Analysis of Cleveland Browns First Day Picks in 2009 NFL Draft

April 25, 2009 By 7 Comments

The first day whirlwind has ended. When all was was said and done the Browns traded back three times before making their first pick and ended up with 7 new players. Here is the timeline of what transpired:

The Browns still have the following picks remaining tomorrow in Day 2 of the 2009 NFL Draft:

  • Round 3: None
  • Round 4: #104 (4th in round)
  • Round 5: None
  • Round 6: #177 (4th), #191 (18th), #195 (22nd)
  • Round 7: None

Time for some analysis.

Analysis of Overall Draft Mindset

I like what the Browns did in trading back to acquire more picks. This morning I wrote out my dream scenario for the Browns, and while today certainly did not play out exactly like I described, the general idea of trading back to maximize quantity and value was there. Despite finishing the 2007 season on the doorstep of the playoffs, the Browns enter 2009 in a complete rebuilding phase after everything collapsed last season. There was not one player the Browns felt they could get at #5 that was worth the money and/or that was a better value than guys they could get later in the draft for less money and with more picks added to the overall total.

So while the Browns do not walk away from Day 1 with an “exciting” player like Michael Crabtree or Aaron Curry, they do have four solid, high-character rookies, three guys who know Eric Mangini’s system, and four more picks tomorrow. I personally would have liked to see the Browns find a way to get a running back, but that is one position where draft history has proven that value can be had in later rounds.

Final Analysis: Very Positive

Analysis of Players Received in Trade with Jets

Continuity is always a big question mark when a new regime takes over. One thing that Eric Mangini and George Kokinis appear committed to is bringing in guys who are familiar with the style of football and mindset that will be installed for 2009 and beyond. A number of the Browns offseason acquisitions are former Jets with ties to Mangini, guys who will instantly provide a sense of continuity having played in the system previously. And while none of the guys we got from the Jets today is necessarily a difference maker, they all fill specific needs.

  • QB Brett Ratliff will be the new #3 quarterback, and I’ve never seen him play or read one word about him, yet I can tell you this: as long as he has a heartbeat, he is an improvement over Ken Dorsey. His acquisition means the Browns do not have to use a pick tomorrow on a QB. He does have good size (6’4, 235) and he obviously is not a total stiff because Mangini coached him last year and was willing to bring him to Cleveland.
  • S Abram Elam is nothing special. He has three years of playing experience, having seen the field for Dallas (2006) and the Jets (2007-2008). Last season was his best season as he totaled 69 tackles, 2 sacks, and INT that he returned for a touchdown. The Browns have obvious needs in the secondary, so Elam provides what I would anticipate to be solid depth.
  • DE Kenyon Coleman is an 8-year veteran whose two most productive seasons were his two with the Jets. Prior to playing in New York, Coleman spent 6 uneventful seasons in Dallas and Oakland. Over the last two years, Coleman has amassed 136 total tackles and 2 sacks. He had 4 sacks for the Cowboys in a limited role in 2006. Again, he fills a need. The guy isn’t Michael Strahan, but can be a useful player with a couple of years experience playing for Mangini.

Considering that I would have pretty much been happy just getting the #17 and #57 picks for the #5, I can’t be anything but positive about these three players. I don’t know how many of these former Jets are building blocks for the long-term, but they are solid players who will help make the transition to Manginiball more smooth for the entire organization.

Final Analysis: Who knows, but generally positive

Now let’s analyze the draft picks.

Analysis of Browns Pick at #21 – C Alex Mack, Cal

Just look at my post when the pick was announced and you’ll see the oscillation I went through mentally as I processed the pick. I will admit that I was excited about the possibility of picking Beanie Wells at #21, and when we picked a player at the least exciting position on the field, well, it just felt like a letdown. I am still not completely solid that the Browns made the best use of their only first round pick, but I’m coming around somewhat.

Not that they are the official experts, but Scouts Inc. had Alex Mack rated as the #1 center and the #39 overall player. On the one hand, I would have liked to see the Browns get a skill position player here. After suffering through so many boring games last year, I was hoping for a name that would instantly get me excited. Picking Beanie Wells certainly would have gotten me excited.

However, maybe we should get excited about Alex Mack. He is the #1 player at his position in the draft at a position of need for the Browns. And lost in the hubbub over Braylon, K2, and the QBs sucking last year was the fact that our offensive line wasn’t nearly as good as it was in 2007 either. Alex Mack comes in with very few question marks, certainly no character concerns, and potentially starts from Day One.

Beanie Wells, meanwhile, dropped all the way to #31, presumably because many teams are worried about his injury issues.

The Browns moved back, and moved back, and moved back again because they knew they could get the guy they wanted at #21. Well, they got him. And while he won’t whip Ohio fans into a frenzy of excitement like Beanie Wells would have, he is probably the better and more valuable pick. Good teams usually have good centers (look at Jeff Saturday in Indianapolis for an example) and assuming the scouting reports on Mack are correct, the Browns should be set at center for the next decade.

Final Analysis: Not exciting, not franchise altering, but a safe and solid first round selection

Analysis of Browns Picks #36 and #50: WRs Brian Robiskie, Ohio State and Mohamed Massaquoi, Georgia

I am lumping these guys together because I am just so excited about their arrival in Cleveland. If you had told me before today started that the Browns would get Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi and they would still have a first round pick and another second round pick in addition, I would have taken it. Why? Both of these guys are safe, productive picks at legitimate areas of need for the Browns.

After Braylon Edwards, there is literally no one for Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson to throw to (no offense Syndric Steptoe). And we don’t even know if Braylon will be suiting up for the Browns next year. With K2, Stallworth, and Jurevicius gone, the Browns clearly needed an influx of pass-catching talent. Most importantly, they needed talented receivers without the ego baggage that they are already dealing with in Braylon.

“But the Browns could have taken Michael Crabtree at #5 and gotten the best WR in the draft,” the detractors will say. To which I say the following:

  • Player A caught a touchdown every 5.1 catches in 2008, with a rate of 5.63 for his career.
  • Player B caught a touchdown every 5.25 catches in 2008, with a rate of 5.29 for his career.

Player A is Michael Crabtree. Player B is Brian Robiskie. Pretty comparable huh? Throw in the fact that Crabtree played in a pass happy offense with a veteran quarterback while Robiskie played Tresselball with various QBs, including freshman Terrelle Pryor this year, and Robiskie’s rate is even more impressive.

All things being equal, I think Crabtree is a better player. But Crabtree at #5 or Robiskie at #36? Give me Robiskie.

And then you add Massaquoi, a guy who people started to like more and more as the draft drew closer. He is just a solid, productive football player (noticing a theme?). He played all four years he was at Georgia, never catching fewer than 30 balls in a season. As a senior this past season, three of his biggest games of the year were against Tennessee (and all-SEC DB Eric Berry), Florida, and the rivalry game against Georgia Tech. So he came to play in some of the team’s bigger moments.

There were some more “talented” WRs in this draft than Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi, but there were very few, if any, with as few question marks about their ability to be productive, above average NFL WRs. With the Browns’ dire need for pass catchers, I fully support taking these two guys in the second round to maximize value and minimize risk. And if Braylon is on the team next year and comes to camp motivated to play for a new contract, Brian Robiskie, Mohamed Massaquoi and Braylon Edwards could form a pretty good WR corps by seasons end.

And if Braylon leaves, we still have two reliable WRs to build around.

Final Analysis: Tremendously excited and very supportive of both picks

Analysis of Browns Pick #52: DE David Veikune, Hawaii

I was pulling for LeSean McCoy here, but I can see the logic of this pick. With the Browns not drafting again until round 4, they risked not getting a solid defensive player in the first 3 rounds. David Veikune has very good athletic ability and though Scouts Inc. listed him as a defensive end, he can play both inside and outside for the Browns. He will also mostly likely be a solid special teams player as a rookie.

I could ramble on about him, but the truth is that I know nothing about him. It seems like a reasonable pick to me, and he certainly is athletic. Without having seem him play or having read anything about him before today, I’d just be speculating.

Final Analysis: Sounds good to me, but we’ll see

Final Analysis of Browns 2009 NFL Draft First Day

I am intrigued and encouraged. I like the mindset and I love the addition of the two WRs. I don’t think Browns fans walk away from today believing that now we can win the AFC North, or anything like that. But I do think we can walk away from today saying that we added 7 solid football players to our team, plus a few picks tomorrow that increase roster depth. As the Browns attempt to build a 53-man roster worthy of competing on a year-in, year-out basis, it’s important to walk away from draft day thinking this way. I don’t know about you, but I do.

Final Analysis: No home run picks, and jerseys to run out and buy, but it’s not every day that your team adds 7 guys with a chance to be on the final roster. A solid, focused, strategic effort. B+.

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Filed Under: Featured Column, NFL Tagged With: 2009 nfl draft, Alex Mack, brian robiskie, Cleveland Browns, Mohamed Massaquoi
About Jerod Morris

A proud graduate of Indiana University, Jerod Morris founded Midwest Sports Fans in August of 2008 and has been its Managing Editor every day since. Follow him on Twitter (@JerodMorris) for MSF updates, sports discussion, and a compelling daily assortment of funny and interesting links.
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  • David

    The Browns do have someone they can throw to other than Braylon and that is David Patten.

    I really didn’t like the Mack pick becuase I knew we could get someone like a Max Unger or a Eric Wood, who are both very talented, in the second round. I would have loved to see them pick up Clay Matthews III with there 21.

    I’m still liking the picks at WR but I think we could have settled for one and pick up someone either in the backfield or in the secondary.

    The players we picked up in the trade are good, with Elam helping out in the secondary and Coleman being a great D-Lineman. Ratliff will be a great 3 QB as Quinn or Anderson will fight out for the QB position.

    I give this draft a C+ for the Brownies.

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    @David, I can certainly see your point on Mack. I think what the Browns feared is that teams between 21-35 might snatch up all of the Cs before the they picked again at #36. Obviously Unger was available at #36, but they figured getting the best player at the position of need was worthy of the #21 pick. As I said, I’m not totally sold on it, but I do think it is a safe pick that provides certain value. The other choices possible at that spot all carried more risk (Matthews, Wells).

    I disagree on David Patten. He is not part of the long-term solution at WR, only a stop gap for a season or two. He had 11 receptions for 162 yards a TD last year. In 2007, that was what we went into games expecting from Braylon Edwards alone. The Browns absolutely had to get younger and more talented at WR and they did that. Anytime you leave the draft knowing you got appreciably better at a position of dire need, I think you have to consider it a success.

    I don’t think the Browns knocked it out of the park yesterday by any means, so I can’t give them an A. But I do think their effort and selections, plus their commitment to a solid plan and draft strategy, warrants more than a C+.

  • Fraschetti

    I have publicly defended Mangini and the Browns front office in the past… But yesterday has me floored. Our Linebacker core is garbage, and Ray Maualuga would have been a perfect fit for the Browns. If we took him in the second round, I could have handled our first round pick. Instead, we drafted Brian Robiskie, who will be nothing more than a replacement for Joe Jurvicious, NOTHING MORE! We let a divisonal rival take Maualuga. This decision will haunt us for years to come! My only hope is the Bengals curse hits him. I believe that the Browns should have taken Maualuga in the first round, and taked Clay Matthews in the second round going into this draft. When they traded down, I was positive they did this to get Maualuga since Tyson Jackson was taken off the board before the 5th pick.

    I hope this works, but I am definitely skeptical!

    Kurt Fraschetti

  • KVB

    @Fraschetti, And a Browns curse wouldn’t destroy Maualuga’s potential??

    Really though, offensive line depth is good sound decision making. If the Browns offense can put together better drives and keep the defense off the field (unlike last year) the defensive holes will not seem so extraordinary. I wouldn’t worry about the Bengals or their defense and the focus should be (and is) on attacking the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Defenses if they want to win the division.

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    @Fraschetti, I think the Browns, like all teams, were intrigued by Maulaluga’s potential and significant athletic ability, but I think he fell victim to what a lot of players fall victim to in Round 1: character concerns. And if you need a more validation that Maulaluga may have questionable character, look no further than the fact that the Bengals drafted him. Honestly, I almost look at the Bengals picking a player as validation that the Browns made the right move in passing on him. Does any team swing and miss in the draft more than Cincy? (Other than Detroit, of course.) And is any team less committed to solid character than the Bengals?

    I think one thing we are learning about Mangini and Kokinis is that they place a very high value on team-first players who are as clean as possible off the field. I was disappointed at first when the pick of Alex Mack came through, but let’s look at what he is as opposed to what he isn’t: a very solid player, the best at his position in the draft, who can step right in and play and be counted on to be a positive locker room influence. The history of the draft is littered with first round busts, and while we don’t know what Alex Mack will become, I think the Browns made a safe pick to add a valuable player to a roster that needs foundational pieces built one by one. Alex Mack is as sure-fire a foundational piece as we were going to get at #21.

    And as for Robiskie, you saying that he is Joe Jurevicius makes me even more positive that he was a good pick at #36. Seeing how much we missed Joe J last year, I think it proved a player like him has high second round value. I think Brian Robiskie can actually be better than Joe Jurevicius and was one of the most underrated players in the draft. He played in an offense geared towards the run, where the coach has wet dreams about special teams, and where quarterback stability was nowhere to be found. Imagine what Robiskie could have done in Texas Tech’s offense? I don’t think the difference between Robiskie and Crabtree is as much as you might think. He is not a good pick for the Browns at #36, he’s a great pick.

    I am still skeptical of ManKok, but I was pretty encouraged yesterday. They had a plan, they stuck to it, and the Browns are better today than they were at the beginning of the day yesterday. What more can you ask for out of a draft’s first day?

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com fraschetti

    @JRod,

    Since 2000, I have been pissed off over drafting Melvin Folwer versus taking Larry Foote. Foote was such a force that Pittsburgh dumped Kendrel Bell! I do not like seeing Linebackers that are game changers in our division without us having one as well. Yes, we should focus on Pittsburgh and Baltimore, but don’t sleep on the Bungels either. This is a tough division, and now each team with the exception of the Browns has at least one lights out linebacker, hell, Pittsburgh has 3!

    I am not saying their picks were bad, actually, yes I am, that Robiskie pick is a loss, I guess my being a Michigan Fan makes me extremely bias, nevertheless, the Browns have a lot of holes, but linebackers by far were the necessity here. We are going to run a 3-4 Defense again and the linebackers are the strength of this system.

    Oh well, only time will tell, but I hate the Robiskie pick!

    Kurt Fraschetti

  • Dan

    Most of you fellas are a little more optomistic than I. Round 1 pick is probably solid. Our offense was impacted by weak O line performance all year. Having traded down, it seemed to me that the objective was depth at key positions. That sounds good but backing up mediocrity with mediocrity is puzzling. The receivers, we’ll see. I thought there were better players available at “need” positions, maybe even receiver. And USC’s 4th best linebacker? Hmmm. Hope I’m wrong but but C plus is a better grade than I would give. Final note: Something has to give at Quarterback – we’re spending way too much at that position at the cost of a top tier player in a citical area of need.