CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) –The Cleveland Browns, Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta and others in the front office did not love the consonances top signal callers in the NFL Draft and I could not agree more.
A quick recap of the days events, the Browns traded their top pick in the NFL draft and a conditional 2017 fourth-round selection to Philadelphia in exchange for the Eagles eight overall pick, 77th pick in the third-round, pick 100 in the fourth-round, along with the Eagles’ 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 second-round pick.
This trade is a great way to rebuild this team. Adding an additional first round selection next year and a second round selection in 2018 are great assets for the team to have. The Browns now have 12 selections in the 2016 NFL Draft, including six of the top 100 picks.
In terms of this years draft, it does not matter to me if you preferred quarterback Jared Goff or quarterback Carson Wentz, the bottom line is that the Browns needed to go another direction with the second selection in the draft and the player selected needed to make an impact on his first day in Berea.
When I look at the draft for the last few years the Browns have made picks to have them sit and to learn. Justin Gilbert, Johnny Manziel and Cameron Erving are just examples from the last few seasons. When you pick in the Top 10 of the NFL Draft you need to select a player at any position that will give not just the fans but the organization instant gratification with production on the field.
The Browns cupboard is bare in terms of talent! Adding a young QB to be the face of the franchise with no help around him would have been damaging to not only the player but would have set back this franchise…..again.
To be a successful QB in the NFL, outside of physical traits, you need to be surrounded by talent. The Browns have none. No impactful receiver, a tight end that is on the wrong side of 30 with having one successful season in the league, a cloudy backfield and an offensive line that went from being the strength of the team to a weakness.
In free agency the Browns lost the majority of the team’s talent. Pro Bowl Center Alex Mack went to Atlanta and Right Tackle Mitchell Schwartz left town as well. Perhaps the best offensive weapon Travis Benjamin took his talents to the west coast. The Browns brass said also goodbye to veterans like Karlos Dansby and Donte Whitner.
The team has holes everywhere. The Browns are now in position to draft Joey Bosa or Myles Jack to bolster the outside pass rush. Jalen Ramsey or Vernon Hargreaves to help in the secondary. The team could add a top tier offensive line man to fill in the spots left by those mentioned earlier. Maybe Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott is selected to give the Browns a weapon to go with Robert Griffin.
Do me a favor and if you were a Browns fan set on selecting a QB asks yourself this-let’s say that Wentz is the best QB. Goff and Paxton Lynch went back to school. Would you be drooling over Connor Cook or Dak Prescott?
