A few years ago, Legion Report looked at the Cleveland Browns draft picks since they were reincarnated into the NFL. To make it short, they consistently made bad picks that resulted in short careers for players that should’ve never been picked for that value. If you’d like to take a look at all of the bad picks, re-visit our Cleveland Browns Draft Mistakes Over the Years article. We want to continue this analysis by reviewing their last two drafts.
2013
In the previous season, the Trent Richardson pick looked very promising. He was labeled as the best running since Adrian Peterson. His 950 rushing yards and 11 TD’s were very encouraging for the Browns in the previous season, but he showed minimal progress in his second season. He consistently danced in the backfield. Richardson was traded to the Colts in exchange for a 2014 1st round pick. Davone Bess was acquired by the team in the offseason, but I think he took more hits from his bong rather than on the field. The Dolphins failed to let the Browns know of his potential problem. Of course they didn’t even bother to ask about any off field concerns. Quarterback play was abysmal. Brandon Weeden couldn’t move from the pocket, and Jason Campbell just looked lost out there. Brian Hoyer did look good, but it was only for 1.5 games before tearing his ACL. The Browns did sign some free agents on defense that will help them in the future. Paul Kruger, Desmond Bryant, and Quinton Groves all had solid seasons. Barkevious Mingo was taken with the 6th pick and he does show promise. He totaled 5 sacks and 29 tackles in limited time. Leon McFadden was used sparingly as well, but the fact that he didn’t start over Buster Skrine is alarming. The team only finished 4-12 that season and resulted in Rob Chudzinki’s firing. Defense is a must in the AFC North, but at some point you must address offense to help take the load off of Josh Gordon. Some notable players that were drafted after Mingo were: Tavon Austin, DeAndre Hopkins, Cordarrelle Patterson, Giovanni Bernard, Le’Veon Bell, Eddie Lacy, Montee Ball, Christine Michael, Keenan Allen, and Marcus Lattimore
2014
As we continue through the 2014 offseason, it was evident that the team needed to surround Brian Hoyer with talent. He had a promising 1.5 games in the previous season, but he needs more help. The Browns signed Ben Tate to help fill Trent Richardson’s hole. A solid sign, but he does have an injury history. They need to acquire a change of pace back to compliment him. Terrence West was drafted hopefully to do that. West has been compared to Alfred Morris. An obvious choice for the team would have been to draft top receiver, Sammy Watkins, with the 4th overall pick and address the other holes like cornerback, quarterback, or offensive line with the 26th pick. I think you look at their recent debacle with the Julio Jones trade and they would take that into account. Also, there are very few quarterbacks that can make receivers into great players. Receivers, often, can make quarterbacks. If you look at Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler, they were marginal, at best, when Julio Jones and Alshon Jeffrey respectively went down. The drop off between Sammy Watkins and the rest of the field was much larger between the top cornerbacks. However, the Browns TRADED the 4th pick to the Bills for the 9th pick and a 2015 1st rounder. On paper, yes this is a great deal. But how many draft picks has the team nailed? Not a lot. Eventually, the Browns selected Justin Gilbert with the 8th pick. Yes, it addressed a big need and it got Buster Skrine off the field, but the drop off is greater from the receivers than the cornerbacks. They could have waited for a corner in the latter part of the 1st round and selected a wide receiver. Johnny Manziel will be a fan favorite, obviously. If he can continue his progress and make the correct reads instead of looking off open receivers, he can definitely bring a little Bernie Kosar magic back. Here is how Browns fans think of the selection.
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ESPN Cleveland’s Aaron Goldhammer agreed with the pick as well.
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Joel Bitonio will help the offensive line. Pierre Desir showed what the Browns are trying to do. They’re trying to mimic the Seahawks and 49ers and have bigger corners. Owner Jimmy Haslam was on record of saying that. The Johnny drafting was quickly subdued by the announcement that Josh Gordon would be suspended for marijuana abuse. This is exactly the reason why Legion Report thought the Browns should have taken Sammy Watkins. Now they have Greg Little as their top wide out. The fact that the team passed on 17 (!) wide receivers is alarming.
There comes a time where the rebuilding stops. You look at other teams’ who has had success and there’s no reason why this team should not be competing. Jimmy Haslam demands the best and has a short leash, especially based off of the quick firing of Rob Chudzinski. I hope they have a plan for the offense because the fans of Cleveland are growing very impatient. Yes, their season tickets sky rocketed after Johnny, but we deserve a winning product.