Sheldon Brown: Could have up to two seasons left as a solid (but not elite) cornerback, but might actually be a pretty special safety.

Defense in general is an area where mentoring and leadership are actually useful, and Brown actually can have a positive influence on the younger players. Secondary guys have a ton of nuances and dirty tricks to learn for the pros--like reading subtle cues in a reciever's body language to anticipate his break, where you can get away with tugging a guy's waistband to upset his balance and slow him, how to decieve them and make them do something dumb, etc.

Please--this does NOT rule out Haden as the top pick. For one thing, Haden would set up Brown for safety, killing two birds with one stone. For another thing, it's really optimistic to project that the 31-year old Brown could go longer than 3 or 4 years, even at safety--he's holding the fort.

The Browns could get away with one cornerback and one safety, but ideally still need another cornerback. Everybody is going spread, and nickels and dimes are really base defenses in today's NFL.

Adams is an excellent utility guy, inc. nickel corner, except that in that role he's vulnerable to waterbug type slot guys. McDonald is actually a good zone guy, but is weak in man coverage, and that's why (correction coming) he is NOTNOTNOT a good nickel back.

But Brown does significantly upgrade the secondary. Ryan wants to sic the dogs on enemy backfields (a man after my own heart), and to reduce the risk of getting toasted for it, you need two (actually three) tough cover guys (man coverage).

No guarantees that Brown will be all that at this age, simply because he was pretty good last season. The Eagles did note a decline, despite his five picks. Age catches up to everybody. But he should at least be better than what we've had, and certainly is solid against the run, too.

Gocong "failed to become the passrusher the Eagles envisioned"--yeah right. Look-Gocong was a best-available pick. the Eagles drafted him despite the fact that he wasn't a good match for their system, simply because he was the best player on their board. Most scouts rated him a second rounder.

They felt he'd be a special teams upgrade and had the athleticism to compete at SAM, and maybe be a situational passrusher. Realisticly, they were looking at a backup there at the time. He surprised many by becoming the starter.

The Eagles run a 4-3, and Gocong was lining up five yards off the line in space. He was responsible for containment, and the tight end in coverage. He didn't blitze a lot. His height is also a disadvantage as a situational DE with his hand in the dirt.

Well, he did the containment and run-stuffing stuff pretty well as a 4-3 SAM, but got burned in coverage.

A 3-4 OLB lines up at or near the defensive line, and ideally blitzes about half the time. On the tight end side, he'll often engage the tight end right there to disrupt his pattern--and sometimes then release him to a safety or the weak inside backer.

Nor does an offense attack a 3-4 the same way. In that case, many tight ends will not try to catch anything. They need to protect the backfield from this far more aggressive OLB. And then, tight ends are used up the middle--in most cases, they must angle towards the ILB's, one of which is to pick him up, if the safety doesn't. Offenses also use more 3/4-wides vs. 3-4's to get their base people off the field.

Had Gocong been drafted by a 3-4 team, he might well have had a slew of sacks. That is what he does best. He has the size and build to play outside or inside here--much like Rodney Veikunefield. (Note to Oblivia: this second year player still exists, and is very much in the linebacker mix).

With Fujita now also on board, the Browns are overloaded at linebacker (yes, Oblivians--it's true!). Ryan is creative as hell, just like his daddy was, and he likes using five linebackers and stuff like that.

In a conventional 3-4, the weak inside backer is a run-and-hit/sideline-to-sideline/coverage guy, which is why Ma...uh, the undersized Hawaiian rookie...showed up in relief late in the season, and did surprisingly well. (Dude's really a real big strong safety--one of the reasons Ryan used five linebackers; that's a big nickel, really...but I digress).

This is Jackson and Barton--and possibly Fujita; not sure there.

You knuckleheads that want the Browns to waste a high pick on any linebacker need to go back to school and review what the no-name kids and Roth did late last season.

Recall this: Earlier, the inside guys were Barton and Jackson. Veikune, the small-college defensive end--wasn't ready YET, and Bowens was playing OLB. That wasn't good, because the strong inside backer is ideally a bigger goon who can take on guards moving in space--and Barton aint that.

Then they put David Bowens, a big monster there (next to M...the Hawaiian shrimp) e voila! Yeah, you just keep reciting season stats while ignoring the fact that that combination (with some Trusnik mixed in, and with the freelancing Rogers injured and the disciplined Rubin plugging the middle) they stopped the run.

Now I hope you understand that what happened happened and why it happened and the near-certainty that it will happen even moreso in the future, AND WE DON'T NEED NO STEENKING LINEBACKERS!!!

You're just killing me, Oblivia!

We need a fast (not neccessarily vedderrunn) wide reciever, safety, cornerback (still), and of course a quarterback of the future. Ok and a backup center and future (or superior) guard and (maybe--remember Rodney Capizzifield) RT...

Also, Coye Francies is still on the roster. I've heard rumors about some psychological issues there--don't know--but I need to point out his existance to you Oblivians. There's a decent chance he shows up and fills one of the cornerback holes. He's absolutely got the talent.

Outside the box:

Steinbach fits a zone scheme a lot better and has great trade value. This is kind of a longshot and no doubt horrifies the emotional thinkers who get attached and worshipful, but a trade is possible.

...though doubtful, since it would disrupt continuity and there is nobody better on the current roster. Plus Steinbach can play LT in a pinch, and...come to think of it, he can play center. HAS played center. Why did I forget that? Oh yeah I read the same stuff you guys read.

It now looks as if a trade-down from 7 is possible. Buffalo et al might want Clausen that bad and several teams will want Berry or a left tackle.

I personally think Mike Mayock is smarter than allayouall and that Earl Thomas is about as good as him, plus Haden will last awhile too. Either of those guys would help massively, and I see no reason not to trade down even if Mayock is wrong for once and Berry is slightly better than Thomas.

Per the chart, Buffalo would need to cough up a third round pick to move up two slots, or maybe Trent Edwards. (Jim Miller and others say that Edwards doesn't really suck--I have no opinion but we got Holmgren/Heckert to sort that out).

If the targets are Thomas, Haden, or maybe one of the offensive linemen (I never said they shouldn't upgrade at a reasonable price), they could move down further and still get one of them and Colt Mccoy.

I have decided that Colt McCoy is the realistic quarterback for the Browns in this draft. He's the absolute prototype West Coast quarteback. Bradford is awesome and fits any system, but McCoy is right there with him in this scheme.

He looks like Montana, but has a better arm.

Oh yeah. Trade down. Get 2011 picks too. Trade down and load up and get McCoy...mmmmm....

YOU STAND CORRECTED