Monday, April 25, 2005

Wait, nevermind

So much for the Browns training camp face-off between Charlie Frye and Luke McCown. No sooner had I written the "Copycat draft" post below than it came over the media outlets that McCown had been swapped to the Buccaneers for the sixth-round pick at No. 203, which was used on Virginia defensive lineman Andrew Hoffman.
Unless the Browns sign another veteran to be Trent Dilfer's immediate backup (which I would still advise for this season), it will be an all-Mid-American Conference backup corps for Dilfer, with Akron's Frye and Bowling Green's Josh Harris on the bench.
This headlines for this Browns draft belong to Frye and wide receiver Braylon Edwards, but on the whole this was a defensive draft for Cleveland.
After four rounds, the Browns had two members of the Oklahoma secondary in tow. After safety Brodney Pool went on Day One, corner Antonio Perkins went with the first Cleveland pick of Day Two, in the fourth round at pick No. 103.
Perkins was the first of four consecutive defensive selections for the Browns, followed by fifth-round pick David McMillan, a linebacker from Kansas taken at No.139, New Mexico linebacker Nick Speegle, taken in the sixth round at pick No. 176, and Hoffman.
There was one thing disturbingly Butch Davis-esque about this draft, however: offensive linemen being bumped to the back of the line. Much like Davis, who used low end picks on Joaquin Gonzalez and Kirk Chambers in recent years, the only offensive lineman picked by the Browns in this draft was with their last pick: Virginia Tech offensive tackle Jon Dunn in the seventh round at pick No. 217.
Dunn is 6'-7" and 328 pounds, and was durable at Virginia Tech, on the field for 793 plays as a senior.
However, he bench-presses 350 pounds, decent, but for a sumo-wrestler offensive lineman, far from hulking strength. By comparison, Pool, at 6'-2" and 208 pounds, benches 355.
Nobody can realistically grade a draft until several years later, once the players have had time to learn and the coaches have had time to teach. But if pressed, I'd give the Browns a B.
Edwards, much like the Kellen Winslow Jr. last year, gives Browns' opponents something they will actually have to prepare for. As opposed to facing "the Browns" hopefully teams will start talking about a trip to Cleveland as having to face "Edwards and Winslow."
Frye, with proper grooming, could be a very good NFL starter. Pool and Perkins, combined with the off-season free-agent additions to the secondary, could give the Browns once of the deepest defensive backfields in the league. But depth doesn't mean anything without playmaking ability, which these guys will have to prove they can do.
Pool and Perkins should also net a lot of time on special teams this year, which is good. Hopefully it means Winslow won't be breaking any more legs covering kickoff returns like he did last year.

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