Browns Fans Ideal Drafts

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The Cleveland Browns are on the clock. The 2018 NFL draft opens with the Cleveland Browns seeking to alter their past woes and build upon an aggressive free-agency.  While there have been many mock drafts and projections for Cleveland’s infamous football team, this one is different.  We gave our readers the chance to submit their opinions on their Browns draft strategy that will help to fix the Browns.

If there is one thing about Cleveland sports fans that is true, it is that they are as opinionated and die-hard as they come. Just go to social media and you will see Browns fans viciously attacking each other’s opinions on players to take and position groups to emphasize during the draft. These comments and vitriol can only come from a team that has won one game in 32 attempts.  Browns fans somehow still exist and thrive despite their team’s continual woes.

One doesn’t have to look far to see the general trend of frustration that permeates thoughts about the Browns future. However, this time of year the Cleveland faithful are buzzing with anticipation as the annual “Browns Superbowl” approaches.  April is the most exciting month for the Browns as they currently sit atop the AFC North at 0-0 and hold 4 of the top 65 picks in this year’s NFL draft, including the 1st and 4th overall.

Keep in mind these are the unfiltered opinions of Browns fans. We throw in one of our Editor’s thoughts at the end for good measure.

QB and a Culture Change

“After decades of drafting the wrong 1st round QB, don’t be afraid to take a chance like the Texans did with Watson and the Eagles with Wentz (both QBs that we passed on). Take the best QB available. Draft an offensive tackle to replace Thomas. With Landry and Gordon back and a young stud TE from U of M, grab one more receiver and then shore up the defense, especially that hurting secondary.

Finally, You win with players. Winning has to become a culture. We have the most loyal fans on the planet. After all these deeply disappointing seasons, I find myself still a loyal die-hard dawg head. Give us, the fans, something to bark for again. It has been awhile. Only one way now, and that’s up. I can smell change in the air. The new era starts now!!”

Anthony Gwinn, former Ohio State Safety and die-hard dawg head @Anthony J. Gwinn

QB and Edge

No Saqoun and No Baker

“Around here I would say the majority of fans including myself believe the smart way to go is to take the quarterback you want at 1 and a defensive end at 4 if he’s there. For years I felt like using a high pick on a QB was a waste if we couldn’t keep him upright and couldn’t defend on the other side of the ball. See Tim Couch and everyone after him and you will see what I mean.  However, I feel like now the time is right and we just need a guy to build everything else around.

There are plenty of fans who crave Saquon. They argue that he’s a generational player and that there’s very little difference between the 4 QBs. I’m sure you’ve heard it all. I disagree on both counts. I watch a ton of college ball and Saquon is good, but he’s never going to be iconic.

There are fairly significant differences between the QBs. My vote is Darnold. Josh Rosen is very good but he doesn’t want to be a Brown. To me that matters. Allen is fun to watch and could be great but he played at Wyoming. Mayfield is a short little punk. Character should matter! I’ll be crushed if we take Baker Mayfield.”

Danny Ross, lifelong Clevelander who remembers when the Browns were good

Don’t Get Cute

“At 1…

The Browns, in unusual fashion, took what the draft gave them in 2017 and now are primed to have a premier pass rusher for years. They didn’t get cute with the #1 pick then, and they shouldn’t get cute now. This is a rare opportunity for the Browns to take a legitimate quarterback prospect, not an undersized mid rounder with a weak arm, not an immature 21-year-old with a drinking problem, or a 28-year-old ex-baseball pitcher, but an actual franchise-caliber talent with both the physical and intangible qualities to finally build a competitive football team around.

No one has a quarterback crystal ball, but scouts have made it clear that this draft is rich with talent at the most important position on the field.  Don’t trade down. Don’t draft a running back whom you’ll be lucky to get 6 good years out of, and is easily replaceable. Don’t wait until 4 to get your guy, and let the 2 teams in front of you dictate who your quarterback of the future will be. Find your guy and take him. I like Sam Darnold. He’s got it all: size, athleticism, football IQ, instincts,  and leadership. He went 20-4 in two years at USC and had an unbelievable performance on the national stage in the 2017 Rose Bowl. The Browns have swung and missed on many quarterbacks, but they have never drafted a QB like Darnold. This pick is a no-brainer to me, and I hope John Dorsey agrees.

At 4…

Depending on how the next 2 picks unfold, I’m eyeing Bradley Chubb. You know what’s more dangerous than having one fierce pass rusher on the field? Having two. If Chubb goes earlier, my next pick would be Minkah Fitzpatrick. Not only was he a heck of an athlete and playmaker at Alabama, but he did it as a freshman and was touted by Saban as the smartest defensive back he’s ever coached. I don’t think you could really go wrong with either of those guys. Quarterback/Defensive stud at 1 and 4 is a pretty safe bet for a team that just went 0-16.

At 33 and 35…

Now that you have your QB of the future and a defensive stud, the table is pretty wide open here. You can try to herald in a replacement for Joe Thomas by drafting Connor Williams of Texas (if still available). You can draft one of the Georgia running backs (and, in my mind, get most of the production you would out of Barkley at a much cheaper price). You could even cash in the chips and use both of those picks to trade back into the first round. If the Browns go Darnold-Chubb for the first 2 picks, as I hope, they could really put a dent in building their defense by investing some assets to move up 12 to 15 picks and land Denzel Ward or Josh Jackson. That would make things interesting.

At 64…

I won’t get set on any individual players this late in the draft. You never know who’s going to slip this far down, so just keep your options open, don’t be crippled by your list of needs, and take whoever is at the top of your board. By this point in the draft, you’re lucky to find a starter. If anything, I’d probably be looking into using this pick as trade bait to move back into the first round, as I mentioned in my scenario above.”

Jared Grenfell, Browns fan living in the heart of enemy territory in Cincinnati @jaredgrenfell

No QB For Me

“If the Browns take a QB at 1, I want it to be Sam Darnold since he has the best combination of traits for both the near future and years to come. However, I don’t want the Browns to take a QB.

Looking at the draft forces me to look back to the 0-16 season and ponder why we couldn’t even get one win.  Why couldn’t we edge out teams like Cincinnati and Baltimore who also had disappointing seasons? Why after either being within striking distance or leading against playoff teams (Jacksonville, Tennesse, Pittsburgh,  Minnesota) we completely crumbled in the second half? Why couldn’t we get one stop in overtime against a Gree Bay team with Aaron Rodgers holding a clipboard? The answer is our Defense.

Yeah, I get it, our QB gave away the ball in the Red Zone a bunch of times and our offense couldn’t get anything going when trailing from behind late, but the bigger issue (now seeing that the Browns have two veterans who have actually won games) was always a defense that might as well have just blitzed all 4 defensive backs rather than attempt to cover.  This is why the Browns went 0-16.  Adding a Running Back doesn’t get us a goal-line stop in overtime or keep Antonio Brown from single-handedly rocking our secondary to sleep with catch after catch. We need defense to put pressure on the QB and guys who can hit and catch to break up passes and create both scoring and good field position for our offense.

Anything other than Chubb at 1 and Minkah Fitzpatrick/Denzel Ward at 4 is nonsense (BTW what is up with the Browns not taking a Buckeye in the draft since Brian Hartline in 2009?). Imagine a defense that features Collins (pro-bowl ’15), Schoebert (pro-bowl ’17), Garret, Ogbah, Chubb, Brantley, Fitzpatrick/Ward. That is a defense that can get you a stop when the game is on the line.

If you are thinking that just Chubb and Fitzpatrick/Ward won’t be enough, then I tend to agree. That is why I am suggesting the Browns go all in and use their 2nd and 3rd round picks, and maybe even a player or later round picks to move back into the first round not once, but twice. How long they wait will determine the price they will have to pay. If around picks 18-25 there are two more elite defensive players (I think this will happen given the expected run at QB). Some mock drafts include Derwin James falling into that range along with Josh Jackson and or Jaire Alexander. Depending on whether they get a Safety or Cornerback with the fourth pick they should get at least two more pieces for their secondary.

The Browns should continue to build upon a stout run defense with more pieces in their secondary and maybe even another linebacker or defensive lineman to round out a soon-to-be elite defense capable of not only competing in games but winning them. Defense wins championships but it also is the easiest way to stop teams but beating you. Look at Buffalo and Jacksonville for a blueprint on how to become relevant.”

Since you might be pulling your hair out at the prospect of not taking a QB at 1 allow me to indulge you by addressing the QB situation in Cleveland once and for all with this bonus strategy

QBs Are Like Houses

“If you feel that passing on the bevy of QBs in the 2018 draft is ludicrous then I have a bonus strategy you might, emphasis on the might, agree with.  If it is indeed true that your team’s success rises and falls with your QB, then taking a QB is a must. But how about taking more than one? Buckle up. This will take some explaining but if Adam Schefter would do it then I feel I am in good company. The Browns should draft both Sam Darnold at 1 and Josh Allen at 4. They can get both the project and the sure-thing and know before the first snap in September that they have solved the long-term QB situation.

If you aren’t sold on Allen at 4 you could package a trade with the Bills (gimme both of those 1st rounders this year and another pick and we are set) or another team and select whichever QB falls to the spot they would now have.  This would likely be someone like Lamar Jackson or Mason Rudolph depending on how far back they land, but the idea is to grab the sure fire QB at the top of your board and someone who might need work but could develop into a good/great player.  This would mitigate the pick of a second 1st round QB by providing additional picks with which to work on the defense or to provide those rookies with upgrades at offensive line or playmakers around him.

If you are skeptical of this approach that is reasonable. But what isn’t reasonable is believing that QB is foundational and meanwhile refusing to commit to finding a long-term solution.  If we were to translate the various positions in the NFL to the world of finance, QBs would be more akin to a nice house or real estate purchase. In this same scenario skill positions would be more like fancy cars, they are nice to have but difficult to maintain and they lose their value as soon as they leave the lot.

QBs are like houses in that their value starts high during the draft and only get more valuable as time goes on.  Just think of the teams, like Denver, who get into training camp and realize the cupboard is bare at QB and would otherwise be able to contend. Think about the dolphins who had to pull Jay Culter from the broadcast booth after Ryan Tannehill was lost for the season.  If the Browns were to draft multiple first and second round quarterbacks they could bring them into camp and see who can play and who can’t without them losing their value. The other teams would not be privy to the various issues of each player, but the Browns would already have an idea of what a team would be getting.  They could then trade one or more of the QBs who don’t make the cut for either draft picks or even better, players at other positions who are already established.

Allow me to present a scenario. The Arizona Cardinals behind solid play from Sam Bradford and an improved Defense, are tied for 1st in the NFC West with the LA Rams entering the trade deadline. Sam Bradford then goes down with an injury. The Browns currently have on their roster Tyrod Taylor, Sam Darnold and Lamar Jackson (they traded back with the bills and took Jackson at 12 and a CB at 22). They then trade Lamar Jackson, whom the Cardinals had high on their board but couldn’t get, for a first-round pick and a player or 2 first round picks. This would then allow the Browns to see what Jackson has and weigh his future against Darnold’s, potentially acquire more picks and or established players (thus removing the mystery from what value a player has on the field), and be able to move on from a player that wasn’t going to pan out. Call me crazy but this sounds like something that would really put the Browns in a good spot and maybe help them climb them out of the dumpster fire that has been roaring in Berea for far too long.”

Rory Deken, Senior Editor/Writer for AllOhioSports and hopelessly optimistic Browns fan @RoryDeken