Flugel

2 hours ago, LondonBrown said:

I will update as the picks come in meanwhile it may be interesting to look back at previous Brugler profiles of our picks to see how accurate (or not) things have panned out so far.....

2023 

 

2022 

 

Thanks for the goodies LB!   I'm gonna vent a little here - just know it's not aimed at you.  This just feels like a good spot to exercise my 2 brain cells.

I really like the Zinter selection; but I'm scratching my head about the 2nd round reach for Michael Hall Jr that many sites/publications had going in the 3rd and 4th rounds. I'm an Ohio State fan; but he ended with 2 tackles for losses and 1.5 sacks in his final season. That doesn't really stack up well against the other talent that went in round 2 IMO regardless of how well he did at the combines.  This felt a lot like reaching on DE Alex Wright a couple years ago.  Why???

Why do I feel this way?  If we wanted to reach on a player - it should have been LEFT TACKLE Kiran Amegadjie or others equivalent LT prospects were available in round 2. Unfortunately, we still have a very sleepy Casper the Friendly Ghost entitled to his starting LT job.  He doesn't have to try or be consistent.  He often stops after his initial hit when he's run blocking. He hasn't even put in the work to have a consistent stance that sets him up for ideal leverage, power and base.  We've seen this for 4 years now. Film ain't gonna show us he's earned SQUAT. This FO drafted him at #10 overall so he's entitled.  Keeping him throws off the scent the FO failed here. Both RTs are coming off season ending injuries.  Our strength last year was OG; and it still was heading into the draft.  100% of our starting tackles (1 LT + 2 RTs).  However, I am very aware we signed a 9 veteran G/T (Germain Ifedi) that didn't appear in 1 game last year.  I think his most recent starts were all at Guard. Soooooo, our next pick today is in round 5.  

3 hours ago, Orion said:

Yeah, it's a pipe dream.  Perhaps Sanders the TE that I wanted.

edit - missed him by 2 pick slots. 

I thought of you when he went just 2 spots before us.  Then we ended up wasting a 2nd round pick on a DT that only had 2 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks in 12 games in 2023 (with countless mismatches for carpe diem on the schedule).  He's a 3rd-4th round projection and his numbers reflect that.  

I remember when we did some lists of guys we wanted in various rounds - we both listed Brenden Rice. Before I could add Michigan's Roman Wilson - Pittsburgh just drafted him.  There's still some other good WRs out there...

3 hours ago, MLD Woody said:

My 2021 Cleveland Draft jacket is fitting great, thank you very much..

 

Honestly, the NFL has gotten better at this since 2021. Huge blocked off draft village. Pretty cool. 

Good to hear.  Buy a great big cold draft beer; and it gets really simple from there.  Drink the Draft & watch the Draft.  

42 minutes ago, Orion said:

I would like   Adonai Mitchell, Texas   please.  - Pats need wr.

I'd be shocked if he's not drafted within the next 21 selections.  The good news is there will probably promising WRs like Brenden Rice, Devontez Walker, Jamari Thrash available.  I got a sick feeling the LT from Yale will be gone at this time so a good WR would be awesome. 

9 minutes ago, gumby73 said:

Morning & Happy Fri-Yay Draft-day Brownies !

Thanks for a amazing football fan night in Detroit City !  That night may only compare to Detroit Tigers WS run ! We got as close as 7 rows back from fenced barrier & never chose to move. Until 💯 k decided to checkout after Lion's trade up/pick. Amazing fun, classy fan groups all night ! 

Word on street headed to edit.. GM's do r e a c h !  back for more today ! can't wait

 

As a Toledo grad... It was a blessing, to see both Pitt & Cincy pass on CB Quinyon Mitchell 👀.. I'm a huge fan of good players skipping player portals to showcase elsewhere. Q. Mitch stayed at MAC school home/ to 1st round talent. Q's been a great kid at TU 

Both AFCN teams took rookie Tackles that M.Garrett may see.. Ravens later went CB Nate Wiggins from Clemson. I was really thankful when Philly took Quinyon Mitchell off clock before Rats picked.   

 

Enjoy today.. Day 2, sets up rather well !   Go BROWNS ! 

   

Have fun Gumbs!

1 hour ago, TexasAg1969 said:

And my two Aggies get selected tonight.😁👍

Offensive Guards have feelings too!  I say that because there's an Aggie OG Layden Robinson projected as high as round 2 (Lindy's) that I haven't seen you mention in here yet (unless I was sick that day).  All kidding aside, even if that projection exceeds others that group Guards in with Centers - he may be someone for you to keep your eye on.  There's 32 teams so all it takes is 1 to notice him.

They'll probably give him a hilarious acronym/nick-name as a rookie.  "WHO MISSED THAT BLOCK?  Was it LayRob or Peak-a-Boo?"

8 hours ago, TexasAg1969 said:

Well Carolina took the Xavier I liked a lot from SC. Wish he had still been there at 54.

Who woulda thought we gotta be careful using the 1st name Xavier all of a sudden?  There's the Gamecocks' Xavier Legette staying in the Carolinas and the footspeed of Xavier Worthy that will be catching passes from Patrick Mahomes this Fall.  You know we're in a different era when there's 2 Xaviers in the 1st round; and not 1 guy named Tom. 

33 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said:

The Browns get to participate tonight! 

I wonder if we'll draft any young fellers from the Sign Steelers in Annie's Arbor.  

1 hour ago, ballpeen said:

I seem to be in the minority.  Unless the Browns are on the clock, the draft is boring.

You're not in the minority with that. I'll watch tonight but I'm way more interested when the Browns are in play.  Tomorrow will be a lot more exciting.

1 hour ago, Dutch Oven said:

Just saw on ESPN that Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson both are requesting trades from the Bengals. 

Believe it or not, Trey Hendrickson had 17.5 sacks last year as a RDE facing Left Tackles.  Unlike TJ Watt that went against Right Tackles every week, Hendrickson didn't whine about Myles Garrett winning Defensive Player of the Year.  It's been said by another great pass rusher Micah Parsons, film had a way of showing what pass rushers commanded the most attention from offensive lines and their teammates (in his praise for Myles).  Aside from that, 1 long time elite LT (Trent Williams) said Garrett is the easily best DE he has faced.  Pittsburgh decided to protect TJ Watt from a challenge like Trent Williams at LT so all Watts Tears for Fears landed on deaf ears and cold beers.

Hold on a second  "Ma'am could I have a De-caff please?"  

1 hour ago, Dutch Oven said:

Happy Draft Day! (Well, not for us per se, but still!)

I'm cold.  Is there a draft in here?

1 hour ago, Orion said:

Yeah, it's not touted as a good LB draft.  I know that it's hard to justify a WR with all of the WR's we have...some of them draft choices from recent drafts that should be expected to flourish right about now...but it's a deep receiver draft so I expect we'll come out of the draft with one.  Whichever WR is currently 'on the bubble' most probably won't be missed (Bell?).  -  Having said that, WR will probably be deep in drafts for the foreseeable future.  I mean, colleges no longer run the wishbone.  The college game now mimics the pro's.  And I also like the college football player's new financial situation.  It's keeping more kids in school for their senior year.  Perhaps a percentage of these will come out with some sheepskin.

I hear ya about the WR thing.  Having said that, I'd like to upgrade Elijah Moore and I think we can do it in this draft if we attempt to.  I was never really enthused with the trade for him like others were.  If we don't go after one - he has another year to try to prove me wrong. 

20 hours ago, ballpeen said:

Berry seems to draft a year ahead.  We may be deeper at guard today, maybe not so much next year.  We also have next year needs at DT.  We very well could go that way.

Aside from your points, I'd be surprised if he didn't draft a DB somewhere in this draft.

6 hours ago, nickers said:

Pretty damn good numbers until Skorich took over but like I said.. By that time like Namath.. His knees went to hell.. Then we made one of the dumbest trades ever sending Paul Warfield to Miami for the right to draft Mike Phipps.. I'll never forget how pissed my old man was when we made that deal.. But my fathers hatred of Modell stemmed from firing Paul Brown. I did get to see Bill Nelson once at a signing once at the now defunct Richmond Mall.. My stepbrother and I ran into Ozzie Newsome quite a lot. He lived down the street from us in East Cleveland. Browns players were often seen like regular joes in the community back then. How time sure has changed things is mind bending.

In 68, I was only 4 years old. Any 1st impressions I had of Bill Nelsen thru 1972 were from whatever my dad saw and said.  I got the sense he liked Bill Nelsen and appreciated him trying to play despite the 2 bad knees.  

12 minutes ago, ballpeen said:

I'd say there is a higher probability we take an interior O-lineman before we would take a LT.  The only reason as I see it is there should be better guards on the board than LT prospects.

 

But, as you said, we will see what happens.  You never know who might or might no be there.

Yeah, who knows?  You might be right Ballpeen.  If you are right - the good news is a lot of productive college tackles (lacking arm length) get drafted to play OG creating a bigger supply of Guards (ie: Joel Bitonio was a Tackle in college) overall.  This also means we wouldn't have to draft one in round 2 in order to secure a good one.  Besides, we don't need immediate impact at OG with Bitonio and Teller so they can defer to a later round for a developmental guy.

Just thinking out loud here. I think we have more depth inside at this time than at LT. Michael Dunn can play LG extremely well; and I'm guessing he could do the same at RG if we needed him to (that's an easier transition from 1 side to the other than OT).  He helped us beat SF without Bitonio.  They just signed a backup RG Germain Ifedi (who would only play RT if both Conklin and Jones are injured). Luke Wypler will also be counted on to backup Center an OG spot. Right now, I don't think we have a backup LT on the roster that anyone would have a great deal of confidence in (unless I'm forgetting someone I shouldn't be).

There's been mentions and thoughts on our board about moving Dawand Jones to LT.  I've warmed up to this idea more than I thought I would.  However, trying this the 1st training camp after a serious knee injury that landed him on IR and a surgery table might not be the best time to try this.  Like Dutch reminds us, we're not having any luck keeping Conklin healthy so we'll probably see more of Jones than Conklin at RT again.

My guess is we'll go LT with our first pick in round 2 unless a run on the position depletes the supply of them too far to consider what's left for round 2 value.  Very possible this could happen. 

Stay tuned... 

11 hours ago, Dutch Oven said:

You think they would pass on a LT because Wills is on the roster? Isn't he on the last season of his rookie contract?

And Conklin should retire. Guy can't stay healthy enough to play into October. 

Jones is the only Tackle on the roster worth building around long-term. 

I have to agree. I think we're begging for trouble pretending 1 more year of Casper the Friendly Ghost at Left Tackle helps this team in any way.  This was like 2022 when the Browns pretended DT wasn't important at all.  End result?  This team couldn't stop the run or keep offensive linemen off the LB Corps. In fact, we had portions of the 2022 season where the entire 1st string of LBers were injured because of it.

Yeah, Wills under contract but does that light his fanny or make him feel entitled 1 more time?  I don't see a lot of playoff teams that have their biggest weakness upfront at Left Tackle. There may be some exceptions to that - like the Browns at the expense of needing 5 different QBs. When Wills went on IR, the Browns won 4 of their last 5 games.  The only one they lost in that stretch was in Cincy.  That day, they rested a lot of valuable starters while starting Jeff Driskell at QB.

Unfortunately, none of this means they'll take a LT.  There's probably going to be a run on them before we draft in round 2.  We'll see what happens...

5 hours ago, Dutch Oven said:

Nelsen was with the Browns between 1968-1972. 

Blanton Collier was his head coach for Nelsen's first three seasons in Cleveland. 

He had some good records in Cleveland when he played. Fans seemed to like him. After 1968 you could see the drop-off in his TD/INT ratio.  Here's his record each season played & TDs/INTs:

1968: 11-2 & 19 TDs 10 INTs

1969: 10-3-1 & 23 TDs 19 INTs Pro Bowl

1970: 6-6 & 16 TDs 16 INTs

1971: 9-4 & 13 TDs 23 INTs

1972: 0-1 & 0 TDs 3 INTs

3 hours ago, gumby73 said:

Fast moving week..Since last Sunday.

A-Mega's stock went from the mid 80's, to now ranked #75 as of here https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/big-boards/2024/consensus-big-board-2024

a.)Berry a.) trades a Tackle Watson to Tits for a 7th.  b.) Injury medical release of G Drew Forbes c.) A camp PS T retires named Murray. 

d.) Browns add a RT/RG Germaine Ifedi 

Ageing high Contracts at both G/RT.. Heck..We might be more in need, of developing a drafted G or T? Than we were this time last weekend  

 

 

• Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 26 at 7 p.m. ET.   Gates open at Noon 🍺

IMO, Left Tackles are somewhat like QBs in the sense teams will reach for them.  For example, Lindy's Draft Mag has Kiran Amegadije going to KC at #64 overall in their Mock Draft - even though they had him as their 13th highest rated Offensive Tackle as a 4th round projection.   He didn't make the Top 100 Rated Players posted in this mag based on consensus opinion of Field Level Media analysts. That said, the entire Ivy League got snobbed from that list.

My other Draft Mag from Athlon Sports has him rated #76 overall in their Top 100 players. Before I share where this Mock Draft has him going - there's been some trades between when this was printed vrs the other Mag.  This mag's mock draft also has KC taking Amegadije but this version has KC doing it at #63 overall.  I think the most up to date version has KC drafting in the 64th spot.

In either case, KC has a franchise QB to protect. Both Mock Drafts acknowledge the importance of that in terms of reaching above the ratings/projections into a limited supply of Left Tackles available to shield off the blind side of passer. 

41 minutes ago, mjp28 said:

And of course .....

Easily my 2 faves leading both versions of Kardiac Kids in the 80s.   

On 4/17/2024 at 8:43 PM, Canton Dawg said:

Another scUM Alum has an epiphany. . .

 

The truth shall set you free Michigan. The best sports program at the University in Annie's Arbor this side of the year 2000 is the Women's Gymnastics team that won the only undisputed, asterisks-free National Championship in 2021.  The desperation to win with integrity is well summarized above.  It's been pretty much impossible as clearly articulated by the dialed-in fan above.  Just tell the truth, as painful as it always seems to be, and you can exhale again.  Okay, so you're only 2nd or 3rd or 4th best again. The Vanderbilt Commodores would give anything to be in your shoes on the gridiron; even though they've won a National Championship in baseball in 2014 and 2019.  

51 minutes ago, ballpeen said:

Exactly, Purdy could be another.  They don't even need to be that good.  There are dozens of UDFA who ended up solid players. Once they get there, the Browns have to "bid" to get them, and the player needs to make a choice between several offers.  Lot's of factors go in to that decision.  Money, opportunity, and location being the main factors, and not necessarily in that order.

I hear ya!  Let's hope some of these young men are thinking Clevelandofopportunity.  

19 minutes ago, gumby73 said:

A home grown WR, w/5th browns team meeting, might fall under using a 7th round pick.

Tipton was invited to participate at Toledo University's Pro Day, where he raised the eyebrows of dozens of scouts. Tipton was able to participate in front of nearly 60 NFL scouts thanks to Toledo cornerback and projected first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell, who drew an enormous crowd to get one final look at him before the draft.

Yale wide receiver Mason Tipton had some interest from a handful of NFL teams throughout the pre-draft process. However, following his 4.32 40-yard dash time at his Pro Day, Tipton seemingly forced about 20 more teams to take a look. Tipton is no stranger to the spotlight. He grew up in Akron, Ohio, where he attended Archbishop Hoban High School.

 

https://247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/longformarticle/cleveland-browns-nfl-draft-mason-tipton-230531025/#2407945

 

 

Could you imagine if we drafted 2 kids from Yale in the same draft?

34 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said:

Wasn't Antonio Gates another free agent out of Kent State? 

Yes; and he never even played football there.  James Harrison was also an undrafted free agent from Kent State. That said, Harrison got cut numerous times before he found the right blend of secret potions.  

1 hour ago, ballpeen said:

 

I agree, as I said here:

 

Posted Sunday at 05:11 AM

"In a way I like 7th rounders.  I see it as a way to get a jump on the undrafted guys....if that makes any sense."

 

All teams like several players on who they don't necessarily think they need to use a draft pick.  Adding a pick or two in the 7th and picking them in the 7th guarantees you get at least 1-2 of them.

 

Most of those players are viewed as special team candidates, at least for the early portion of their career and or smaller school players who show promise but didn't play against top competition.

 

For example, NE drafted Kent State QB Julian Edelman in round 7 who began returning punts/kickoffs before he emerged as a Pro Bowl WR.  Prior to that, Cleveland signed another former Kent State QB Josh Cribbs as an undrafted free agent who excelled as a Kickoff/Punt Return Specialist.  He also played WR and some QB in the WildDawg. He made 3 Pro Bowls and earned a 1st Team All Pro honor.  He was also recognized as a member of The NFL's All-Decade Team for the 2000s.

I wouldn't mind an equivalent find this year...

On 4/16/2024 at 10:19 PM, Orion said:

...truth be told, I view 7th rounders as glorified free agents.  But they're free agents that have to come to your team.  -  A week and a half 'til we're on the clock!

Well said.  If we're ever gonna waste another draft pick on a kicker - I'd rather have it done here (especially if we have more than one 7th round pick).   The 3 we drafted never survived their 1st contract in Cleveland.  Having said that, the Browns brought the last one back just in case we lose our starting kicker to a severe hamstring pull again.  

A couple years ago, I was flipping back and forth between the 2 networks covering the draft in the final hour. One of the networks was saying when you get to the 7th round - it's almost better for the player if they end up being an undrafted free agent.   This way the player has a chance to pick a best fit situation his skillsets among teams interested.  Makes sense.  On the other hand, many kids dream about getting drafted.  How about a Brock Purdy being the last pick of the draft 2 years ago?