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The draft forum doesn't usually start until some time after the SB.

Oh, I wasn't meaning to criticize you. I was just explaining why you had a problem figuring out where to post it and when the board usually opens the draft forum.

I'm an NFL fan and have both teams and players I like outside of the Browns. So I always enjoy the playoffs and SB. But I understand it's not that way for everyone.

I haven't bothered looking at the draft much as of yet. But I certainly agree that WR is an area of need. At the same time I must say the track record of Browns WR's that have been drafted do concern me.

I am going to ask this question now because the longer I wait the more likely it will skewed by bias toward specific players.


Let's say we get to our pick in the 2nd round and our top rated Wr, Rb, OT, DT, LB all have exactly the same draft grade.
Which do you pick?

That's a question which is far too early to answer at this point in time. We have no way of knowing who will be gone from the team nor which FA's will be signed to the team before the draft. As such we have no way to know where the greatest need will be come draft time.

I've watched people try to make such predictions in years past only to watch the team address those positions in the FA market before the draft. As such the very positions they thought needed addressed in the draft had already been handled. I mean it's a fun thing to guess about I suppose but the current picture in terms of need will most likely look quite different than it does now come draft day.

Probably OT. Maybe DT if he's more of an interior pass rusher/disruptor.

Not sure how skewed I'll get this year. Honestly not feeling the usual draft fever.

In that scenario I would go either OT or DL build from the line out. Then LB if he can rush the passer. We can get a RB or WR later. Who we sign in FA will have a big effect on what player we take in the 2nd round.

BPA certainly plays a part in which player you draft. But need is valued almost as importantly when the rankings are close. By the mid to late second round the grades are usually pretty close meaning that in most cases, the BPA involved is virtually indistinguishable.

While I'm not sure how NFL talent evaluators had him ranked, I think you and I were both in shock when JOK was still sitting on the board in the second round for the Browns to select. So I'm certainly not trying to indicate that there aren't exceptions to that rule on occasion. But once you get past the mid second round, for the most part players are in groups as to BPA and not separated by a large margin within those groups.

And while you may say that FA and the draft are separate, it's plain to see how the signings teams make in the FA market impact their draft choices. Once positions are addressed it makes that position much lower on the list of priorities for a team to draft high in the draft. Once a position is filled it gives you the liberty of drafting that position later in the draft on a player you hope to develop which will be ready to fill that role when the need at that position is once again a priority.

While this is a rather obvious example it does show the point I'm trying to make. Last year everyone knew the Jets needed a QB. The Jets had the #15 pick in the draft. Some felt the Jets would try to trade up by either packaging picks or trading their pick and a player to move up in order to draft a QB. Then they addressed the QB position by signing Aaron Rodgers. Now let me ask you, once the Jets signed Rodgers, did anyone think they would trade up or draft a QB with their first round pick? Addressing the position by signing Rodgers changed everything.

Just a couple of quick ones from the Browns. After signing Clowney for the 2022 season how much priority did the Browns place on drafting another pass rusher in 2022? How about after signing Za'Darius Smith for the 2023 season?

No doubt about that one. But I think this FO believed we didn't really need an OT that they would need to start immediately. Had they have believed that I think they wouldn't have waited until the fourth round to draft one. As it turns out I think everyone with maybe the exception of Dawand Jones was surprised with how that turned out. If the other 31 NFL FO's would have known how that would turn out I believe he would have been gone in the 10 to 15 range.

Tale of two Xaviers.

Legette? Yes please. 6'3" 225 bully with great hands and elite speed for his size.

Worthy? NOT Worthy. No thanks forever on drafting the 170lb WRs. If you want one, overpay in a trade after he shows he belongs.

Yeah, I'm not in favor of going the Smurf route.

I agree. We have plenty of smaller guys. Unless the guy has shown glue hands and runs like the wind I want to be looking at wideouts 6'1"+ and have some meat on their bones.

We have run the gauntlet with diminutive in stature receivers. Lets get some bigger guys with sprinter type bodies rather than long distance bodies.

Like Pit said, if I had to pick by need, I really need to know what the needs might be. You really need to get through the bulk of free agency to know that. Much would depend on who we lose and who we sign.

Righ now I might say QB. Questions surround Watson and DTR doesn't look like any sort of answer at this point. We probably need to get a QB. It could be very important we get several rookie deal QBs in wait if Watson never fills the bill.

I don't think that will happen, but it could. Having 2 young QBs with actual talent couldn't hurt anything.

But...to play the game, maybe a RB. I am not convinced Chubb will be ready to go or if he is even on the team come fall. I don't like to say it, but if he isn't ready, we may have to cut him.

We have been waiting a long time for a talented roster. A problem we haven't had to face in a long time is cutting good players for health or money reasons. Hard roster decisions coupled with hard business decisions is a slippery rope to navigate.

We need to improve the WR room, I’d also consider an RB, not because I think Chubb is done - and maybe he is - but we need one anyway. I’d also take an OL or two if we really like them. As peen stated, free agency will dictate in part on what we do in the draft.

We’ll know more by early April.

While I appreciate that, and realize things will change down the road, this is just a mental exercise to get us started.
Look at it as if the draft was tomorrow and who we have is who we have.

The question isn't intended to be about specific players or about going forward but rather:
If we would have had one more player on the team last season, which position would have made us better (the most better)

I would rally like a Wr who can take the top off the defense. Not too concerned about size. What this Wr needs is elite speed who can run sharpe routes and has good hands. Schwartz had elite speed but wasn't a good route runner and had hands made out of butter. Cooper has good hands and is an excellent route runner but his speed is "just okay".

I was kind of surprised by Leggette's measurements at the Senior Bowl.



Ricky Pearsall from Florida is a WR that looks interesting to me. Not sure how much digging I'll do this year, though.

If I had my wish, we'd get the best WR possible and then get depth at DL and OL

In FA, Laviska Shenault is a potential buy low candidate that I think might bring something a bit different to our WR room. He was in Carolina with Staley, so we should have pretty good insight on him.

I agree that I don't really want to chase the big names at WR.

I think those rankings reflect the devaluation of the RB position more than anything.

Yes. And I don't know how they "weight" these rankings in respect to player position, but I know and RB has to generally be thought of as possible HOF material before they crack the top 25.

I think the train of thought, and is true for many teams, is that the NFL has changed. Very few teams depend on the running game as the central part of their offense. It's become a passing league for the most part. In the past it was far more traditional for the run game to open up the passing game. Thus you needed a very highly talented RB in order to establish that game plan. Now the opposite is true. With the passing game opening up the running game you get the defense on its heels and dropping back in coverage which makes it much easier to run the ball. If the Browns need to pay a QB like watson that kind of contract, they should be able to follow the strategy of using the passing game to open up the running game which is what the NFL is becoming more and more of. Welcome to the 21st century.

A FO that is using a sound financial strategy will lean towards drafting positions that cost the most on the FA market with the first few picks in the draft. Top end QB's, LT's, pass rushers and CB's as early as possible. What that accomplishes is that they can fill their needs in the FA market with positions that should be much cheaper to fill. RB is one such position. At the time Chubb was drafted the Browns were using the running game to open up the passing game. That made the RB position a higher priority for them at the time. If they still find themselves in that same position it means that they don't believe that watson can fulfill a part of the reason he was brought to Cleveland.