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May 1, 2015We’re No. 1! Cleveland posts highest TV ratings for NFL Draft
May 1, 2015With the twelfth pick of the 2015 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Danny Shelton.
With the nineteenth pick of the 2015 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Cameron Erving.
Confused by the draft? Disappointed? Scratching your head? Our suggestion: Take another look at Ray Farmer’s last press conference.
When the draft experts began their soliloquies Thursday night by focusing almost entirely on the top two quarterbacks and the trade rumors surrounding them, they explained why it might happen and named the teams that could be involved and the reasons for making such a move: “… and the Browns, because, well, they’re the Browns.”
For those who can’t believe that none of those exotic trade rumors concerning the Browns had any substance, for those who can’t fathom why the Browns didn’t make a bigger, more glamorous splash in this year’s draft, the answer has been staring us in the face. Farmer spelled it all out in a very public setting. And then, for those who are so accustomed to seeing one thing, that they can’t see another, the Browns released a transcript of that press conference as a visual aid.
You know how that happens. You open the drawer in the kitchen looking for a spatula. You don’t see it but you know it’s there. You open the drawer three, four times and finally you see it. It isn’t red, after all, it’s white. You forgot the broken red one was thrown out.
On April 23, 2015 Ray Farmer conducted a press conference. He made some introductory remarks and then fielded questions. Those asking the questions and, afterwards, those offering commentary and opinion, spent virtually all of their efforts looking for the red spatula.
Erving was certainly not a stretch as “value” goes but add to that the fact that he excelled at several OL positions, including center, and his selection makes all the sense in the world.
“Hey, I appreciate everybody coming out. It’s draft time, which seems like the next most exciting time in comparison to the season. We’ve contended all along that we want to build through the draft here. The draft’s important. It’s important for us. It’s important to make the right decisions, get the right guys. Strategically, I would tell you that you plan for Scenario A to happen and, inevitably, that could happen or there are contingency plans, as well, to move on. In that, you think about best player available. You think about what needs you may think you may have to address, but need shouldn’t outweigh taking the best players for today and tomorrow…”
Ray Farmer often talks in a machine gun flurry of ideas and it’s understandable that reporters don’t notice every bullet whizzing by, but there it is. In the first sixty seconds of the press conference: Best player available … need shouldn’t outweigh taking the best players. What follows is as cogent and encompassing a franchise mission statement as has ever been offered up by the Cleveland Browns.
“The things I think are hot buttons in the league now – character’s obviously one of them, guys have existing issues, understanding what they are, understand your risk and your tolerance for risk and when you take risks. Those are all out there. I think we really focus on the idea of continuing to ‘Play Like a Brown’ and add guys to that.”
Here, Farmer acknowledges the risks involved when there are questions about “character” and concludes that the Browns will focus on finding players who “play like a Brown.” How that phrase is defined is currently under construction. But so far, suffice it to say that we have a pretty good idea what it doesn’t mean. Additional questions about “character” come up later but Farmer’s answer is consistent with what he says here in his opening remarks.
On if he expects to be as active in the draft in regard to making trades as the Browns were last year:
“For me, it’s more about looking at not being aggressive for the sake of being aggressive or moving for the sake of moving but trying to create the opportunities that you can create value and you can capitalize on that value.”
A note from the glossary at this point: In GM parlance, “value” means the better player. This statement from Ray Farmer, although not explicit, does leave the distinct impression that the Browns will be more judicious about trading up and down, that their focus will be on finding better players at their existing place in the draft order.
On where he is in terms of looking at wide receivers and if acquiring wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline impacts that at all:
“Doesn’t impact it one iota. Every position on our roster…If I had to play today, I feel good about if we went out and played. End of the day, I think it comes to, again, take the best player available, move forward, improve your football team and see if you can’t get better with the guys that you bring into the building.”
The Browns had just signed two free agent wide receivers. Does that mean they won’t draft a wide receiver? Ray’s answer, “… I think it comes to, again, take the best player available …”
On if the Browns need more competition at the quarterback spot on the roster:
“If I can get it. If I can find somebody, I think, that pushes the competition further, then I think that’s what you focus on. It’s not about what you currently have. It’s about what you can add.”
Once again, this is about adding “value,” better players. It’s not about what you currently have on the roster, it’s not about need. “It’s about what you can add.” Farmer returns to this theme, or strategy, again and again in this press conference. It’s as if he’s saying, no matter who we have on our roster, we’re not going to pass up a player who is clearly better than the others if he’s available to us. His answer to the following question reinforces this interpretation.
On if there is a specific offensive position other than QB that really needs to be addressed in the draft to drive competition:
“Do I really need to add somebody at some position on the offense to drive competition? All of them. It’s always about trying to find the best players to make your team better. There’s not one room in our building that doesn’t require another player to try to push that competition better because it’s going to make the guys that we have that we all know are probably going to be on the team better, it’s going to make us better and inevitably, we’re going to get better as a football team.”
To reinforce and clarify this position further, Mike Pettine was quoted by Andrea Kremer of NFL Network as saying that, where there are two players close in ability, “need” would be a tie breaker.
On if contract situations like OL Alex Mack having the ability to opt out next year are considered when drafting:
“We think about every scenario that’s available for our club. Whether it’s Alex Mack or whether it’s guys that are going to go into free agency next year, we will be prepared for all of those scenarios and take into consideration what our options are short term and long term.”
Here’s the question about Alex Mack’s potential for opting out of his contract after 2015. Everyone knows what a devastating loss it was last season when he went down with an injury. It showed how critical Mack was to the offensive line and how important it is to have depth and versatility of talent there. In hindsight, this makes the selection of Cameron Erving at 19 almost predictable. Erving was certainly not a stretch as “value” goes but add to that the fact that he excelled at several OL positions, including center, and his selection makes all the sense in the world.
The questions about quarterbacks — those on the Browns roster, college prospects and the position in general — were incessant during this press conference and Ray Farmer’s answers to these questions were, perhaps, the most definitive revelations of where the Browns seem to be headed.
On why the national perception says the Browns are the team most likely to make a move for a QB:
“Because it’s constantly reported that we are just starved and we are going to do whatever we’ve got to do to get there and we are going to trade everything we have to get one person. I don’t know why that is but it seems to make for good media because people like it – you read it, you see it and it’s what it is. At the end of the day, the object is to improve your football team and to win football games. I get that there’s this notion at times that there is this silver bullet or there is this one magic player that is going to walk in here on a horse and we’re going to start winning games and he’s going to be the reason we did it. I just don’t believe in the fairy tale any more. You’ve got to get your hammer and your nails and you’ve got to go out and build the house. That’s what it’s going to take. You’ve got to take your time and put it together the right way.”
Note, “I don’t believe in the fairy tale any more.”
Interesting. “Any more,” he said. As if, maybe we used to, but not any more.
Every time ESPN shows a Browns-related graphic it includes the quarterback merry-go-round list dating back to 1999, a dismal record of quarterbacks riding in on a white horse and then being ridden out on a rail. Unless this new vision for the Browns proves to be a brief, fanciful excursion, this, folks, is news. Did anyone in the room on April 23rd catch it? Did anyone notice the connection between Ray Farmer’s current stance on quarterbacks on the one hand, and the long term strategies of the most successful franchises in NFL history on the other?
On if the Browns starting QB for 2015 is on the roster now:
“He very well may be. He might not be. It depends upon what you have an opportunity to acquire and then if that guy comes in and plays better than the guys that are currently here. It’s an opportunity-driven league. In some respects, nobody would assume that (Cowboys QB) Tony Romo would become Tony Romo, but somehow he’s Tony Romo. It’s just the nature of the beast. There was time when (Packers QB) Aaron Rodgers was sitting behind (former NFL QB) Brett Favre and people were like, ‘Well, he’s never played so he can’t be very good because they would do something.’ Then three years into it, they roll him out and now he’s Aaron Rodgers. At the end of the day, I think that patience and a plan and the consistency to drive that competition is kind of where it lies to me.”
On if not believing in a ‘silver bullet’ potentially ignores the fact that teams with QBs like the Patriots’ Tom Brady and Broncos’ Peyton Manning consistently make the playoffs and that addressing that position may dramatically affects chances of making the playoffs:
“You could say that, but I could in turn say that when Tom Brady got to New England, they were built on defense and the run game. Was he really the magic bullet or did he grow into that? It’s what came first, the chicken or the egg? Yeah, the guy is a really good player. I don’t doubt that at all. I don’t doubt that (Colts QB Andrew) Luck is a good player. I don’t doubt that Manning is a good player. The reality is it takes a team to win. Those guys need the team to have success. Without the team, then you don’t see the benefits of what they produce.”
“… when Tom Bady got to New England, they were built on defense and the run game …”
“The reality is it takes a team to win.”
When Mike Pettine was hired as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, he said he envisioned a team built on a foundation of rugged defense and a strong running game. What, exactly, about the Browns’ draft selections last night should be a surprise to anyone after looking again, carefully, at what came before?
The numerous questions about quarterbacks, especially about Mariota and Winston were the real head-scratchers here. The assumption was that both of them would be long gone before the Browns’ turn to draft at No.12. Therefore, the only way to get one of them would have been to participate in an act of sheer desperation, the kind of crazy, self-destructive move made by the Washington Redskins to get Robert Griffin III.
And yet those quarterback questions just keep coming and coming.
30 Comments
Wow, this is all meat, no filler. Really nice job. Another example of the WFNY quality that just can’t be found in too many other places.
Feeling as confident in this regime in year two as any since our return. Day 1 of the draft and this article only reinforces that perception.
My rules for drafting:
1) Almost never trade up.
2) Trading down is awesome if you have the current capacity to win THIS YEAR. Absent that you should probably draft where you are slated to draft; it precisely matches your standing with respect to “need” in the league, and over time it reflects your long-term draft efficiency. In other words: you are precisely where you deserve to be so don’t cutesy it up and pretend you’re smarter than those behind you. The evidence suggests you are not smarter than them: quite the opposite. If you are to trade down, trade to a team that’s in front of you (in draft order) only in a later round. You’re probalby smarter than them.
Good article.
Good draft.
Go Browns!
One round of drafting is all it takes for you huh? Lets just say they have a long way to go before I start calling them by their name. They can have as many mantras as they want too. That being said last night was kind of refreshing. Lets hope it’s just the start and that continues through the weekend.
Disagree. I loved what both SD did in moving up to get Melvin Gordon and I loved the way the Broncos moved around and added talent while doing it. Oh and I really really love Brown falling to #32 for the SB champions!
100%. Most of the draft is left, including the crucial second and third rounds, and actions will tell.
May I suggest you both reread…slowly…what I actually wrote.
You are talking out of both sides of your mouth here. It is all about best-player available and not need. Followed by: Given the uncertainty of Alex Mack, Center/OL is a big need!
Yes, teams win, but teams don’t win without a good QB. Talk of hammer and nails is nice, but Farmer knows his job security ultimately depends on getting the QB that can guide the team to division wins, that can match the Ravens and Steelers and Bengals TD drive for drive when necessary.
I doubt that guy is on the roster or that Farmer is relying upon any of them. Expect a QB in rounds 2-4.
suggestion rejected. I was talking to Sham 🙂
Great post. I think that if we look back and almost everything Farmer and Pettine have said for two years you’d find much of the same. I think they believe in Manziel’s talent, but questioned other aspects, which is why they passed on him twice before taking him as a ‘value’ pick at 22. And I think it’s clear that they believe a QB is only successful when the rest of the team is good as well. Peyton is probably the best QB of all time, but only won when his team had a good D and played a Bears team that was terrible offensively. Brady wasn’t so great that they had him playing until Bledsoe went down on an already very good team.
Yes, you need a good QB to win. But you can’t have a good QB unless you have a team around him, so they first need to build that.
I would edit to “teams don’t win big” without a good QB. plenty of teams can win and even consistently (Cinci) without a good QB. once the team is laid though, the QB must be found, yes. I don’t know that it means this particular draft (Grayson if so).
I think he was aligning the Pettine quote of need being a tiebreaker if there are several BPA.
Erving was certainly not a stretch as “value” goes but add to that the fact that he excelled at several OL positions, including center, and his selection makes all the sense in the world.
In the War Room, an agitated Jimmy speaks: “Uh, Ray, did I just see my first-round draft pick walk on stage wearing a skirt?”
BTW, regardless of how much research Nike did, I don’t think orange numbers on a brown jersey are ever gonna work.
Oh, Hopwin 🙂 Some people aren’t happy unless their unhappy. Pettine said it best post draft. What a great confluence of best player and meeting a need — for both selections. Picking best player doesn’t mean slavishly adhering to some mathematical formula. It means you don’t drop down into your third or fourth round parts of your draft board when you’re in the first round. And Pettine also said, in those cases where it’s close you pick to meet your need.
What if the red spatula was actually magenta?
https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6M56lzjKCNm9Q6YbDa0LGw1aO8A=/150×0:1770×1080/730×487/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46245444/20150430181121.0.0.jpg
http://a2.fssta.com/content/dam/fsdigital/RSN/Ohio/2015/4/30/43015-FSO-NFL-Browns-Irving.vadapt.620.high.0.jpg
http://a1.espncdn.com/photo/2012/1211/ncf_playersofyear_02.jpg
What kind of crazy sumb*tch bad*ss wears a skirt to the NFL draft?
Your first mistake.
Your statement would be true if Cameron was a stretch pick or if there were CLEARLY other better players available that Cleveland did not pick. Just because Cleveland can utilize another offensive line player doesn’t make it solely a need pick. Also, what is not describe in the article is Farmer’s concept of “bunches” mean that any given pick in the draft, there may be 4-6 or even 7 players that make sense value wise. So @ pick number 12, there may have been 3-4 players that the Browns felt make sense at that point. There may have been one, there may have been more. If there are more than one, you can align the pick more with need.
Typically, Value and Best available mean that if a single player is CLEARLY better than the others available, you pick them – that doesn’t always happen.
I dare you to say something to his face. I’m pretty sure he’s daring ANYONE to say something to his face.
@all above: So the assertion here is that Erving is literally the 19th best player available or close enough to the 20th and 21st to warrant taking him? Better than Bud Dupree or any of the WRs on the board?
You want me to say something to the sumb*tch bad*ass? I’m thinking, “Good day, sir.”
Farmer wins the draft by taking Maxx in 2nd round. He nails down the “steady hole filler” and “weapon of choice” title with that pick.
You had me until your decision to lump in the magenta leprechaun.. THEY’RE ALWAYS AFTER HIS POT OF CHAMPAGNE
He really tied the whole room together.
I guess that would make “Leprechaun” the not preferred nomenclature.
Literal 19th or close enough (20th/21st): Joe had him 20
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2015/04/nfl-draft-big-board/
I had him right in that range too, yes. I did not have him better than Bud Dupree, but I understand the reasoning. Pure talent, yes he is better than the WRs that were there IMO.
at least Elves have an ethos!
He would also win best draftee name. Maxx with two x’s is like the baddest name ever.*
* African names not eligible in this contest. After all, who’s to say those are bad there?
Maxx Power?
Maxx California