Grading Browns Draft Grades

Some national guy who actually gets paid to write about the AFC North gave the Browns a C-.  He gave everybody else in the division A's.  

That's fair enough-this is subjective, and it is true that the other teams did well.  My problem with this came when I read how he came up with the C-.

He mentions the acquisition of Devone Bess, and the fact that Gordon was really the second-round pick.  In re Bess, he mentions a Browns WR corps which was woefully lacking in talent.

Clearly, he already regards Gordon as a bust, Greg Little as a bum, and Wilson as a non-entity.  And I guess Norwood and Benjamin are just some guys who don't matter.  And he doesn't notice that Bess came almost for free.

This guy's really not that dumb.  He just didn't bother with research.  After all, it's just the Cleveland Browns!  

He says the Browns "had only five picks".  He didn't seem to notice that two picks were traded for higher 2014 picks, so this wasn't any part of his analysis.

On Mingo, he regurgitates the myth that he can't get off blocks and lacks moves.

He sees McFadden as a third cornerback to cover slot recievers.

He says Gilkey is strictly a project right tackle and won't matter this season.  I can't really fault him for this ass umtion, which was exclusively based on his height and draft position.  But Gilkey will have every opportunity to win a starting job at guard.  Odds are against that, but not against his sticking around to back up more than one position as a rookie.

In his summary, he says that the Browns didn't get any impact players, which means that he doesn't think Mingo will accomplish anything, and Gordon isn't anything special either.  He's almost alone on these estimates.  I am embarrassed for him.

Meanwhile, he loves how the Steelers got Jenkins later in the round, saying that he might just be the best passrusher in this draft.  Excuse me while I do a Mayock eye-roll. The guy sees a ton of sacks for Jenkins and four for Mingo: Case closed!  Yeah I know, it's so hard to consider level of competition, the positions and systems they played in, athleticism, etc.

In fact, I think all this guy did was glance at statistics, which is partly why he bashed the extant reciever corps.  He counted the receptions each guy had last season, and ignored the fact that he was looking at rookies and second year players in 2012...in a new West Coast system with a NOT West Coast rookie quarterback.

Even so, if you catch over 50 passes, you can't suck.  I guess even nationally, if you play for the Browns you need like 75 receptions to be average "at best" dammit I'm confiscating that phrase again...

This analysis really just plain sucked.  It was lazy and downright dumb.  He sounded almost as bad as some of the permabashing posters I read locally.  Almost as bad as Judge Mental.

I grade this draft grade as an F.

I also have to mention here another pundit bemoaning the Browns situation at tight end.  He's already got Cameron's headstone in place.  He says Wilson and Bess will be Weeden's best friend, since Cameron is such a loser.

I just can't fathom how you can look at a guy who mostly played basketball and a little wide reciever until his senior year in college, then basicly redshirts behind Watson and Smith as a rookie, then bumps Smith back in his second season, during which he played well in the limited time he had on the field---and assume he sucks!

I'm sorry, but that's just ignorant.  This is the classic developmental pattern for even most players who don't start out as raw and inexperienced as Cameron did.  It's so obvious that he'll be better--there is a glaring need for common sense here.

He might get injured.  He might not reach the Pro Bowl (?).  But he won't suck, and he's already proven that.

Here's another guy who thinks McFadden will cover slot recievers.  He's got Skrine starting opposite Haden.  

He has trouble understanding why they would draft Mingo at six when they already had Sheard and Kruger and "so many" other needs.

Where do they come up with "so many"?  Oh yeah he adds tight end to cornerback and safety.  Oh--and no doubt he counts inside linebacker as a need.  Maybe wide reciever too--what the hell you need ten right?

Nor do good teams draft exclusively for need.  While I would have traded down in their place, I do understand that in their estimation, Mingo was a significantly superior player who would make more of an impact than any two other players, period.

He gets an F too.

Ok I can't write any more.  I'm getting sick here.