Overall draft thoughts

[damajuki]

I didn't see one thread devoted to overall draft thoughts so I'm jumping in. Love to see others' thoughts here, too.

Overall, this feels like a solid but unspectacular draft to me, which is just fine for the place we are at in Year 1/Year 2 of the rebuilding. It feels professional and workman-like and all about continuing to lay the foundation and build the talent level, all things I like and believe in.

I do wish we could have upgraded our passing game in a more fundamental way. I think and fear passing on Golden Tate will haunt us, at least in the sense that we really don't have a consistent "hands" WR yet.

And I am concerned about taking the safety at 38 but I can understand the need and the rationale for that particular guy. The only pick I'm REALLY pissed about is taking Hardesty over Tate, whom I think is vastly superior to the eventual WR we took in the category that matters most: hands.

But I don't hate Hardesty, by any means. The more I get over missing on Tate (by ONE F***ING PICK, just to add insult to injury) the more I will like this guy, I am sure. He's the type of big, scary back that we all love, especially those of us who don't mind mashing the ball as much as possible late in the season. And given our commitment to Jake, I love the idea of a real two-headed attack at RB to support his comeback.

And I do really like and appreciate that every pick seems like a value, a legit player at his position. Unlike PS's drafts where it seemed we had to convince ourselves a guy could play, these guys actually DID play, and perform well, mostly on big stages. The Colt pick exemplifies the calm, collected approach H2 took in this draft; they got their guys at their spots and didn't over-extend or over-react.

Yes, some could say we took guys "too high" but that criticism rings hollow since it's quite literally based on a fictional reality created by nothing but mock drafts. All that matters in the real world is that we get the guys we targeted at the places we had to draft, and clearly, we did that.

There's no arguing we didn't get the guys that were targeted. This front office had a plan and executed. I may not like all the players (mostly because I don't know them at all yet) but it's clear they were unaffected by where their guys were "supposed" to go.

The point of the draft, after all, is to take the players YOU want, not the players someone else wants you to take. It's clear that H2 was able to do that, and that means a lot for the bottom line.

In the end, each of these prospects addresses critical areas of weakness on our team with guys who have a real shot to stick. You can't do much better than that.

[Crow]

I really liked a lot of our picks after the 2nd round.

[OconRecon]

The Tate miss was really my only disappointment. Our WR's compare so poorly to the rest of the AFC North. McCoy + Tate + Haden/Ward + our highly graded late rounders would have been a grand slam, IMHO. Hardesty may turn out great, but I have a hunch about Tate. He's just a heck of a football player.


(59) Browns*(From Cowboys / Eagles) Hardesty, Montario RB 6'0" 225 Tennessee 6.8

(60) Seahawks*(From Chargers) Tate, Golden WR 5'10" 199 Notre Dame 7.9

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by damajuki

I didn't see one thread devoted to overall draft thoughts so I'm jumping in. Love to see others' thoughts here, too.

Overall, this feels like a solid but unspectacular draft to me, which is just fine for the place we are at in Year 1/Year 2 of the rebuilding. It feels professional and workman-like and all about continuing to lay the foundation and build the talent level, all things I like and believe in.

I do wish we could have upgraded our passing game in a more fundamental way. I think and fear passing on Golden Tate will haunt us, at least in the sense that we really don't have a consistent "hands" WR yet.

And I am concerned about taking the safety at 38 but I can understand the need and the rationale for that particular guy. The only pick I'm REALLY pissed about is taking Hardesty over Tate, whom I think is vastly superior to the eventual WR we took in the category that matters most: hands.

But I don't hate Hardesty, by any means. The more I get over missing on Tate (by ONE F***ING PICK, just to add insult to injury) the more I will like this guy, I am sure. He's the type of big, scary back that we all love, especially those of us who don't mind mashing the ball as much as possible late in the season. And given our commitment to Jake, I love the idea of a real two-headed attack at RB to support his comeback.

And I do really like and appreciate that every pick seems like a value, a legit player at his position. Unlike PS's drafts where it seemed we had to convince ourselves a guy could play, these guys actually DID play, and perform well, mostly on big stages. The Colt pick exemplifies the calm, collected approach H2 took in this draft; they got their guys at their spots and didn't over-extend or over-react.

Yes, some could say we took guys "too high" but that criticism rings hollow since it's quite literally based on a fictional reality created by nothing but mock drafts. All that matters in the real world is that we get the guys we targeted at the places we had to draft, and clearly, we did that.

There's no arguing we didn't get the guys that were targeted. This front office had a plan and executed. I may not like all the players (mostly because I don't know them at all yet) but it's clear they were unaffected by where their guys were "supposed" to go.

The point of the draft, after all, is to take the players YOU want, not the players someone else wants you to take. It's clear that H2 was able to do that, and that means a lot for the bottom line.

In the end, each of these prospects addresses critical areas of weakness on our team with guys who have a real shot to stick. You can't do much better than that.

Really well done Damajuki - thanks!

I think we ALL need to realize there's countless hours of research and medical exams that go so much deeper than the many websites of fan mock drafts. I LOVE those as a reference of names and I buy 2-3 draft magazines every year. That said, how much has ANY of us really seen some of the kids coming here play in terms of total body of work to have an understanding of what they're capable of good or bad?

Heckert didn't come here because he was bad at his position. I think we've also seen the reputation Holmgren has around the league. Doesn't mean either guy isn't human enough for error or trying to make the best of a limited supply and demand where we have needs.

I gotta admit I thought we recruited Ward out of an emergency room at first. But I heard Heckert say they gave him a thorough medical exam. I comfortable with that as long as it's not the same doctor that deemed Lee Suggs ready for a healthy NFL career. We had the ONLY medical staff that couldn't correlate numbness in hands to spinal stenosis of the cervical vertebrae. Then again, it's also possible they informed Butch of this and it couldn't supercede arrogance.
- Tom F.

[Dan in Florida]

I wanted Tate as well but...

I think the main IDEA/GOAL of this draft was to get as many INSTANT CONTRIBUTORS as possible with the higher picks.

Wide receivers GENERALLY don't "get" the position in the first year. Cornerbacks and Runningbacks are pretty fast at adapting. Even the offensive guard position shouldn't be that long of a learning curve as opposed to OT or C.

Obviously the defense was the initial target. I think the reason for that was it was a Defense Heavy draft.

Holmgren made the point of saying how many holes there are in the dam and only a couple fingers to fill them. You are only as strong as your weakest link or your 3rd/4th Cornerback and there are lots of good receivers in our division and the NFL (a passing league, said MANY times)...and there are injuries through the year. Shoring up the defensive backfield instead of adding only 1 piece could have still left holes and targets for opposing teams to gameplan for to exploit. It could turn a weakness into an overall Defensive strength...potentially gives the pass rushers MORE TIME to get to the quarterback and we should be able to mix up the blitz packages more because of it.

I think we would have taken Berry but we "game planned" for grabbing the best CB available. Haden seems like a good kid and is very physical. Hopefully the speed thing was due to his back hurting and poor combine training (his father trained him for the combine). I believe I heard he NEVER gave up a TD in 40 games (please correct me if I'm wrong). Masters & I were the 2 that predicted Haden. You know why I picked him? I looked back at who we were targeting BEFORE all the smokescreens started...and Wa La!

Our safties SUCK/SUCKED (hopefully past tense). These new guys look like they have potential. I think we will TRY to change T J Ward (and hopefully not take away his aggressiveness) to concentrate MORE on INT'S and a little less on "the big hit", which should keep him healthier and Turnovers don't suck (besides, the NFL frowns on big hits). He seems like a sure tackler too.

Adding a BIG back shores up and gives diversity (change up) to the running backs. A good running game takes heat of the Quarterback and helps rest the Defense. Hardesty looks like he has good hands and some nice moves with good size...great for the cold winter games too. Hardesty was also in a pro style offense and supposedly can pick up blitzed or atleast try.

Maybe we sign (or trade for) a VETERAN Wide Receiver, if there are ANY LEFT worth grabbing, and that would hopefully improve the passing game (less/faster learning curve) fast as possible this year.

We SEEM to be on the same path as the JETS, as far as rebuilding. IF this draft pans out, our next draft (and Free Agency, whatever that will be) should be huge.

Now McCoy. We got him at a good value. Seems like a great kid. Last night I watched part the Oklahoma vs Texas game on ESPN-U and I didn't see him attempt a pass for more than 10 yard AND he runs/scrambles alot for yardage (a little wildcat like). I didn't get a REAL warm and fuzzy feeling about McCoy watching the game, even though Texas won (mostly due to their defense). I taped the Nebraska vs Texas game, that came on in the middle of the night, and hopefully will look better to me. I'm not sure he's the answer BUT he was a 3rd round pick so NOT TOO expensive if I'm wrong about this and he doesn't pan out and and elite QB. There's always "next year".

I think this was a VERY GOOD DRAFT FOR US.

[DawgFan]

Keep in mind this is grading INITIAL PRESUMED VALUE...but here goes

#7: Haden was by far the best available at 7 and he filled a need. Literally, there was no better value on the board at that time.

#38: Ward is an "injury risk", but he also played the entire 2009 schedule and had a great year. He is a punishing tackler, and fills a need. Although he was not a name mentioned much by the 'experts', I like the pick.

#59: Hardesty is another "injury risk", but again he ran for over 1300 yard in 2009...that is a lot for a bruiser type back. He is a true RB at 212. Unlike Hillis who is 250. I think this rounds out or RB position and helps create the 'cockpit' for our new QB in 2011 (McCoy). B

#85: Mccoy is the QB I wanted IF we took a QB.

#92: Lauavao is a T who will likely fill our RG slot. If he pushes Pashos at RT it is all the better. Good value at this pick.

#160 Asante is a LB turned S that brings the lumber. He is still a bit raw at the position, but gives us good depth and backup for Ward should the injury thing prove a problem.

#177 Mitchell is a tall, big, fast WR who unfortunately catches with his body a bit too much. If we can get him to use his hands he will be a major coup in the WR ranks.

#186 Geathers is an interesting pick. Some are wondering if he may be moved to the OL as a RT prospect due to his length. If not, he has nice size and power for the DE position as long as we can get him to play consistent.

Overall, just looking at the PLAYERS we got, I like it. Sure, there are some players I would like to see, but there is obviously a plan in place as we got both needs and depth in key positions. I believe we may yet pick up some vet guys at WR as they get released...and that next year we will be a skill position heavy draft. Nice start.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I loved the draft, all off-season so far I've felt like a shep-esque broken record. I've been screaming about our pathetic secondary and they took strides to address it, three picks on the secondary, two on safeties. that's exactly what I wanted. I'm not sure about Ward and Asante but Haden should make an impact to our secondary and if Ward can stay healthy he should as well.

Hardesty threw me off initially. I wasn't expecting us to take a RB, let alone with our third pick and when I heard about the move it was a bit of a head scratcher initially. I've watched some videos of the kids play to smooth it over a bit, he's got up-side and I think he could be a solid contributer for our running attack. I don't know if he's the future, 'the' guy but he's got the skills to put up some decent numbers.

McCoy was a good pick, I was glad we waited and got him at #85. A lot of people who were big on Claussen or one of the other random QB scraps we had avaliable at this draft really knocked him initially but its his desire to be great and his desire to win that makes him more appealing than other options. He's been in the thick of it so I look forward to seeing his drive continue to the NFL level, maybe he'll be something else for us.

We boasted some additional depth to our lines of attack, something Holmgren addressed as a 'starting point' though I was hoping we would've nabbed a D-lineman a bit sooner (and burned our last pick on a RB instead...) I like who we got. Lauavao has a lot of up-side. I don't know if he will grow to be a starter on our o-line but both he and Geathers give our lines a desperate youth injection. I think these will be two players to keep an eye on.

Last, but not least, Mitchell. I was glad we nabbed one WR, and one with particular upside. He's got size, speed and that's pretty much what we were looking for in our WR so I think, if Mitchell can grow into a role on our offense, we still need at least 2 of MoMass, Stuckey and Robo to step it up and be productive in our passing attack. If these players, and Mitchell can show good improvement I will not feel so worried about our passing attack. I don't have a ton of expectations of Mitchell. If he can show us some flash than I'll be excited. I don't expect him to make giant contributions in his rookie year.

Overall, I will give this draft a B+. I don't like the injury history of some of our picks. There were other players (like Golden Tate) I was really hoping we would grab but we brought in players at the major areas of need. Here's hoping that one or two of these guys pans out into a productive long-term starter for us. We've had such bad luck with draft picks.

[Legendary]

It look good, but I have no idea on the talent. What matters is choosing players to perform in NFL and work together as a team. Some will click and some won't.

[lemosley01]

My opinion of this draft hinges entirely on Ward and Hardesty.

If Haden busts, well, that happens sometimes; there is really nothing you can do about it, unless you've done something silly like make him play Center, and then declare he is a bust when he doesn't do well.

The guys in 5-7 are simply gravy if they turn into starters. Most of those guys end up backups or PS guys. I think you are drafting BPA at that point in the draft.

Lauvao was taken a little higher than expected, but we had no picks in the rounds he was expected to be chosen, so I understand it.

Ward is the killer. If he goes into camp or the season and gets an injury related to his previous injuries, this FO are going to look like fools. I hope we get him a nice padded helmet - this kid hits crazy hard!

Hardesty is another one - if he suffers an injury or just turns out to be backup material (if that), again, we're going to look like fools, especially if Golden Tate goes onto to be a productive guy. I'm kind of 'meh' on this pick, but I think we could have chosen a better guy at another position considering who was available (yes, I'm referring to Golden Tate )

McCoy I love, but I have always liked him. I'm not sure why he went in the 3rd - on paper he has everything you NEED for a good solid QB, or one who could become great. The only knock is he doesn't have upper tier arm-strength, and he didn't play much of a pro-style offense. How many College QBs do? Heck how many players in general do?

The other knock on him might be because he played in the 'no-defense Big 12', so his numbers are inflated. I know he was pretty good without the supporting cast of, say Sam Bradford or Tim Tebow.

Still he was a late 3rd round pick. We'll still have high expectations for him because this is Cleveland, but I have high expectations for him because I believe he is GOOD. Still, if he fails, it's not like we sold the farm for him, and it doesn't hurt us in the long run.

If Ward and Hardesty work out it's an A, easily.

If they suffer from mediocrity (or inury), It could be a C+.

[Shep]

If we'd drafted Clausen at 38 and a different safety in 3 like Major Wright, I'd be throwing a party.

As is, I'm cautiously optimistic. I get the feeling it could end up being terrific, with Ward as the swing vote... or one of the worst drafts in Browns history.

It's pretty bizarre that we did almost nothing at the WR position.

[NDneighbor]

Keeping in mind that the brain trust was working together for the first time, I think they did

a very responsible job of filling in holes and taking care of priorities.

Complete with carefully measured risk versus reward. Draft picks will always be a crap

shoot. I hope our brain trust got the guys they wanted.

I have to echo the sentiments on Golden Tate. Perhaps I just fell in love with this prospect,

but the kid is special. His first nature on the field is as a RB. And you see it every time he

has the ball in hand. I feel he could have been a very sharp double edged knife for the

browns offense as a running back who would have eventually transitioned to full time

wide receiver over the stretch of 1 or 2 seasons. (we're all familiar with the WR learning

curve). It kind of looked like the Browns didn't even know he existed let alone feel he was

worth considering.

[Shep]

Yeah, I'm not sure it absolutely had to be Tate -- coulda been Taylor Price -- but I think we left our passing game in the worst condition in the entire league. A battery of Jake Delhomme, Massoquoi, Robiskie and Stuckey would be really, really hard to bottom (!).