Most Cleveland Browns' observers felt that Tom Heckert did a good job drafting for the Browns the last few seasons. They seem to have a good deal of young talent. His first draft in 2010 brought starters Joe Haden, TJ Ward, and Shaun Lauvao. In 2011, he did especially well, with six starters in Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard, Greg Little, Jordan Cameron, Buster Skrine, and Jason Pinkston. Last season, they added Trent Richardson, Brandon Weeden, Mitchell Schwartz, John Hughes, Travis Benjamin, and Billy Winn, as well as Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft. That's sixteen players, thirteen starters in three drafts.
When new regimes take over teams, they usually like to put their own stamp on the team. Mike Lombardi and Joe Banner seemed especially anxious to make this "their team." They clearly have little faith in Brandon Weeden, and if he doesn't put up big numbers he will be gone. They also obviously planted a story with Lombardi's friend Jason LaCanfora of CBS sports, making it clear that Heckert left them nothing to work with.
If the Browns are going to have any success this year, and probably the next few years, Lombardi and Banner are going to have to rely on Heckert's players. The first draft of this regime can only be described as a failure. Top draft pick Barkevious Mingo has shown some promise. He has the speed and athleticism that they had hoped for. He is sidelined by a bruised lung, but he was not going to start anyhow. He may never be an every down player. He is very undersized for a linebacker. He is a converted defensive end who has never been asked to play in pass coverage. He is a pure pass rusher and maybe not much more. You would like to see more from the #6 overall pick.
They had no second round pick due to taking Gordon in 2012. In the third round, they took cornerback Leon McFadden from San Diego State. They hoped McFadden would be the starting corner opposite Haden, a position at which the Browns are very thin. There were already questions about McFadden's height coming into the draft. At 5'9", it is questionable that he can cover some of the larger receivers in the NFL. McFadden has not looked good in the preseason, and not only will he not start, he enters the season as no better than the 4th cornerback.
Lombardi and Banner mysteriously traded the 4th and 5th round picks for a 3rd and 4th next season. For a team as devoid of talent as they want you to believe, passing on the chance to add young talent was an odd move to say the least. Presumably, they are stockpiling assets in order to move up and take a quarterback next year. That's an excellent way to show faith in your QB.
Their next pick was 6th rounder Jamoris Slaughter, a safety from Notre Dame, who was cut yesterday. Seventh-round pick Armonty Bryant was arrested for DUI shortly after the draft, and barely squeaked onto the roster as their 4th string right defensive end. They had a second 7th rounder that they used on guard Garrett Gilkey, who has shown some promise, but is listed as the third team left guard.
There you have it. They traded two picks and drafted five players. Of those five, one was cut. The other four include a second team LB (Mingo), a fourth cornerback (McFadden), a fourth-string DE with substance abuse issues (Bryant), and a third team guard (Gilkey). None of them look like future starters, and only Mingo, and potentially Gilkey, appear to be guys that can contribute.
There is no way to categorize this other than a disaster. For a team still in need of depth and young talent, they added virtually none. Instead of planting stories about the poor job Heckert did, Lombardi and Banner should be grateful for the young talent he left them.
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