DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2014 NFL Season NFL Draft 2014 A Tale of Two Rookie GMs

A rookie GM with two first-round picks? Before Ray Farmer, there was Ozzie Newsome, and look what he did

May 05, 2014
By Tony Grossi | ESPNCleveland.com

The Morning Kickoff …

Back to the future: Ray Farmer is about to embark on his first NFL draft as a general manager. He has no past performance chart. The immediate future of the Browns is in his hands. His boss, Jimmy Haslam, has called this “THE crucial offseason for the Cleveland Browns.”

How will Farmer do?

If he could do as well as Ozzie Newsome did in his very first draft, the Browns will soon be in the Super Bowl.

The similarities, parallels, coincidences – call them what you will – between Farmer and Newsome and the teams they represent are eerie.

The obvious is both are African-American GMs who also played in the NFL.

Newsome was promoted to the GM job of the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 after a seismic shakeup. Art Modell moved the former Browns to Baltimore, and fired coach Bill Belichick and his top personnel aide, Mike Lombardi.

Farmer was promoted to the GM job of the Browns in 2014 after a seismic shakeup. Haslam fired coach Rob Chudzinski, and then fired CEO Joe Banner and – there’s that guy again – Lombardi.

In the year before Newsome took over, the (former) Browns acquired a first-round draft pick from the San Francisco 49ers.

In the year before Farmer took over, the Browns acquired a first-round draft pick from the Indianapolis Colts.

Newsome went into his first draft as GM with picks No. 4 and No. 26 in the first round.

Farmer goes into his first draft as GM with picks No. 4 and No. 26 in the first round.

What would Ozzie do?: Heading into the 1996 draft, the Baltimore Ravens had a lot of needs coming off a 5-11 season, but running back stood out as No. 1.

Lawrence Phillips, a player with character issues, was the top running back in the 1996 draft.

“We had brought Lawrence Phillips to Baltimore,” Newsome told me. “He, (coach) Ted (Marchibroda) and our running backs coach and I and Mr. Modell went to dinner. We came away thinking, ‘You know what? Despite some of the issues, he could be a good player for us.’”

On draft day, the Jets held the first pick and took USC receiver Keyshawn Johnson. The Jaguars went second and took Illinois linebacker Kevin Hardy. Arizona held the third pick.

“They were holding, waiting,” Newsome said. “As a matter of fact, they wrote ‘Lawrence Philips’ on their card to try to get us to trade up to take him. But we stood firm and when we got to our pick, I told Art, ‘The highest-rated guy is Jonathan Ogden.”

Ogden was a mammoth, athletic freak of an offensive tackle from UCLA. However, the strongest unit on the Ravens was offensive line.

“Art said, ‘I thought we need a running back?’ Ted was saying, ‘We need a running back.’ But (Ogden) was the highest-ranked guy,” Newsome said. “So why do all the work, and go against what you’ve done? That means all the work you do is for naught.”

At No. 26, Newsome said he was comfortable drafting for need. The highest linebacker on the Ravens’ draft board after Hardy was Reggie Brown, who went No. 17 to Detroit.

After Brown, the next linebacker on Newsome’s board was Ray Lewis of University of Miami.

“(Linebackers coach) Maxie Baughn had worked out Ray and just raved about the workout,” Newsome said. “Even though Ray did not fit the height/weight/speed, he was a ‘football player.’ It was a need and at that point he was our highest-rated guy, so we took him.”

Because of the Ravens’ strength at offensive tackle, Ogden played left guard as a rookie, and then had 11 consecutive Pro Bowl berths at left tackle. In 2013, Ogden was voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Lewis played 17 seasons at inside linebacker, making the Pro Bowl 13 times and earning NFL defensive player of the year honors on two occasions. He retired after the 2012 season and will be eligibile for the Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Ravens won the Super Bowl following the 2000 and 2012 seasons. Newsome said that 1996 draft was responsible for both championships. It is also why over the next 18 years, Newsome never strayed from selecting the top player on his draft board when his turn came up.

“Exactly,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons I still have a job today. Once you set your board, all you’re doing at that point is picking the highest player on your board. It’s all a matter of doing your work. So when you get in the heat of battle, why change? Why let emotions get in the decision?”

Learn as you go: Newsome said that nobody knew how he would do as GM when Modell gave him the job. He was the ultimate on-the-job trainee.

“I had been in draft rooms for five previous years,” Newsome said. “I had gotten an understanding of the mechanics of the draft by watching and listening.”

But nothing prepared him for the crazy things that can happen on draft day.

“As much as those picks worked out, it’s what I did in the second round that was more beneficial to me, because I made a mistake,” Newsome said. “I made a trade to move up in second round to get a tight end. The player (Jason Dunn) got picked the spot before us.”

Ever since, Newsome’s trades were contingent on the player he wanted being there for his selection.

Another lesson: “I took a cornerback (DeRon Jenkins) who wasn’t a very good tackler with that pick. Now, 18 drafts later, don’t even talk to me about a cornerback that can’t tackle.”

So Newsome made two all-time great picks in his first draft, and learned a couple valuable lessons, too.

Farmer should be so lucky. The Browns should be so lucky. We all should be so lucky.

Might be why we end up with a tackle with our 1st pick. And why Hoyer might actually have a fighting chance to stay upright. If we pick the next Ovden & Lewis, you know what, I'll learn to live with it.

So does this foreshadow that we'll be taking Matthews/Robinson at #4 and then Mosley/Shazier at #26?

Grasping at straws here, jesus. The only correlations I see are that they are black, rookie GM's and have the same picks.

That would be spooky

Nice story and goes to show that you need a litte luck too. Ozzie pretty much acknowledged that they were "this" close to draft Phillips and they had some LB I can't remember anymore over Ray Lewis, but were lucky enough to pick later and that guy was gone. Just like with the Quinn story...Ozzie was close to having drafted Phillips, R.Brown and Brady Quinn instead of Ogden, Ray Lewis and Flacco.

Also goes to show the influence a war room can have. Sounds like they were set to draft Phillips and than Ozzie had to convince his owner. Not sure you could do something like that with Haslam or even Holmgren. I wish they'd just let the GM and scouts in that room....not even the coaches. Their job is to coach, not to scout. HCs who had too much say in our draft rooms have cost us enough....

It sounds to me like a cautionary tale about staying true to your board, not reaching, and not drafting "need" first. Oh yeah, and avoiding CBs that can't tackle.

To be clear, I said we might take a tackle only because of BPA, not some superstitious history repeating itself stuff.

At any other position, I would agree, but since it is QB, I do not.

I think it would depend on how close the QB you might potentially take is to the other guys on your board.

For QB, it's almost like a "yes" or "no" proposition when you have no starter moreso than a rating.

"Can you see this guy being the starting QB of your team?"

Like with Weeden?

2014 NFL Draft: Browns GM exploring possibility of obtaining a 3rd pick in first round, report says

The Browns already have two first-round draft picks (Nos. 4 and 26 overall), but Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reported General Manager Ray Farmer is exploring a potential hat trick.

Farmer has asked at least one team low in the first round about moving up from early in the second round (No. 35 overall) back into the opening round, King wrote in his most recent Monday Morning Quarterback column.

King speculated that Farmer could be interested in striking such a deal because it would allow him to move ahead of the Houston Texans for a quarterback. The Texans have the first pick in each of the seven rounds, including the first choice of the second round (No. 33 overall).

King also mentioned the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks as a logical trade partner for the Browns in the aforementioned scenario. The Seahawks have the last pick in the first round (No. 32 overall) and would save about $1.4 million over the life of a four-year contract if they took a player at No. 35 instead of three slots earlier.

According to the draft trade value chart that some teams use, the Browns would need to surrender their second of two fourth-round picks (No. 127) to move up from No. 35 to No. 32.

This is just a sampling of the speculation that’s sure to surface this week before the draft begins at 8 p.m. Thursday. Some rumblings will come true, but many more will prove to be nothing more than noise.

Either way, Farmer has 10 picks at his disposal, so he has plenty of ammunition to wheel and deal as he sees fit. In late March at the NFL owners meetings, Farmer said he had already begun discussing potential trades with other teams.

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-brow...t-says-1.485827

haha that article, oh man, where do I even being. Not one ounce of credible information given. Everything, just pure speculation from writers who CLEARLY aren't getting inside information like they had in the past.

Steve,

Can you see Derek Carr being the starter for the Cleveland Browns?

If so, please tell me why (or how).

Yes.

He throws with anticipation and is accurate on those throws, which is important in a West Coast offense. (For the opposite, see AJ McCarron)

He has the arm strength to maximize the unique physical abilities of Travis Benjamin and Josh Gordon. All Benjamin's speed is neutralized if every deep ball turns into a jump ball.

He has the athletic ability to roll out and maintain accuracy on the run. He also has the arm strength to complete throws on the move without resetting his feet and body. Rollouts are generally an important part of a WCO playbook, and one of the many reasons why Weeden was a terrible selection for Holmgren and Shurmur's offense.

Those are the main qualities that stand out to me.

How I can't see Derek Carr being the starter of the Cleveland Browns:

I think Jacksonville is going to take him at 3 and I don't think we'd be willing to spend 4+26+4th round on moving up to #2. I think JAX would like to move back and still take Carr but there have been too many links between Carr and CLE and OAK for them to risk it.

JMO.

Thanks

The other day Toad mentioned that Carr doesnt seem to be football smart.

In the four years I've watched him, I have never pictured him as the quarterback of the Browns. The primary reason is that he regularly loses focus, makes bad mistakes, and fizzles out drives. I've always thought that he lacks QB intelligence. I will also add that he had two receivers that were practically uncoverable by Mountain West cornerbacks. Once they went up against SC corners everything seemed to fall into place. (kinda like the weeden to Dez and Blackmon thing)

One thing I've learned, a good way to determine how good a player is, is to have him play against your team. You pick out all kinds of things - good and bad.

Does the tape show something different? If you disagree with me then let me have it. Tell me why I'm wrong.

Just to add on to the similarities, Ray Farmer was drafted in the 4th round of the 1996 draft. The same draft where Ogden and Lewis were drafted.

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Skipping BPA to take Weeden got us where? Skipping BPA to take Quinn got us where?

If your skipping BPA to take a QB, you better come up with a Rogers LOL. Otherwise, it's just another dumb move

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How do you know that Quinn and Weeden weren't BPA on our board at the time we took them?

Second, if it was easy to tell which one was going to end up being Rodgers and which one was going to end up being Quinn, being an NFL GM would be a pretty easy job. As for QBs, you have to keep trying until you find one.. Once you find one, like Favre, then it's easy, you generally have a 4 or 5 year long window near the end of their career where you can be highly selective very calculated in finding his replacement and you can wait for just the right QB to fall to you at just the right time...

Or you can be the Colts and just get crapazz lucky.

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I have never pictured him as the quarterback of the Browns. The primary reason is that he regularly loses focus, makes bad mistakes, and fizzles out drives.

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Doesn't that make him the "perfect" qb for the Browns?