Indians Season Series Summary No.7: It may be early but it’s getting late
May 1, 2015Pics: An up-close look at Nike’s LeBron 12 “Flight”
May 1, 2015The Cleveland Browns had about a million things in play on Thursday night when the first round of the 2015 NFL draft commenced. Would they trade into position to take Marcus Mariota or some other player in the top five with their two first round picks? Would they trade for Philadelphia’s Sam Bradford to enable Philly to get to No. 2 in order to land the Oregon quarterback? In the end, the Browns did exactly what I wanted them to do by staying in their lane, drafting two potential starters on the lines of scrimmage, and keeping from pretending like they were smarter like anyone else in the NFL.
The Browns started by drafting Danny Shelton on their defensive line. And why try to pretend like I know any better than current defensive tackle Phil Taylor?
Games are won in the trenches!
— Phil Taylor (@PhilTaylor98) May 1, 2015
The Browns gained some real beef up the middle and while I already kind of liked that aspect of the team with Taylor, John Hughes and Ishmaa’ily Kitchen, it’s never a bad thing to add a name that draws comparisons to names like Haloti Ngata and Vince Wilfork. If the Browns really did well, they might have just added a player that’s the defensive line equivalent to Joe Thomas, a player who can be counted on for much of the next decade.
Plus, dude elevated NFL commissioner Roger Goodell well off his feet on the stage in Chicago, so there’s that.
After that, the Browns kept it simple yet again taking one of the best, most versatile offensive linemen available in the draft, selecting Cameron Erving from Florida State, who excelled both at tackle and center. I don’t have any idea exactly where he will play for the Browns, but I’m elated to see them draft a guy who doesn’t necessarily fit an obvious need. That seems counter-intuitive, but it is the kind of pick that indicates the team didn’t chase anything but the best player on their board.
Don’t get me wrong, the Browns can use an offensive lineman to compete on the right side of the line, but his lack of obvious fit and versatility means to me that they drafted the best damn player available on their draft board. Imagine? We all know how exciting it was for the Browns to select a big name like Johnny Manziel a year ago. That translated to a supremely disappointing, overhyped start against the Bengals in Cleveland. The Browns might have bombed out just as hard on Thursday night in 2015, but it’s hard to imagine when looking at Danny Shelton and Cameron Erving compared to Manziel and Justin Gilbert.
The first round of the 2015 NFL draft feels a lot more like the draft day experiences that delivered Joe Thomas and Joe Haden than the ones that featured Johnny Manziel or Trent Richardson. The Browns had two picks and drafted two guys — a novel concept — and did so in the slots that they were granted without feeling the need to spend picks to move around. They also didn’t push off draft glory to the future by trading down for picks next year. As always, we’ll see. As it stands today, I’m happy to see the Browns boring strategy in the first round. They didn’t seem to force anything and really let the draft come to them. Hopefully that pays the dividends that Browns fans are hoping to see.
88 Comments
… i think randy starks has a little left in the tank as well. but you are right about the jets.
for your specific question, Melvin Fowler was a 3rd round pick.
Zukauskas was a 7th round pick and more in line with what I think you really wanted.
I think Jason Pinkston was on his way to be included before his health issues.
Jets should be better set against the run. Browns may be better set against the pass. Both are going to be absolutely loads for any OL and I agree with the health factor for our guys.
i saw a post with our projected O-line for next year … j.thomas , bitonio , mack , erving & bowie.
this looks pretty dang good to me … and to still have greco & schwartz is nice.
There are still a couple LBs left I know my man Kendricks is out there. Round 2 should be interesting.
Jets starters are beasts the orange helmets have the advantage in depth.
Mel : “that sh!t ain’t funny , CB” …
Going to be a hell of an opening challenge for our O come September.
I was as well. I kept thinking “please don’t give up everything to move up” and was happy when they didn’t move.
Ahh Bill Barnwell…they guy who hasnt said anything complimentary about the Browns since they fired frequent Grantland podcast guest, Mike Lombardi. Even if Barnwell tries to say something positive, there’s always a side order of cynicism. For the most part though, he has criticized everything the Browns have done since they fired his homeboy
I cant ask him about it on Twitter because when I called him out on his Lombardi bias, he blocked me, like the thin skinned sniveling know it all I figured him to be
I COMPLETELY agree.
I’m happy with both picks. On pick 12 I wanted either Shelton or Parker and both were available. Shelton and Taylor moving in and out of the lineup will be a potential nightmare for an OL. You also have Taylor in the last year of his contract so you have Shelton as insurance if Taylor doesn’t want to re-sign. Plus I think Shelton’s 3rd down pass rush is a bit underrated. With pick 19 I would have been happy with Agholor, Strong or an OL. Erving can play any spot on the line and is Mack insurance in case he bails and opts out in 2016.
I’m really interested in what rounds 2 and 3 will bring. if they go TE/WR with round 2 and maybe take Hundley/Petty in round 3 i’d be content. I think Atlanta will take the TE Williams in round 2 so Strong or even Devin Smith would work. If we didn’t already have a headache WR on the team maybe Green-Beckham would be a gamble I’d entertain in round 2 or 3.
I like what we did, I’m always for building through the trenches. I like a guy who can theoretically play all 5 OL positions. Barnwell is a moron because what does a #19 pick make? 3 Million a year?
Only thing is, this whole “ignore the WR” thing is starting to become less of a coincidence and more of a trend, and that’s disconcerting. If they didnt think Perriman or Strong were worth the #19 thats one thing, but coupled with last year its almost starting to seem like a stubborn man saying “ILL SHOW THEM”, which is never good. I hope Richards other article about Farmer sticking to a blueprint are more correct than my concern that this might be an indication of obstinance
Haha whooops My guy was wrong. Someone else pointed this out (see 2:50 and 4:35, where Beasley beat Erving on a speed rush outside for the sack, twice):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD7r8CPqVAw
If you watch Pettine and Farmer’s interview on clevelandbrowns.com, pettine says that the left side of the line and center is set so he would have to compete for a spot on the right side.
Having the ability to switch to C next year is gravy.
yeah , but he held his own pretty good against beasley … he did pancake him a few times.
good points. I guess I saw Greco and figured since they’ve still got him on the roster they figure he’ll start. If he’s going to be relegated then this does not make me feel as bad as I seem to.
i wasn’t saying i love Barnwell, just saying i agreed with what he said.
But who cares if he has bashed the Browns? Make your point and tell me that the Browns don’t deserve to be bashed a thousand times over. The Browns have made some terribly terrible decisions over the last few seasons, regardless of Bill Barnwell’s opinion.
yeah, it’s like we’ll need an upgrade on OL or something to go against that DL 😉
So basically the Browns got a guy that they can slot in at RG, and it lets them try to resign Mack without overpaying him. If they can’t resign Mack, they put Greco at RG and Erving at C. If they can, then Greco is costing less than $1m/year to keep your entire OL versatile since he can play both G positions and Erving can play anywhere, depending on who may get injured.
Or, you can say Erving will compete with Mitchell Schwartz, and that leaves you with a solid backup RT and a RT who can switch anywhere in case of injury. And Schwartz is an UFA after this season.
BOOM!
Whatever. Johnny’s gonna light it up this year.
Anybody else think Mel is more coked-up then usual? I think Gruden is getting to him.
Melvin Fowler was not good. Neither was Zukauskas. Even if we disagree on that fact, that’s two linemen in 15 drafts.
The way I keep seeing the argument framed is that we can get these good, multi-year starters late in the draft and just develop them. I’m arguing that that just never happens… at least not for the Browns.
[edit] And that’s not to say I think Erving is a great pick or anything. He may be, he may not be. I’m just saying that I understand the rationale.
I was supporting your argument as those were the best that we managed to do. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear enough.
He’s switching from cocaine to pot? I kid, I kid!!
Lol, my bad. 🙂
I remember a Steelers game way back when in which Jeff Faine went down with injury, and Fowler went in at center. On successive plays, he walked up to the ball, pointed at the blitzers each time (correctly I should add), and then proceeded to stop none of them. It was just surreal.
wow – i got crushed on this.
You people did read that my name is “saggy” not “Steve,” right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPxs0Qh72kY
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view2/1112154/sad-baby-o.gif
No-trade clause in his contract.
Um ok. You agreed with what he said. You get a gold star.
My point is that whenever he talks about the Browns I take everything he says with a large grain of salt because he has an axe to grind (and his track record supports this hypothesis)
But, I wasn’t criticizing you or your comment, so I’m not sure why you’re being so defensive and stand-offish. Need some cranberry juice?
The Browns draft brings everyone into mid-season debating form here 😉
It’s print, so things get misconstrued. I probably wrote this thinking unicorns and rainbows but you read it thinking rusty nails and cockroaches.
No big deal – I get your point. i agree with your point. I just also agree with his point. that’s all.
Fowler was a bust, and I dont use that term liberally. He had numerous chances to win a G or C starting spot and couldnt, on bad teams.
it’s almost as if there are injuries and other reasons for teams to play non-starters throughout the season
I think there’s a lot of football fans that have not realized how the role of guard is changing in the NFL. With teams using more shorter drops, blitzing over tackle has become less effective. The most direct route has been over the guards and centers, in those gaps. You could argue that RT is slightly less important in pass blocking and the interior line now has greater value in pass blocking.
There;s also depth, and the idea of competition raising play. This is not the best way to “grade” the pick, but merely demonstrating these are concepts the casual fan won’t consider when judging the player, pick, or offensive scheme.
that sneaky SOB