A brief aside

So my Browns traded down, traded back up and ended up last night with several extra picks this year and next and a slim little guy with a name that sounds more like an accountant than a first round defensive tackle, Phil Taylor. Phil is a mere 6' 3" and 334 lbs. Here's hoping he eats up running backs like he clearly eats at the buffet! On to rounds two and three!

Did I mention....

...that the NFL Draft is tomorrow? Lock-out, schmock-out! Let the prognosticating end and the drafting begin!

Draft Day!

Ok, a couple of times of year are big sports days for me. I don’t watch a lot of sports on TV, hampered by our eschewing of cable/satellite, but I do still follow sports. The NFL Draft is one of my favorite sports-related events of the year which is kind of weird since no one is actually playing a sport. You can tell I am not the only person who loves the Draft based on the NFL spreading it out from two days to three this year.

So if you will indulge me, here are my hopes for today. As a Browns fan, I really hope that the Browns either select Eric Berry (Safety, Tennessee) or move down in the first round and get more draft picks. Berry is pretty widely considered to be an elite prospect at an undervalued position. If the Browns could move down and get some additional decent picks (i.e. not sixth round) and still get a difference maker on defense in the secondary, that would be great (like Earl Thomas, also a safety but expected to go much lower than Berry). The Browns need lots of help. In the second round I expect them to take Colt McCoy, quarterback from Texas, a guy who has the best football name for a Texas football player ever. I mean seriously, Colt McCoy? Sounds like a name from a bad Western. He might not last until the second round though. Much as I love Tim Tebow, I wouldn’t want the Browns to take him until the third round and I think someone like Jacksonville is going to grab him earlier than that. I do hope that Tebow goes in the first round and has a great career. After the second round, the Browns have three third rounders and need them all for more defensive help, a running back and wideout perhaps. When you are as bad as the Browns, you need lots of pieces.

It should be interesting to see what separating the first round from the second and third, giving teams almost 24 hours between the last pick of the first and the first pick of the second round to make trades, does to the dynamic of the draft. Instead of rolling right into the later rounds, now there is a lengthy delay to think things over. Tomorrow should hopefully be interesting and poor Mel Kiper, who has the best job in the world, might have a complete meltdown.

As a sidenote, how fun would it be if the Lions passed over Suh and took Dez Bryant in the fine tradition of the Lions drafting wide receivers that bomb in the first round?

On a more serious note...

Today is Draft Day when football fans gather for a sporting event that includes no actual sports being played, where the prophet is poofy haired Mel Kiper Jr. and the only sweat is on overweight NFL executives. Always fun to see how my beloved Cleveland Browns make a series of bad draft picks.

All Hail NFL Draft Day!

Back together...

Jake Long of Michigan and Chad Henne, also of Michigan, will be back together in Miami playing for the Dolphins. Jake Long, an absolute monster at offensive tackle, will be the man in Miami with a $57 million contract. His first purchase was an new Ford F-250. That is the kind of guy he is.

A couple of great players who will make a rock solid start to the rebuilding of the Dolphins franchise. Very cool that the guy that protected Chad Henne's blindside from the left of the offensive line will now be defending Henne from the faster, stronger and meaner defensive ends and linebackers of the NFL.

GO BLUE!

Another sign of a great season and a great future....

Not only did the Cleveland Browns exceed all expectations and finish 10-6, just missing the playoffs, but rookie left tackle Joe Thomas was named to the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl. The left tackle, typically guarding the right handed quarterback's blind side, is the most important position on the offensive line and finding a good left tackle is tough. Finding a great one is tougher and the Browns hit a home run with Thomas. They did pass over Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson, but the O-line was a more pressing need and Peterson has had some injury issues. Overall number one pick JaMarcus Russel did a whole bunch of nothing in his rookie season (373 yards passing, 2 TDs, 4 INTs, paltry 55.9 QB rating) and number two pick Calvin Johnson, the latest Lions wideout selection had 756 yards receiving and 4 TDs, not a bad season but hardly a great one. With a franchise left tackle, a supreme specimen at tight end in Kellen Winslow, a budding superstar at wideout in Braylon Edwards, and two good quarterbacks the Browns seemed poised to threaten for the AFC North in 2008. If they can pick up some defensive players in free agency and the draft, they will become the team to beat next year in the North. Of course that is a pretty big if...

GO BROWNS!

2007 Browns Draft Coverage

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The Browns were faced with a tough choice: a potential franchise quarterback or a cornerstone left tackle. The question came down to Joe Thomas or Brady Quinn. Their answer? Yes!

The Browns got Joe Thomas at 3, a solid, popular pick with the fan base. And then Quinn started dropping like a stone. Not an indictment on him so much, but not a lot of teams needed a quarterback. Miami took Ted Ginn from Ohio State, an overrated burner instead of Quinn and that may bite them later. I love that Thomas went fishing rather than sitting around waiting to see where he got picked. Hopefully we just got two major building blocks for the next 5-7 years!