What About the Browns Draft?

 

With all the excitement regarding the Cavaliers playoff appearance and the opening of the baseball season, we at Cleveland Sports Perspective have kind of ignored the other pro team in our city, the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns participated in the most overhyped event in sports a couple of weeks ago, the NFL Draft.  Expert’s ideas of how the Brownies did depend on how they viewed the players they picked.  If an analyst liked Kamerion Wimbley, he liked how the brown and orange did.  That’s how it is with the entire process.

 

However, I felt the team needed to upgrade its defense for the 2006 season, and Phil Savage picked those players with his early picks.  I like the mentoring process going on in Berea as well.  They have Willie McGinest to play immediately and show Wimbley the ropes.  Ted Washington will man the nose in 2006, but also will work with 6th round pick Babatunde Oshinowo at that spot.  Second round pick D’Qwell Jackson played pretty much the same spot in college as he will in the pros. 

 

Mostly, we have to trust Phil Savage’s talent evaluation credentials.  If he is right on his draft picks, the Browns will be a contender soon.  He did a nice job of stealing a 6th round pick from the Ravens by pretending he was going to take the nose tackle from Oregon.  Being able to move up in the second round by trading a guy with no future in Cleveland (Jeff Faine) was also a good move.

 

The trade of Trent Dilfer to San Francisco is really a non factor.  Fans don’t understand how much having someone around who disagrees with the program is really a pain in the ass.  Savage applied Preparation H to his discomfort, and dealt Dilfer.  The trade also firmly established Charlie Frye as the starter going into the mini camps. 

 

The Browns will be also be looking to deal William Green and the oft-injured Lee Suggs before the start of the season.  So, Savage will be adding more picks in the ’07 draft.  Hopefully they will be lower than 12 next year, because that means more improvement.  I’m sure the goal is at least 8-8 or 9-7 this season.  That will put Cleveland is good position for 2007.

 

JD