browns are obviously at a different stage of development. But when analyzing the trade possibilities, it's instructive to review the moves made by the Eagles on draft day, particularly in the first round.

• 2002: No trades. Used the top four picks on: 1. Cornerback Lito Sheppard; 2. Safety Michael Lewis; 3. Cornerback Sheldon Brown; and 4. Running back Brian Westbrook. Result: Bingo. Heckert's best draft.

• 2003: Traded the 30th and 62nd picks to San Diego for the 15th pick. Used it on Miami defensive end Jerome McDougle. Result: Pfffft. McDougle was a bust.

• 2004: Traded the 28th and 58th picks to San Francisco for the 16th pick. Used it on Arkansas offensive lineman Shawn Andrews. Result: Checkered. Reid, a former offensive line coach, considered Andrews the most talented lineman he's coached. Andrews made the Pro Bowl twice at guard, but off-field problems eventually led to his release. He's currently out of football.

• 2005: Made three trades involving several picks after the third round. Resulted in 12 picks overall. Used first two on: 1. USC defensive tackle Mike Patterson; 2. Georgia receiver Reggie Brown. Result: Excellent. Also picked up Cincinnati linebacker Trent Cole in the fifth round.

• 2006: Made four trades after the first round. Used first four picks on: 1. Florida State defensive tackle Broderick Bunkley; 2. USC offensive tackle Winston Justice; 3. Cal State/Poly linebacker Chris Gocong: and 4. Georgia guard Max Jean-Gilles. Result: Excellent. All were stalwart starters until Gocong fell out of favor. Heckert has since acquired him for Browns.

• 2007: Traded 26th pick to Dallas for 36th, 87th and 159th picks. Used top three picks on: 1. Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb; 2. Notre Dame defensive end Victor Abiamiri; 3. Nebraska linebacker Stewart Bradley. Result: Mixed. Kolb will start paying dividends this year as the new starter and Abiamiri and Bradley have been productive players. But Anthony Spencer, the player Dallas chose with the 26th pick, has routinely haunted the Eagles in their division showdowns with the Cowboys.

• 2008: Made four trades, including the 16th pick for multiple picks, and received a No. 1 in 2009. Used first two picks on: 1. Notre Dame defensive tackle Trevor Laws; 2. California receiver DeSean Jackson. Result: Good. Because ...

• 2009: Made six trades, using Carolina's No. 1 to acquire Buffalo left tackle Jason Peters. Used first two picks on: 1. Missouri receiver Jeremy Maclin; and 2. Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy. Result: Excellent.

Sitting at No. 7 in Thursday's first round of the draft, the Browns are poised to move up or down slightly. Holmgren and Heckert both said they are not against making a move, but won't do it just for the action.

Incidentally, the Eagles, Heckert's old team, are said to be seeking to move up to pick one of the two high-rated safeties in the draft, Tennessee's Eric Berry or Texas' Earl Thomas. The Eagles own the 24th pick in the first round and also have two picks in the second round (Nos. 37 and 55 and 70) and two in the third (Nos. 70 and 87).

These teams already have engineered one major trade. They could very well hook up again during the three days of the draft.

Not sure it means anything because the past is the past, but heckert has had more good drafts than bad.. I guess that's something right? LOL

Honestly, we have three guys at the top of this organization that have had both good and bad drafts. it's a crap shoot.. I'm sure there will be posters on here that will pick them apart if one of thier picks doesn't work out.. Just remember, hindsight is 20/20 vision..


The one thing I'm encouraged by is that they appear to know what they are looking for in a player.. so I'm pretty sure we will get high character guys.. hard working guys that will put forth a ton of effort. and All will have high motors and smarts..

Still, we will no doubt miss on a few.. it happens..

the Iggles have two 2nds and two 3rds.
One of the 2nds is the Redskins 2nd rounder from the McNabb trade. So, there is the ability to trade down and get some 2nds and 3rds. We do need about 10 more decent players on the roster IMO. A trade like that just might do it!

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2010/tracker#dt-by-round-input/dt-tabs:dt-by-team/dt-by-team-input:phi

we have some of those 5ths and 5ths to work with as compensation in a big trade to get the other 3rds.

Myself, I want the Browns to stay put and pick the BPA and hit on it for once. Whether that is Berry, Suh, Iupouti(sp), Haden or whoever it is. They need to hit a homerun in the first for once.

Joe Thomas?

Maybe you should change it to for a second time

3rd if Mack goes all pro.

Those 2011 draft picks are really valuable because there will probably be a rookie pay scale in that draft (making the Raiders trade for Seymour look even worse as they gave up their 2011 1st rounder for him).

If we got picks 24, 37, and 55 I would be extremely happy. If we 24, 57, 70, and 105 I would be happy. If we got picks 24, 55, 70, and 87 I would be happy.

This is a very deep draft. The more picks we have the more we can do. I would be fine with hoarding 2nd and 3rd round picks then trading back into the late 1st/ early 2nd round.

If the eagles offered us their 1st and two second rounders and wanted to trade us their third round pick for our 3rd round pick. I think we would be hard pressed to pass that up. That would give the browns 1 first 3 seconds and 3 third round draft picks all in the first three rounds. That would allow us to do some serious rebuilding in one year.

Incidentally, the Eagles, are said to be seeking to move up to pick one of the two high-rated safeties in the draft..... The Eagles own the 24th pick in the first round and also have two picks in the second round (Nos. 37 and 55) and two in the third (Nos. 70 and 87).


If Mangenius was running this draft this would worry me..why?We need one of the bigtime safeties and I don't want us to trade away any possibility of getting one of the best two..hopefully TH won't blunder this draft.

j/c

Most years i can honestly say i have a good pulse of the team, and generally a good idea of who is on the draft radar. This year, i don't have a clue. The browns could go so many different directions its enough to make my head spin. I am now thinking the best thing is a trade down and pick up extra second rounders. In the end, this would have the largest impact on the rebuilding process.

I am also more convinced that trading up for Bradford would be a mistake. He would cost the better part of this draft and next years first as well, I would hate to do it. If all we needed was a franchise QB, it would make more sense -kind of like the jets last year, they had a good part of the puzzle put together when they traded for Sanchez. I say put the foundation together this year, and then next year make the move. And i guess i am not certain of Bradford- preinjury i thought he floated his passes so that has me concerned now.

It will be a fun few days leading up to this draft. May the football gods be smiling on the browns.