Saturday, April 28, 2007

Phil Shocks The World!!! Or Cleveland At The Very Least!

OH MY GOD!!!


Stunned. Shocked. Flabbergasted. Befuddled. Utterly Amazed.

In an absolutely incredible, unanticipated series of moves Phil Savage and the Browns surprised everyone by taking Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas at #3 and then trading up to draft free-falling Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn at #22 and then trading up again in the 2nd Round to grab UNLV CB Eric Wright, who's past character issues caused him slip to #53.

I don't think anyone in Cleveland or the NFL saw this coming. The Browns ended up with 2 of the players they had rated in their Top 5 and another player that would have been a mid-1st Round pick if it weren't for his off the field issues.

So the Browns finally have what appears to be:
1. The final piece to what might actually be the first legitimate offensive line since their reincarnation in 1999.
2. Potentially the franchise QB that has avoided them since Bernie Kosar.
3. A shut-down CB to solidify a position that has been snake-bitten the past two years.

It did come at a price. Both trades were consummated with the Dallas Cowboys.
1. To get Quinn (Round 1, #22) the Browns traded their 2nd Round pick in 2007 (#36) and their 1st Round pick in 2008.
2. To get Wright (Round 2, #53) the Browns traded their 2007 3rd (#67), 4th (#104) and 6th Round (#179) picks. The Browns also received Dallas' 2007 6th Round pick (#196) tomorrow as part of the trade.

This leaves the Browns with a 5th, 6th and 7th Round pick tomorrow.

Was the price too steep? We'll know in the Fall of 2007 and in 2008. All 3 guys could ended up to be busts, you never know. But right now, personally, I am estatic. The Browns got 3 first round talents by giving up an additional 1st and 4th Round picks. (I will consider the 3rd Round pick a wash since we still got 3 players on Day 1 of the 2007 Draft and the 6th Round pick a wash since we swapped it with Dallas' 6th Round pick.)

Thomas. Wow. Think about it... Thomas, Steinbach, Fraley, McKinney, Shaffer. It actually looks like a good offensive line on paper. We haven't been able to say it looks good ON PAPER since 1995! And if Bentley and Tucker come back and replace Fraley and Shaffer?!? Sweet Jesus.

Quinn. Even though they have an O-line the Browns need to follow the model of the 2006 Draft. Vince Young, Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler all sat to start the year and looked good by the end of the season. Carson Palmer and Steve McNair sat entire seasons. Is he worth the extra 1st Round pick? Time will tell. But I would take him over Brian Brohm of Louisville or Colt Brennan of Hawaii who are the only two big name QBs coming out in 2008. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and make a move if you think its right. I hope the Browns are.

Wright. I am going to assume they did their homework. As everyone probably knows by now he was accused (while attending USC) of slipping an 18 year old girl a date rape drug and subsequently police found over 130 pills of Ecstasy in his dorm room. He was never charged with anything but was kicked out of USC and transferred to UNLV. A legitimate 1st Round talent. Can he keep his nose clean? He's got a second chance. Let see what he makes of it.

One of THE most important drafts since the Browns return in 1999 and they did not disappoint. They filled three HUGE holes and did it in dramatic fashion. We'll see how they do tomorrow on Day 2 but an amazing start on Day 1. I said I wanted them to keep stockpiling talent via the draft and Day 1 in 2007 looks like a great beginning!

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