PoeticG

A quick draft poll, nothing serious.

Let me just start off by saying that I'm so excited that I can hardly wait for the NFL Draft on Thursday! For the first time in a long time I have no idea of just who the Browns are looking at or who would be the best pick at our spot. There are so many different ways to go in this draft. I believe that we are primarily looking to go Defense first but that isn't a no-brainer. We could easily decide to go Offense with having two new coaches on that side of the ball. However, the Defense has several glaring holes that do need addressed early. Primarily, the secondary and the Linebacker positions, which in our favor there are several marquee players that will be available when we arrive on the clock on Thursday. Also, not mentioned so far is the likelihood of a trade-down to garner an extra pick or two.

 

Dee Miliner, Jarvis Jones, Ziggy Ansah, Kenny Vaccaro or Dion Jordon, any one of these players would plug into this Defense and make an immediate contribution. The question is which one would give us the greatest amount of improvement, remember however that "Best Player Available" and picking the best player based on need are two extremely different stances. Many would suggest that we pick the best player that fits the biggest hole on our squad. I would say pick the highest, most talented player on your draft board regardless of position. I understand the need to fill the most pressing hole on the team with a talented player, but on a team that is lacking on blue-chip players like the Browns, that must be the center of focus in my opinion.

 

I would love to get Kenny Vaccaro as it has been ages since we've fielded an Elite Free Safety.  I think the position has been overlooked in recent years; from Usama Young, Larry Asante and Mike Adams  to Gary Baxter, Brian Russel and Chris Crocker, none of these players scream intimidating Ed Reed type Free Safety. I think that our short comings on the Defensive front could be related to the lack of a playmaker at Free Safety for sure. A talented player in that position would garner the attention of the QB and make him account for him long enough for the pass rush to impair the QB's judgement which creates rushed passes and inaccuracy issues, leading to increased interceptions and blown plays.

 

An area of need also arrives in the Cornerback positon and the Linebacker position. Although, the latter I feel isn't as justified as the need for another able body opposite Joe Haden seems far greater than another situational pass rusher... Although, if we added a stud Middle Linebacker like Manti Teo I wouldn't be opposed. I think that the best available scenario  to improve our secondary would be the following:

 

Trade Down to around the 10-14 pick range. In that spot take the best Free Safety in Kenny Vaccaro and pick up a second rounder. The next pick must now be a Cornerback opposite Joe Haden. If Desmond Trufant or Xavier Rhodes is available you stike that card and you just improved your defense. If they are both gone however, we need a playmaker at CB, I would suggest taking Tyrann Mathieu. He is an excellent kick/punt returner and we'll need one of those as Cribbs has left us. The only question I would have is whether this Front Office sees Mathieu as a pure #2 Cornerback, a Nickelback or a Free Safety. If they feel that he's capable to play opposite Haden without incident I would pull the trigger. A heisman finalist as a defensive underclassmen taken in the second round because of off the field behavior would equate to the Browns scoring a steal in this draft. Now if they believe that he's a Free Safety or Nickelback I'd change my first selection from Vaccaro to Rhodes or Trufant and then Mathieu in the second. I doubt that he makes it to the third round and he seems to have the underdawg mentality that Cleveland would embrace much like Joe Haden.

 

In the Third round I would take one of the remaining high potential TEs or OGs to help the offense along.  

 

CB1- Haden

CB2- Mathieu

CB3- Skrine/Wade

FS- Vaccaro

SS- Ward

OLB- Sheard

MLB- Jackson/JMJ

OLB- Kruger

DE- Rubin

NT- Taylor

DE- Bryant

 

This sets up as a defense that will disrupt and confuse an offense and creat turnovers. I would welcome this roster on gameday. What do you say Browns Fans?

I just saw that the Official Chat forum on ClevelandBrowns.com was to be shut down today! Some of the guys over there are really great posters. I wish we could recruit a few of them. I would but I've been banned for life because the "refs" over there are lil' hitlers. They are sending a lot of the guys to dawg talkers but from what I've read about them they are a lot like the board that's going down, moderation is for pansies. This site rocks. Although their format is a little better the freedom of speech here is what really makes this place special. This site doesn't pull any punches and I think that is something that some of the posters over there would appreciate. Anyways that site goes down today sometime... would be great for some of you to go recruit them before it goes.

Last year I went deep into the scouting process. Not so much this year, I'm just starting now...

It's that time of year again when we all break out our evaluation charts and give the upcoming prospects our best "Eyeball" exam. We read articles on their personalities and abilities, scrutinize many, many mock drafts from Mel Kiper to the 7-year-olds on Youtube. WalterFootball is a good spot to learn things about player rankings and stats. We'll watch highlights of players and take note of their competition and the system they are employed in. We'll listen to interviews and study raw gametape of players in highschool and compare the "jumps" they make from one level to the next and predict where the talent is going(some of us). Ultimately we will find a player that we believe will help The Cleveland Browns become winners and be exciting to watch on Gameday!

From the looks of it there is no real surefire Future Hall of Famer QB's coming out this year. There are a couple guys that a lot of people seem high on but nothing really worth throwing a couple future first rounders at. There are no Andrew Lucks or Peyton Mannings. Besides, the Browns have other areas to address this year and without a second rounder the process of picking the right player at 6 becomes so much more important as we won't be picking again until late in the second day. I'm not even going to consider going QB- I feel that it should be either Weeden or McCoy going forward, there is enough untapped potential there between the two of them from the previous regime that the current one will have their work cut out for them.

Runningback should not be involved either as we just dropped a heavy third overall on a great one last offseason. We have a future star on our hands as of right now and with the depth at the position with Hardesty coming along well, we need only focus on FullBacks and they don't go as high as runningbacks(Might there be a Great one in the Third or later rounds?).

Cashing in our second rounder early in the supplemental draft on Josh Gordon, who has turned out really well actually, he'd probably be mentioned as a late first rounder this year had he stayed in college, checking in another pick on a WR would seem to indicate an explosive offense. We could talk about whether to go offense or defense for days. I'd like to see us take the best player available as always. So if there is a WR that is like Calvin Johnson or an AJ Green we gotta take them even if we Need Linebackers or Cornerbacks. I'm not saying there is but you just can't pass on talent like that, agreed?

We could use an All-Pro LG or RG but at 6 is that something you'd really want to do, would the Brass even consider this with out a tradeback? Costanza didn't go until after our pick at 22... and that bugs me. We should have.... nevermind. Moving forward, I wouldn't consider a Guard or Center at six overall at this time. Although, the TE position is kinda an extension of the offensive line and we DO KNOW that the offense that Cleveland wants to run is reliant on quality play from the Tight End spot. So the question becomes, is there an option at TE that would compell us to make a TE that high of a pick? Is there an Antonio Gates in this draft? Is a TE even worth the Sixth Pick of the NFL Draft?  

That's pretty much it for the offensive side of the ball- WR or TE. Slim-pickings on picking up improvement there. Which takes us to the Defensive side of the Ball. Here is area where we all feel that pretty much every position except for NT could use an upgrade. This could go a lot of ways and I haven't the time at this point to go into every position. I'll break down the individual spots later but for now I'm thinking Linebacker or Secondary. Franchise Linebackers being harder to land than ever before I'm hoping one will still be available at 6 overall. Getting a Clay Mathews Jr. at 6 would turn our franchise around. I've heard the Names Jones and Mingo but are they the real deal? Somebody to account for, somebody to strike fear into an offensive unit, somebody to not only scare a QB but to also minimize the TE threat. Who is it?

We have the 6th overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft... Who is it?

Joshua Cribbs (born June 9, 1983).

Brandon Weeden (born October 14, 1983).

Josh Cribbs is only 4 months and 5 days older than Brandon Weeden and look at all he has accomplished in the NFL. He's been to two Probowls, holds punt and kick return records, is a standup leader on the team and huge supporter of the communnity. He's been the face of the team for years and years and the only threat of making a difference in games sometimes. He's a weapon and will always be the same Josh that he's always been. Commander and Chief- Special Forces of the Cleveland Browns.

...and then you have Weeden.

Cribbs would probably be a better Quarterback if they ever let him play. It's a known fact that Josh Cribbs set records at Kent State and CAN throw a freaking football just fine, he might be a little rusty but you just don't forget how to throw a football. Let him and Colt split time at QB and if you want put in Weeden to throw a deep ball and... damn, if we could just crush these three together we'd have ONE heck of a QB.

I say put Cribbs at FB, Trent at RB, Colt at QB, Little, Gordon and BJFlash at WR. Run Jordan and Watson out of the TE. Joe, Mack, Schwartz and Thing 1 and Thing 2 at the Guards... and we've got ourselves an offense, already here and part of the team. With a capable offensive mind in Coach 'Dinski' we could have a formittable offensive attack. I would rotate Cribbs in to take offensive direct snaps and occasionally audible him in as the direct Quarterback(through the no huddle offense no less) and leave the defense gasping and grasping at ankles. Colt could audible out to the WR spot and bring Little in to the FB spot to take a quick dump in the flats or take a quick handoff... the possibilities are endless and the rewards bountiful.

What the hell, why not?