Farmer’s Trade With Bills Eases Risk on Manziel Pick

For weeks, fans of the Cleveland Browns were wondering about what kind of offensive weapons they could get to instill life into this losing franchise.

They had to wait awhile, but Ray Farmer moved up from the 26th pick to #22 by trading with Philadelphia to get Johnny Manziel, the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Texas A & M.

With the fourth pick, Manziel would have been an incredible risk, and #22, he still is risky, but not as much.

And Farmer minimized the chance even more by trading for another first round in next year’s draft by trading down from the fourth overall pick to ninth, and getting the Bills first rounder next year.

Now, the pressure is squarely on Mike Pettine and Kyle Shanahan to decide who is the best player to take the snap in the opener at Pittsburgh, veteran Brian Hoyer or the much hyped rookie, Johnny Football.

Because we will not back down on our expectation for the Browns this season. It is time to stop looking toward the future, it is time to win and win now.

With Cleveland’s first selection of the night, GM Ray Farmer dug into the team’s history to find out the strengths of the team the last time they were a perennial playoff squad.

Those were the Browns of the late 1980’s. Yes, they had a good quarterback in Bernie Kosar, and a strong running game led by Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack, but the cornerstones of those teams were a pair of excellent cornerbacks in Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield.

Perhaps that’s why Farmer’s first pick as GM was Oklahoma State CB Justin Gilbert.

Gilbert was considered by many to be the top player at his position in this year’s draft and together with Pro Bowler Joe Haden, could form this generations pair of excellent corners to compare with Dixon and Mighty Minnie.

Having a pair of excellent cover corners allows the defense to be very creative in putting pressure on the quarterback because you don’t have to double cover any wide receivers. It allows Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil to come up with a variety of blitz packages knowing the wide outs will be taken care of.

Of course, picking Gilbert was Farmer’s third move of the night. He traded down from the 4th pick to the 9th pick getting Buffalo’s first round choice next year.

Normally, we criticize the Browns for always playing for next year, but the opportunity to get a first round pick in ’15 from a team not figured to be a playoff contender this season was too much to pass up. Plus, Gilbert appears to be the guy Cleveland wanted all along, so you have to like that move.

So, on the first night of the draft, Farmer improved his defense and took a gamble on a franchise quarterback. Only time will tell if the Browns have solved their woes at quarterback, or Manziel will be latest in a group of failures at the position.

Once again, we repeat, getting another first round pick next year does reduce the risk factor on Manziel.

So Browns’ fans, your football team will be noticed in 2014, whether or not it will be for winning or for a circus, only time will tell.

Yes, Browns Need a QB, but Do They Need One at #4?

The prevailing debate among Cleveland football fans is the quarterback position and how it relates to this May’s NFL Draft.

Local sports talk shows have been discussing it since the end of the season, and the bad news is, there is still five weeks of draft talk to come.

Should the Browns take a passer with the fourth overall pick? If you don’t believe they should, then people think you believe the Browns don’t really need a QB, and they should settle for Brian Hoyer because he’s a hometown guy.

First, we feel Cleveland should draft a quarterback in 2014, but we don’t feel any of the passers coming out, including the “big three” of Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, and Blake Bortles, are worthy of the fourth selection.

We have said this before about all professional drafts. The idea of the draft is to make poor teams better, to upgrade their talent level.

Drafting a player who may be the 15th best talent in the selection process with the fourth pick is just stupid. And moving a player that many spots up the board because they play a certain position defeats the idea of the draft.

You are just pushing better players down to the better teams, which in turn makes them stronger.

Look at how this year’s playoff teams acquired their quarterbacks:

Denver-Peyton Manning: signed as free agent, although he was the first overall pick in 1998
New England-Tom Brady: most famous sixth round pick of all time
Cincinnati-Andy Dalton: second round pick
Indianapolis-Andrew Luck: first overall pick in 2012
Kansas City-Alex Smith: acquired in trade, but was the first overall pick in 2005
San Diego-Philip Rivers: fourth overall pick in 2004.

Seattle-Russell Wilson: third round pick in 2012
Carolina-Cam Newton: first overall pick in 2011Philadelphia-Nick Foles: third round pick in 2012
Green Bay-Aaron Rodgers: first round pick (22nd overall) in 2005
San Francisco-Colin Kaepernick: second round pick in 2011
New Orleans-Drew Brees: second round pick

So, out of the twelve playoff teams, five had their quarterbacks drafted in the first round, but two of those (Manning and Smith) are no longer with the teams that originally drafted them.

Three of the first round picks (Manning, Luck, and Newton) were all considered no-brainers for the first overall pick. They were highly decorated college players, and no one debated Rivers as a top ten selection either.

Smith was considered the best QB in a mediocre lot, and he’s already on his second team, but to be fair, he’s turned into an efficient player and he’s been a winner as of late.

Three more players were drafted in the second round, and one of those (Brees) is likely headed for the Hall of Fame, and Kaepernick has played in a Super Bowl and two other NFC Championship games.

While there are zealots who will tell you that Manziel, Bridgewater, and Bortles will become great NFL players, there are also scouts who have their doubts. That’s why you can’t take them at #4 if you are the Browns.

With that pick, GM Ray Farmer has to take a player who can start immediately and be an All-Pro in a couple of years, regardless of position.

Why not pick up Derek Carr or A.J. McCarron or Jimmy Garoppolo in the second or third round and develop them for a year or two behind Hoyer?

When the Browns had decent quarterback play last season, they won some football games. If Hoyer plays smart, and Cleveland has a solid running game, they should escape the 10 loss season streak.

They don’t need to play a high stakes game of poker. Besides, it’s not like quarterback is the only hole on the roster to fill. The team needs offensive line help, another wide receiver, linebackers, and secondary help.

Why not fill one of those spots with a player who has a higher floor.

Yes, the Cleveland Browns need a quarterback, but there is plenty of evidence that you don’t have to take one in the top five to win in the NFL.

The Manziel for Browns Debate

With the NFL Draft Combine going full mode right now, once again attention has drifted away from the turmoil in the Browns’ front office to who should they take with the 4th overall pick in the draft in May.

And of course, this brings up Texas A & M quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. Certainly, he would bring excitement to what has become a moribund franchise, but would that translate into victories and playoff spots.

Browns’ fans don’t want relevance, as one Cleveland sports talker always espouses, they want wins. No one will be happy if there is plenty of buzz about the Browns and they finish 5-11 once again.

Our question to people who are begging for the Browns to take Manziel is would they bet a year’s pay that he will succeed in the NFL? Because that’s what Cleveland GM Ray Farmer has to do. If he’s not the answer, then Farmer has to explain his pick to owner Jimmy Haslam.

On Friday, the discussion centered on size, both Manziel’s height and the size of his hands. He didn’t receive good marks on the first set of measurements, coming in at under six feet (5’11-3/4″), but he had the biggest hands out of the top three passers entering the draft, larger than Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles.

However, do these two things help Manziel with probably the most important job an NFL quarterback has, the ability to read defenses and put his team into plays that will succeed against the opposition.

Johnny Football’s supporters will point out that he is taller than the Super Bowl winning quarterback, Seattle’s Russell Wilson. However, critics (such as us) will point out that Wilson is not really an elite NFL passer, and while he did pilot the winning team, the Seahawks’ defense and running game had more to do with the victory.

If you made a list of the top ten quarterbacks in the league today, Wilson wouldn’t be on it. That supports our theory that GM Ray Farmer and his scouting staff should draft the best player available with the fourth selection, not the best QB left on the board.

Veteran scouts also seem torn on the Texas A & M quarterback. While many love his ability to make plays, others say he is quick to leave the pocket and leaves plays on the field. Others feel he’s a solid top ten pick, and conversely some scouts think he’s the biggest risk among the possible early selections.

Our thought is Farmer should take the best player on the board, because none of the holy trio (Bridgewater, Bortles, or Manziel) are Andrew Luck or even Robert Griffin III. The Browns have to get a player who can impact winning in 2014 with the choice, not someone who may have to be replaced a year from now.

Teams that overdraft QBs are usually still looking for replacements, just ask Jacksonville who selected Blaine Gabbert early and Minnesota, who did the same with Christian Ponder.

And it is not like the only need the Browns have is at that position. They still need a talent infusion for the entire roster, even with six Pro Bowlers. They still need another wide receiver, offensive line help, a running back, inside linebackers, and safety help, particularly if T. J. Ward leaves via free agency.

Manziel might be the sexy pick, but sexiness doesn’t win football games in the NFL.