Huffing and Puffing
April 26, 2011With Buckeye Nation torn, Tressel puts Ohio State, fans in tough spot
April 26, 2011Yesterday, we took on the ever-popular debate of need versus player, but in general terms. Today, we get a little more specific and debate which way the Browns go if things go as many suspect…
Scott: Focusing solely on the first round, let’s say we have the following hypothetical: Cam Newton to Carolina, Von Miller to Denver, Marcel Dareus to Buffalo, AJ Green to Cincinnatti, and Patrick Peterson to Arizona.
No trades were able to be consumated – teams want to move up, but they don’t want to pay to move to sixth overall. Which direction do you go and why?
Kirk: I think long and hard between Julio Jones, Nick Fairley and Robert Quinn. Fairly seems to get enjoyment out of yellow laundry on the field after personal fouls and I don’t think he has the best character. Quinn has question marks too – I’m not overly concerned about sitting out last season, but he just doesn’t pop off of the film to me. This leads me to Jones, who I’m definitely not as high on as I am Green, but I think he’s a great fit for our new offense. Thus, I go Jones and hope a defensive end slips to us in the second round.
TD: At that point, with two true “studs” off of the board, you have to grab the speed pass-rusher in Quinn. I loved watching Fairley this season at Auburn, but I don’t know why he feels like Dan Wilkinson or Gerard Warren to me as we get closer to draft day.
The Browns haven’t had a legitimately feared pass-rusher since many of the WFNY guys were in diapers. Quinn can be that player, especially with the one-year suspension and the chip he will carry on his shoulder.The Browns have a lot of holes, but an outside pass-rusher has been one since the 80s.
Craig: After considering Da’Quan Bowers and Fairly heavily, I go with Quinn as well. I skip wide recevier and take the best possible defensive lineman. In my mind, between Bowers’ injury issues and Fairley’s penchant for the 15-yard penalty, I am going with the guy who I can see making a difference right away. The fact that he is known to have a good attitude and work ethcic to go along with freaky athleticism is icing on the cake.
DP: Even though the national pundits have us taking Jones, I too ton’t think I can go for a wide receiver that high unless it’s Green. Six months ago, I would have said Fairley, but I share a lot of the misgivings that the other guys do. It would come down to Bowers and Quinn for me – even though I shiver at the thought of another Quinn in the first round, I think that’s the choice.
TD: Exactly. As much as I like Julio Jones, I’m still feeling the sting of the Braylon Edwards experience. I just can’t take a wide recevier that high in the draft.
Kirk: I understand that, but I’m scared Quinn is a one-dimensional players and may not be well-rounded enough to warrant the sixth-overall pick. I’ve seen defensive linemen fail just as often as wide receivers (Courtney Brown, Warren…). If you want a pure pass-rusher, maybe Marcus Benard is that – who knows? My other thought is that wide receivers are usually deep, but in this draft, it seems particularly deep on defensive linemen.
TD: I love Benard, but I think he’s more of an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. He should be okay transitioning to the 4-3, but it’s easier said than done. Also, if you add Quinn on the edge, wouldn’t that help open things up for Benard on the other side?
Andrew: I’ll side with Kirk and vote for Jones. I know the risks, but I feel that there is just as much risk in a pass-rusher. I think the receiver failures are more high-profile and well-documented, but look back on and draft and you’ll find highly-drafted defensive ends and tackles who have been complete busts.
I don’t see Quinn as a sure thing by any means. So for me, personally, I want to see the offense upgraded. The Browns need to take some pressure off of Colt McCoy and Peyton Hillis; adding a big, athletic, physical receiver like Jones is a way to do just that.
I don’t know if Jones can run routes like Hines Ward, but he’s a capable blocker from that position and he’s likely to be physical in the same way Ward is. I’m not saying he’s the second coming, but I see similar qualities there.Â
DP: The way I look at it, the only two guys I’m “sold” on are Green and Peterson. It feels a lot like two years ago where I was holding out hope that Aaron Curry would make it to fifth-overall because I wasn’t excited about anyone behind him.
Andrew: That’s how I felt about Eric Berry last year, too. Back-to-back gut punches. There’s a good chance that happens again this year because I agree that Green and Peterson are the two guys I want most. And nothing against Joe Haden, who we’ve all grown to really like and has performed quite well, but it does seem that the Browns are always having to settle just after missing the guys they really want.
TD: That’s the exact same way I feel, but under this scenario, both guys are gone. I think they want Green badly, but won’t seel their souls a la Butch Davis to get him.
DP: I’m still holding out hope that the GM-less Bengals and Carson Palmer at at a point where the Nasty decides to take a flier on Blane Gabbert. It would really make things a lot easier…
26 Comments
I just hope this doesn’t happen. I too feel like we are always missing out on the guy we want…but that turned out well last year.
My vote is Jones if this happens, seems like a good fit for a West Coast system.
I dont think you can write off Bowers here. Who really knows whats going on with that knee unless you are in the doc’s office with him. Also, Pluto said he thinks the browns like Fairley a lot too. While I wouldn’t be ecstatic about that, I think he has potential to be a good player and the personal fouls are being blown out of proportion. Last- I would take a long look at Prince Amukamara. He isnt that far behind Peterson and could be a solid player opposite of Haden. The best thing about this draft currently tho, theres a ton of depth in the positions of need (DL, WR, DB).
In the end, my pick would be Quinn because I think thats who fits Heckert’s profile most.
no takers on fairley?
does anyone else think that the FUD circulating around him is over-the-top? like maybe some teams lower in the draft are spreading jive so that he falls to them?
if there’s jones, quinn, fairley on the board (no peterson, no green), here’s one vote for fairley.
I don’t love Jones either and would prefer Green. but we gotta give McCoy a chance to be successful. Take the pressure of the running game and give him some tools. That way we will know for sure if we have something in him or not. otherwise if he is not successful, you could point to him having no receivers and we wouldn’t really know. We are forced to take the WR gamble because of McCoy in my opinion. Ideally we get Peterson and finally establish an identity (ie, 2 young lockdown corners). We have to have some sort of foundation and ‘you can’t throw against the Browns’ is a great place to start.
^^pretty cool that you have 3 comments and 3 different votes. a good indicator of a win-win-win situation, imo.
That’s the goal of these types of post, Sir Kanicki – healthy debate!
Sans a serious off-season of trades due to the lockout, etc., all of the posturing and positioning vis-a-visa private/public workouts, public statements, “leaked” statements carries that much more significance. When a team can’t trade or sign free-agents then the draft is the only source of new players, so the choices become that much more significant.
So, we get conflicting reports and weird private workouts and the like, to make everyone think every team is after every player. It’s a delicate dance all of the teams are in right now, but it is amplified for lesser teams, which sadly, we fall into, as we need to make our picks work. We can’t fail on our No 1.
Therefore, I think we will pick our greatest need, which I honestly think is WR. Be it Jones or Green (and I am actually thinking it’ll be the latter) we just 100% need to take pressure off Hillis, give McCoy something to start a fire with other than rolling stones and make our new WCO more effective.
+1 for Jones.
The guy doesn’t have the character issues of the other hypotheticals, and he’s a good run blocker which you can never discount. Having a guy with his size and speed should open up underneath routes for slowbo cop and whomever else. I think you’ll still see good DE/DT talent in the second round anyways.
of course, i hope we all realize that after all our analysis, von miller will slide to us and be taken.
though i dont see LB as a priority position, how good does he sound in the MKC interview here. especially like the holmgren/sherman connection. http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/04/nfl_draft_2011_texas_ams_mille.html
Isnt Von Miller a DE/OLB hybrid that was in a 34. So if we drafted him he would be a transition to DE. If thats the case count me out. Also- When have you seen Heckert draft for need, or talk about drafting need? Highly doubt thats what we go for. Theres also a ton of WR depth in the draft. Plenty of 2nd or 3rd round guys who performed great in college. Heckert will find one of those guys unless Green is there at 6. One guy I would keep an eye on is Vincent Brown from SDSU. Had a great season, his combine numbers didnt go as expected so he fell a bit. But hes a good receiver and the type of guy Heckert could draft in the 3rd or 4th round.
Quinn reminds me too much of Aaron Maybin, so count me out. I think only fairley is worth the #6 pick in this situation, even though I do not have high hopes for him in the NFL.
…or Ryan Mallet
the fact that if this scenario plays out that we cannot decide on a surefire player means that there likely is no surefire player (as we can see from all the questions on each possible pick). that would be terrible and is my fear for this draft.
I would go with either Nick Fairley or Cam Jordan. I like Jordan more than Quinn (stronger, more moves, sheds blocks) especially since Quinn may not play 2 straight seasons (if this one gets locked out). Fairley has the given concerns and the fact he doesn’t want to play in the cold is never a good sign for his longerm future on the NorthCoast.
Honestly, I’d be praying someone below us really wants Gabbert and is willing to pay even a little for the pick so we can get the same player a few slots lower along with another pick.
if green and peterson are gone, who’s the pick?
6 – jones (wfnyandy, wfnykirk, brooks, scott, ori, stin)
2 – fairley (ben, me)
4 – quinn (wfnydp, wfnycraig, wfnytd, bobby)
great poll opportunity. !! đ
Ha! WFNY Andy. Took me a minute to figure out who that was. Never heard anyone call him Andy before.
^^need your vote and sarge’s too. that is… if you have an opinion or anything…
don’t forget Cam Jordan, he gets my vote (I guess I’m the contarian on this one)
Mark me down for Fairley. Foot injuries scare me when it comes to WRs, no matter how well they may appear to have healed, and the missed season for Quinn does him no favors in terms of keeping up to game speed.
LOCKER OR MALLETT!
/2010’d
All the draft talk and the fact that the Browns could feasibly take 7 different players is giving me a headache. I cant remember a year where our pick was this unpredictable.
@Foghorn: You know what I call a year where the #6 overall could feasibly take one of seven different players? A bad draft year.
I’d want Fairley in that situation. The whole brain tumor thing scares me away from Quinn and I don’t think Bowers is a serious consideration anymore because of his physical problems. Jones would make sense too, but Fairley was too dominant last year to ignore. He would fit really well next to Rubin
I’m going to go a little outside of the box and throw my two choices into the ring:
Tyron Smith or Gabe Carimi
If the right side of the offensive line is as bad as it was last year, McCoy will probably be hurt by mid-season from all the sacks given up, so it won’t really matter who the receivers are. Keep building the O-line with young, top draft picks please.
I think Peterson falls to us and if he does we take him. But, If he isn’t there then I’d like Quinn. Also, Jamir Miller was a pretty feared pass rusher. Just sayin
Jim – my QB-free big board is as follows:
Dareus
Miller
Peterson
Green
Quinn
Fairley
Jones
Bowers
so is there now a chance we will be able to make trades before the season? If so, is there any chance we could get Steve Smith from Carolina? I hear he cleaned out his locker, etc…
If that were even remotely on the radar I’d have to say we go with defense. I’d take Fairley. I don’t care about personal fouls, i care about winning, and he won. say all you want about personal fouls not helping you win and i will always come back to the fact that he won.
anyways, i’d stay away from Prince Akamakamoomoo. I read some great stats (which i think are overblown anyways) about how he really didn’t shut anyone down (though, of course, i can’t remember the exact stats). At the time of reading, I liked that stat a lot so i am staying away from him.