Brown's Draft - Offense or Defense?

[OzDawg]

I think how and who we go after in the draft and FA is completely dependant on who we hire as HC and who his Coordinators are.

Needs are needs and we have quite a few yet .

[Sez.EJ]

It always depends upon free agency of course.. but my plan is Free agency is offense all the way.. draft is defense all the way.

Myself.. if I am Heckert, I load up on Free agent WR's..It is a VERY good free agent class... I mean bring in a minimum of three and don't be cheap.. go get some talent. Other than 1 or 2 guys this is a poor WR class IMO...So I take that out of the draft equasion right away... It's dumb to bank on getting the one or two guys that are stars and come up empty..or have to give up the bank to get them.. (Three of These 9 guys to compete with who we have would be a great start on the future.. Santonio Holmes, Vincent Jackson, Malcom Floyd, Steve Smith, Legadu Nannee, James Jones, Steve Breaston, Mike Simms Walker, and Lance Moore. (this is not an exhaustive list..as I said..it's a good F/A class) We could probably get away with 2 of these guys...but 3 sounds like a a major upgrade/overhaul..which it would be. I would also bring in a strong RT and backup center/guard since we really have no one capable of really backing up Mack if he goes down. That's where my Free agency dollar goes.. on the offensive side of the ball.


With the WR position addressed fully in free agency ,Heckert can focus the draft on spots of great need.... DE in round 1..there are a few good ones.. then, LB, CB, DE again.. in that order.then BPA in round 6,7 . also depending upon free agency.

Offense in free agency.. Defense for the draft. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. This plan = double digit wins in 2011

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by TheBestPlayersPlay

Agree with golf. We should by dynamic on offense next year regardless of adding any pieces. After all, we were pretty dynamic this year with McCoy at the helm before all the injuries.

I'll take BPA at an area of need. My guess is in the first round that will be either WR, DE, or CB. With luck not coming out, I'm thinking it'll be DE or CB.

Do you think RT is a priority, especially with a young QB, who might need just a bit more time to get through his reads. I liked it when they actually let him throw the ball down field. For that to work we need to give him more time (RT) and a weapon (#1 WR).

I don't think you can really count on Pashos staying healthy for 16 games.

I do think DE, CB and WR are big needs, but I think RT is big also.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

It always depends upon free agency of course.. but my plan is Free agency is offense all the way.. draft is defense all the way.

Myself.. if I am Heckert, I load up on Free agent WR's..It is a VERY good free agent class... I mean bring in a minimum of three and don't be cheap.. go get some talent. Other than 1 or 2 guys this is a poor WR class IMO...So I take that out of the draft equasion right away... It's dumb to bank on getting the one or two guys that are stars and come up empty..or have to give up the bank to get them.. (Three of These 9 guys to compete with who we have would be a great start on the future.. Santonio Holmes, Vincent Jackson, Malcom Floyd, Steve Smith, Legadu Nannee, James Jones, Steve Breaston, Mike Simms Walker, and Lance Moore. (this is not an exhaustive list..as I said..it's a good F/A class) We could probably get away with 2 of these guys...but 3 sounds like a a major upgrade/overhaul..which it would be. I would also bring in a strong RT and backup center/guard since we really have no one capable of really backing up Mack if he goes down. That's where my Free agency dollar goes.. on the offensive side of the ball.


With the WR position addressed fully in free agency ,Heckert can focus the draft on spots of great need.... DE in round 1..there are a few good ones.. then, LB, CB, DE again.. in that order.then BPA in round 6,7 . also depending upon free agency.

Offense in free agency.. Defense for the draft. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. This plan = double digit wins in 2011

Knowing that FA is a two way street, we can't just take who we want. It's mutual and we need the right coach with the right offensive system to bring quality FAs here.

That said, I agree about FA WRs but I'm a bit tired of over-the-hill offensive linemen in FA. You get great quality OGs in mid rounds of the draft, tackles a a bit harder to find. There will be some outstanding OTs available when we pick at #37. If we stay in the 3-4 you can find some nice DT/DE fits in the mid rounds. Guys who can hold the point of attack and stop the run. If you are looking for a pass rusher then you got to look early in the draft.

It will be interesting to see how the CBA effects FA signings. What I don't like is that we have 4 LBs that will be FAs (Roth, Trusnik, Jackson and Gocong) and Bowens and Barton who shouldn't be kept. That makes LB a need position also if they can't sign our own guys.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

Do you think RT is a priority, especially with a young QB, who might need just a bit more time to get through his reads. I liked it when they actually let him throw the ball down field. For that to work we need to give him more time (RT) and a weapon (#1 WR).

I don't think you can really count on Pashos staying healthy for 16 games.

I do think DE, CB and WR are big needs, but I think RT is big also.

Absolutely I think so. I'm just not sure I see us taking a RT that high, although if the guy is that good, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it. I think a stud or even an above average RT makes our O a whole hell of a lot better. We're crippled when Pashos is out.

[PlaygroundLegend]

Im pissed, Ochcocinco had to go and make his first dumbass comment in like 3 years...

not a silly comment like he usually does, but one that will probably hurt his FA stock once he's cut (because he will be)

Im angry because his remarks will probably keep heckert from picking him up......

I really wanted Chad on this team

[Sez.EJ]

The Bengals retained ocho and paid the option on him..he's a bengal next year.. Thank goodness. Sorry PGL..he's just too easy to take out of games and he disappears for weeks at a time.

[nickers]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

The Bengals retained ocho and paid the option on him..he's a bengal next year.. Thank goodness. Sorry PGL..he's just too easy to take out of games and he disappears for weeks at a time.

I agree Sez...so much so I bet Stinko holds out and barters for a trade...PGL...no man...Quit trying to Maddenize the Browns in your head...It aint gonna happen.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

I thought this may be a interesting topic for discussion.

It's an awesome topic Ytown. Here's what I like to do every year because I never know what the staff wants to draft first. Anyway, I pick 1 offensive guy and 1 defensive guy I'd like us to take with that selection. It's been alot of fun. I got an email from Shep reminding me about my fondness of CJ Spiller in 2010. That's probably because he knows Carolina needs to draft a QB first in 2011.

Anyway, here's the guys I wanted the last 2 years:
2009: Percy Harvin Offense/STs and Aaron Curry LB(after changing my mind on Rey)
2010: CJ Spiller Offense/STs and Joe Haden CB/STs

THIS year, and this is subject to change - I'd like us to draft
WR Julio Jones (understanding Green is already taken w/ Luck out of the way)
LB Donta Hightower (currently learning under a former NFL DC & HC)

I'm tempted by Dareus; BUT I really feel that our team losing close games by 1-2 big plays means more playmakers needed. We're competing with teams but not defeating them. Let's add those big plays with those that can provide them.

My intrigue with Jones is the level of shake and bake that 6'4" frame brings with it. That guy's like 7 Eleven in that he's open 24/7. He might not run 4.3s like Calvin Johnson; but I've got a feeling he'll surprise some people the same way Matt Jones did with his long strides a few years back.

Adding a young LBer here seems inevitable. Jackson is becoming the football version of Yao Ming when we gotta replace him with someone like Barton. Aside from that, I've never really felt like he's policed the line of scrimmage well - not to be confused tackle volumes in pursuit downfield. Good hustle but less than impressive first step instinct. I once had high expectations where I planned on seeing him stop alot 3rd and short scenarios. Unfortunately, the only ILBer I noticed stopping those types of plays in 2009 (the season Jackson got injured) was David Bowens and alot more than once. He's about to retire today and we don't know if Fujita's knee is going to heal up to where we'd get the SAME guy back. I'm uncomfortable with how many vacancies our LBer position has at this time for a scheme requiring 4 good LBers. I'd still love to change to a 4-3 because Rubin and Rogers could bring back Crush and Rush (Ball and Perry) on the inside. Coleman's high ankle sprain will heal in the offseason and Roth can play DE with a hand down.

DaBrownies put together an impressive mock draft - I hope people take a look at that and even visit his NFLSoup site. This board has alot of people that love to study up the draft and post their mocks. I'm looking forward to our draft gurus sharing their goodies. They always do a good job. Unfortunately, if I dropped names here - I'd probably unintentionally leave someone out. This is a great time of year as bowl season closes and the all star games, Indy combines and campus workouts are just a stone's throw away.

[PlaygroundLegend]

Darren Sproles is an FA, if theres one signing we need, thats it. Sproles has mad game...

Hillis needs some lightning

Think about that, 2 polar opposites in Hillis and Sproles

[Enigmatic Evil]

A talented WR can be found at any point in the draft, but IMO we gotta take BPA either DL or WR when that #6 pick comes to us. I trust Heckert, he's a talented GM and after last seasons draft I'm confident we will take the player who will best help our ball club, be that a dynamite offensive presence or a beast on the D.

I think that Offense is the greater NEED but I also think that talented WR's can be found in the second round as well. If there's a D-Lineman who's a top 10 pick avaliable to us, we gotta pull the trigger on that guy... Granted, we've been burned taking D-Lineman in the past just like we've been burned with WR. Oh well...

It's going to be wait and see, but IMO, the biggest needs to be addressed are WR, DL, OL.