Knee Jerk - Day 2

I really do miss the old format of the draft.  My dad had a draft day tradition of cleaning the garage and listening to the radio when Saturday used to be the first 3 rounds, and then that Sunday he'd go about his life and read up on the picks after they were made while I obsessed over why they didn't take the guy I wanted with the 195th pick.  It was awesome.  This 3 day thing is for the birds but it is what it is.


In the second round, with the 37th pick the Browns went with Mitchell Schwartz, RT from Cal.  I sort of had a feeling he was going to be a Brown, although I had him going in the 3rd round.  I read somebody say that he was going to go before a lot of people thought he would and was a candidate to sneak into the late 1st.  Anyways I like the guy.  People wanted a WR or a different RT but all I heard all year was people complain about how lousy the right side of our line was.  Guess what, it's fixed.  Here's why they went with Schwartz, in my opinion.  He started 51 games at Cal, he's got prototypical size.  The Browns know EXACTLY what they have in him.  They're not banking on potential or player development, they took the guy that they can plug in from day 1.  They obviously don't want to have to address the right tackle spot again for the next 6-8 years.  They took the sure thing.  Maybe Glenn or Martin or Adams have more potential, but they all come with more risk.  Hell I liked Massie coming in and he's still on the board.  Schwartz is a more polished player.  They swung for the gap and not the fences.  I love it.  Also in play here was the fact that this is not a deep draft for tackles and the talent pool has dried up considerably.  WR and CB are deep positions this year and I'd expect them to get addressed in the 4th.

Ah the 3rd round.  I think Shaun Lauvao is the only decent third round pick the Browns have made since they came back.  They traded back from 67 to 87 and picked up Denver's 4th rounder, pick 120.  They moved back after Reuban Randle and Josh Robinson (2 guys I think they liked) were taken in front of them by NY and Minnesota.  For whatever reason they decided not to go after a starter with this pick and instead drafted John Hughes from Cincinnati.  I love Uncle Buck, Home Alone was hilarious, but I'm not sure John Hughes was a great pick.  Hell this John Hughes might have been more highly rated than the one the Browns took.  CBS has him as the 534th overall player.  Do I think he's that lousy?  No.  However even he didn't think he was going to get picked until Saturday, because that's when he was planning on having his draft party.  A backup nose tackle at 87 with the holes on this team is a hard sell for me.  I always tell my dad it's not who they take it's who they don't.  I liked TY Hilton, Brandon Boykin, and Jayron Hosely at that spot, I think all 3 of those guys can play, and I don't know about John Hughes, but I'm skeptical on this one.  Boykin is still on the board, maybe he's the pick at 100.  We'll see.

On the last day of the draft, the Browns should add at least one receiver and linebacker and Heckert's history tells us he should be able to find a contributor or starter late.  Guys I'd be targeting include my 2012 mancrush Jarius Wright, possibly Boykin, Juron Criner or Chris Givens at WR, maybe a small-school corner like Josh Norman or Ryan Steed or Jeremy Lane.  They probably take a DE somewhere (Cam Johnson maybe??)  They also may make a move for a player (Leodis McKelvin perhaps) or move McCoy.  It'll be an interesting day.

And to borrow from a John Hughes classic, here's how I feel about people who don't think the Browns are way better than they were on Thursday (PEEBO) - Warning - Foul Language

GO BROWNS