NFL Draft

Overall I would give the Browns a B- on the draft this past weekend. The team had so many needs they would have needed to trade down a couple time to get additional picks to have any chance at an A grade.

First round, 3rd pick overall: Braylon Edwards, WR from that hated school up north. Surprisingly, this is the fifth time we have used a first round pick for a player from that school. NFL is obviously a different level but in college Edwards was a game changing kind of receiver. Just ask MSU about that. Makes some spectacular plays but drops some very catchable balls. As stated in the first paragraph I would have preferred to trade down. However, it is hard to criticize trades not made since there is no way to know what may have been offered.

Second round, 34th pick overall: Brodney Pool, FS Oklahoma. I believe Pool was not expected to still be around and was taken as the ever popular "best available." He is a junior who declared for the draft early. ESPN's Mel Kiper said he could possibly been a top ten pick next year if he had waited.

Third round, 67th pick: Charlie Frye, QB Akron. Local kid. Is he another in the recent line of Mid-America QB's (Pennington, Roethlisberger, Leftwich). I don't expect an immediate impact out of Frye. Give him a playbook, a chair in the film room, and a clipboard for game day. Trent Dilfer's job this season is to keep Frye on the bench. Oddly enough, though he throws with his right hand he writes with his left hand.

Fourth round, 103rd pick: Antonio Perkins, CB Oklahoma. A surprising pick. Second pick from the Oklahoma secondary. Believe his main contribution this season will be as a special teams player. Holds or shares a couple NCAA punt return records (at least until Ted Ginn Jr. takes those records from him).

Fifth round, 139th pick: David McMillan, DE Kansas. If someone is still available at this point in the draft it is because of question marks. In McMillan's case the issues are size and whether he has the desire to put the work in to build up. My guess is his NFL future will consist of watching it on Sundays.

Sixth round, 176th pick: Nick Speegle, LB, New Mexico. Considered a good tackler with decent speed.

Sixth round, 203rd pick: Andrew Hoffman, DT, Virginia. Luke McKown was traded to Tampa Bay for this pick. Will compete for the nose tackle job in Cleveland new 3-4 defense.

Seventh round, 217, Jon Dunn, OT Virginia Tech. At 6'7" 328, Dunn could develop into an imposing right tackle. Maybe this is why he was still available:

Could not complete agility tests at the combine due to a left pectoral muscle strain and a right quadriceps muscle strain.

Overall I don't have a major problem with this draft. Problem is, with as bad as this team was plus the Savage/Crennell purge they could have had 5 more picks and still not been able to fill all the holes. Hopefully, this will be my last word on the Browns for a few months. Any news in the interim would be bad news (arrests/injuries) and we don't need anymore of that.