Sobo's Premature Free Agent Preview

[slowmo411]

Originally Posted by Vegasdogg

I think if Holmgren and Heckert went into 2010 not drafting a WR high, then they might think this is not on the WR's as much as the OC and QB. They could be thinking that the strengths of this team is coaching up players, specifically WR's, and that those positions do not pose nearly the weaknesses that people on the outside looking in do. How do you explain watching all that film and observing your players prior to the draft and not taking any WR high, instead placing importance on CB, S, RB, OG and QB? It could be that if Green is gone they take Julio Jones. And I hope they do. But I cannot blame the lack of a passing game on our WR's, not with 3 QB's playing under Daboll.

+1 Thanks Vegas, Ive tried saying the same thing. Im afraid not too many people chose to look at it that way.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by Sez.EJ

Ytown: I agree completely and have said in other posts..I would not be surprised to see nearly every pick go to the defensive side. This team will take a couple of drafts to build.. Heck passed on WR last year when there was a need too. So.. I'll just wait and see. I just want players.. With all our holes I really don't care where..just bring in a handful of playmakers and start building a winner. We are a couple drafts away so whatever we don't draft this year..we will have to make due.. fill in with free agents and hit those holes in the upcoming years drafts..

I do like Green but there is more and more noise about what would be the best thing for the Browns and could they let what a lot of people are saying is the best player in the draft slip by them to fill a need. Take a WR or take the best player in the draft who many believe is Peterson. Green could be both but if he's gone then you have to look at the best player in the draft who plays a position that is a big need for us.

Sobo and Greetham at OBR say that the Browns can't take a chance and let Peterson slip by. Walter's flip flops between Peterson and some others at #6 for us. The guys at NFL network acknowledge Peterson being one of the best players in the draft and have talked about how he could fit great for the Browns, Mayock loves him. Bleacher Report has us taking Peterson. So, as people realize that Green very well might be gone, Peterson gets more play as the pick to the Browns at #6. I'm sure there are others also.

Fact is we can only speculate on who we think the FO is considering and I know they will have done a lot of homework before it's their turn to take the pick. I agree that we are two drafts away and my thinking is you go get the BPA because we have so many needs grabbing good football players in each round trumps looking for specific needs early.

The more I look at it and the more I listen to what's coming out of Berea I think Green, Dareus and Peterson are the top guys on their board and if Green is gone then a slot receiver like Little in round 3 or Pettis later in the draft makes great sense. A quick, good hands, slot receiver is a must for success in the WCO. Little may end up being the steal of the draft. So, I could see defense in the first two rounds because those may just be the top guys on the Browns board and a slot receiver later in the draft. I don't think Heckert will sway from his board to take a WR at #37 just to fill a need if the guy isn't the BPA on his board.

I think this is a guy that has the big picture in mind and wants good football players and understands that just one player isn't what is needed for this team to be rebuilt the right way. No one player of one need trumps his mission. It's BPA all the way because we are so sorely lacking in talent on this team.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by slowmo411

+1 Thanks Vegas, Ive tried saying the same thing. Im afraid not too many people chose to look at it that way.

Slow, I think you have made some great points and have shared a lot of insight. Keep it coming and don't be afraid to post because someone doesn't agree with you.

You add a lot to this board. It's all about opinions and how we feel. We won't be in the war room on draft day but this is our venue and every opinion should be respected.

Maybe not agreed with but respected................................

[Brown Warrior]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

Slow, I think you have made some great points and have shared a lot of insight. Keep it coming and don't be afraid to post because someone doesn't agree with you.

You add a lot to this board. It's all about opinions and how we feel. We won't be in the war room on draft day but this is our venue and every opinion should be respected.

Maybe not agreed with but respected................................

Right on. I agree.

Here's an opinion: Taking Peterson would be a forfeit that would get lots of cheers for getting the BPA and then wouldn't win us any more football games.

[Brown Warrior]

BTW, Y, here's what I wrote to Sobo. Thought you'd appreciate it. I never mind a respectful throwdown!

Sobo, I know I'm repetitious... but I feel that strongly about it. Drafting Pat Peterson after Joe Haden already looks like a serious #1? It's like paying Michelangelo $30 mill to paint your basement.

It's drafting to win the draft, not win football games. You'll get a high score because Peterson is "the highest rated player in the draft." But because he's a corner, he won't create more wins anymore than Haden did. We'll basically be doing what the Bengals did, except higher up and for more money.

Regardless of his glorious draft ranking, Peterson is a CB. And cornerbacks pretty much matter only on passing plays and only as it relates to one of five receivers running routes. It's like having the best left guard in the history of football: So what?

But it's an even bigger forfeit of a draft pick for a team that not only already has a number one corner in a league where #2 corners average about a 4th round value... but then add in that the Browns are going to a straight-up 4-3 under Jauron that never puts CBs on an island. This isn't any member of the Ryan family we're talking about here.

It's a forfeit that would accomplish virtually nothing... and one or the other leaves in free agency in 3-4 years.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Right on. I agree.

Here's an opinion: Taking Peterson would be a forfeit that would get lots of cheers for getting the BPA and then wouldn't win us any more football games.

Taking the wrong WR just to take a WR doesn't get us any wins either. You take the best football players who can make your team better and put them on the field.

That could be Dareus, Green or Peterson and none are bad picks. They are and should all be options at #6.

Let's clarify; your opinion that Peterson being on the field wouldn't get us more wins. I'd sure like to have had him back there when the Jets and Balt beat our DBs for wins in the last minutes. Or when Wright was getting his ass handed to him and cost us games.

Let's see, is losing 42 to 36 is a good thing for you. We can't stop the run and we can't stop a slot receiver from beating us week in and week out but we don't need to consider defense..................................Maybe I'm just confused.

Putting better players on the field will amount to wins. Taking the wrong player in the draft just to fill a need will have us back drafting at #6 again next year.

[Brown Warrior]

But, Y... there are no guarantees. I know he's sprouted wings and shits gold now, but Peterson isn't guaranteed either. Plenty of highly drafted corners have ended up good but not life changing, including a few in one draft that stopped the flow of top 10 corners for four drafts.

Mayock has Peterson ranked third, Green fourth, and Jones seventh. They've all become pretty much consensus top 10 picks. I don't think any one of them is clearly more guaranteed than the other.

But as far as impact to the Browns, who already have Haden but almost nothing at WR? At least potentially, I give a huge edge to the receivers.

I'd see Dareus as a guy we'd pick at 6 and I couldn't bitch about, even if it's a bummer compared to getting A.J. Green and hopefully scoring some damn points. Maybe Quinn, but he's just a little nerve wracking. But not a corner, whether it's Pat, Prince, Jimmy... whoever.

They would just be playing corner, covering second WRs... nothing more. Nothing to change anything so's you'd notice.

[YtownBacker]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Regardless of his glorious draft ranking, Peterson is a CB. And cornerbacks pretty much matter only on passing plays and only as it relates to one of five receivers running routes. It's like having the best left guard in the history of football: So what?

but then add in that the Browns are going to a straight-up 4-3 under Jauron that never puts CBs on an island. This isn't any member of the Ryan family we're talking about here.

I know you must be joking and I just missed the punch line because you are way smarter then that.

Let's see, when you watch games do you just watch the offenses or do you sometimes watch what the defenses do? You know the CBs who come up in run support and make tackles or the guy goes 40 yards to the house. I'd say corners matter on every play. I've seen them blitz, come up and make tackles in the backfield or at least turn the play back inside for the LBs to make plays.

I'm sorry, but I don't really know what a straight up 4-3 defense is. What I have seen from Jauron and Ray Rhodes is defenses that play man under cover two, some zone also in a Tampa two look. Their defenses certainly call for two very strong corners so the team can play some 46 defense. I see a lot of man under cover one when they blitz a LB and replace him with the SS, got to have two excellent corners to do that.

As a matter of fact I don't really think there is any team that plays a straight up 4-3 with no receivers on an island unless they don't have good corners and don't want to expose what they do have.

BTW, most teams that I saw in the playoffs and teams that beat the Browns had more then one good WR that needed covering and most had a very good slot receiver. Holmgren said you can never have enough good corners. We have one and a aging veteran.

I haven't said the Browns should pick Peterson because CB is our biggest need. I have said I like Green because WR is a need and Green may be the BPA when we draft. I have said that CB is a need and I value CB, obviously a bit more then you, so you can't dismiss Peterson as an option. To not consider taking what a lot of people smarter then us, about football, call one of, if not the, best player in the draft is really beyond dumb. Notice I said consider.

You are arguing just to argue and sometimes you are just arguing with yourself. There is nothing wrong with putting bookend corners on the field because their positions are impact positions. You can't win consistently in this league without a good defensive backfield and it isn't about what round they were drafted in. It's about how they played once they got on the field. You get to caught up in rounds drafted in over the value of the player and his position. Not all good CBs are #1 picks just like not all good WRs are #1 picks. But, bottom line is you need more then one good CB when a team puts 3 good WRs out there for you to cover. Saying a 4th rounder should do the trick for us makes zero sense because you never know how a guy will work out. That's why you take the BPA over need. So, filling a need at corner or any need shouldn't be trumped by who you took last year.

It isn't all about offense. You need a good defense to win in this league also. You need to have talent and impact players on both sides of the ball. Again, like most people on here I am not saying to go out and find a CB to pick with the #6 pick. I am saying that CB should be an option like DL and WR and you have to consider who is the best fit for your team.

[Brown Warrior]

It isn't all about offense... although the thing we most need is to score more points. It's job number one. The thing we do worst and most need to improve.

On defense, it's mostly all about the pass rush, not how highly the corners are drafted. It's the difference between Green Bay and Cincinnati. Which paradigm do you wanna follow?

You can ask about punch lines all you want, but corners are not primary tacklers... they cover WRs. Deion Sanders is a HOFer who still hasn't tackled a running back. C'mon, man. You're arguing with yourself at this point!

You don't build a defense around cornerbacks. It doesn't make any sense.

$60 mill into corners. But you may have a point: Only the Browns would be that stupid. And yeah... the scheme and lack of exotic blitzes absolutely matters... and you know that.