I’m a Cleveland Browns fan. Always have been. That said, following my favorite team has been more heartache than celebration. The move to Baltimore to become the Ravens was the worst, worse than the AFC Championship games against the Broncos. Since the team was “reborn” in 1999, its been more heartache. In nine years, the team has had two winning seasons, one playoff appearance (where they blew a huge lead and lost), three head coaches, two general managers (three if you count Davis as one as coach), up until this past year only one Pro Bowl player, and a huge amount of dissappointment.

During the draft season in April, I began thinking how horrible of a job the Browns have done drafting players during those first six years, and seeing why the team has struggled as much as they have. The more I thought about it, and looked through the draft histories on nfl.com, the more that point hit home. For my own sanity, I decided to play Fantasy GM and go back in time to correct the problem.

I’m going to make a lot of assumptions. First, that the available players don’t change very much based on the changed picks of the Browns. I’m also assuming that the Browns draft position doesn’t change much the first couple of years from what they actually were (especially 2000 and 2001 drafts). Also that the players would have been just as productive with the Browns as they were with the teams that they actually played for. I’m also going to assume I can make a blockbuster draft deal in 1999 and sign a couple of free agents (one particularly) that went somewhere else in 1999 and had productive careers.

I also contemplated the idea of starting the franchise a year earlier in 1998. The Browns would have been off to an incredible start with a draft for the ages (based on 1999 draft picks). Imagine drafting Peyton Manning (QB, eight Pro Bowls), Patrick Surtain (CB, three Pro Bowls), Jeremiah Trotter (OLB, four Pro Bowls), Ahman Green (RB, four Pro Bowls), Hines Ward (WR, four Pro Bowls), Matt Birk (C, six Pro Bowls), London Fletcher (MLB, three Pro Bowls), and a couple of other solid starters. But since the team came about in 1999, that’s where I’ll start.

The big draft trade in 1999 was between the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins. The Saints, under the direction of head coach Mike Ditka, swapped first round picks with the Redskins, and also parted with the remainder of their 1999 draft picks (3-7) and their first and third picks in 2000 to move up two spots to select RB Ricky Williams. I’m assuming I can make the exact deal with New Orleans instead of Washington, and move from the first pick in the draft to the fifth. With that deal in place, I’ll now make my “new” selections for the Browns in 1999:

1999 Redraft

Round 1: DE Jevon Kearse

Original pick: QB Tim Couch (first overall). Couch wasn’t a bust on the level of Ryan Leaf, but considering he was the first overall pick, he was pretty close. Granted, he was on a terrible team, but he never showed he can be the franchise quarterback the Browns hoped he would be, and was out of the league after 2003 (with two failed comeback attempts). Kearse, on the other hand, showed his skilled immediately with Pro Bowl selections in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

Round 2: T Jon Jansen

Original pick: WR Kevin Johnson. Johnson was a good choice and a productive player, but I believe in the philosopy that new need to start with building your lines. We started with defense in round 1, now we move to the offensive side. Jansen was a solid starter immediately for the Redskins, and didn’t miss a single game until 2004, when he ruptured his left Achilles in preseason. He then came back in 2005 and missed only one game the next two years, then broke his ankle in the season opener of 2007 and was out for the rest of that year.

Round 2: G Randy Thomas

Original pick: OLB Rahim Abdullah. Thomas started immediately for the Jets, and has been a solid anchor for the Jets and Redskins throughout his career. Abdullah was cut by the Browns after 2000 and has played in the CFL ever since.

Round 3: OLB Joey Porter

Original pick: DB Daylon McCutcheon. McCutcheon played with the Browns through 2006, after which he was released and then retired. During his eight years with the Browns, he played in 103 games with 96 starts and accumulated 463 tackles, 7 sacks, 12 interceptions, 63 pass breakups and 8 forced fumbles. Porter was drafted by the Steelers and was a starter from 2000 to 2006, when he signed with the Dolphins, where he continues to play. He went to the Pro Bowl in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Round 3: CB Mike McKenzie

Original pick: none (via NO). Mike McKenzie was an instant starter at cornerback with the Packers until traded to New Orleans in 2004. He is still a starting cornerback with the Saints.

Round 3: RB Olandis Gary

Original pick: DB Marquis Smith. Gary had an impressive rookie season filling in for an injured Terrell Davis, rushing for 1159 yards on 276 attempts, a 4.2 ypc average, with 7 touchdowns in 12 games. He injured his knee in 2000 and hasn’t rushed for more than 384 yards in a single season since with either Denver or Detroit. Smith played three years with Cleveland.

Round 4: DE Aaron Smith

Original pick: none (via NO). Aaron Smith was drafted by Pittsburgh and became their regular starter in 2000. He went to the Pro Bowl in 2005 as an injury replacement.

Round 4: QB Aaron Brooks

Original pick: ILB Wali Rainer. Rainer played three years with Cleveland before moving on to Jacksonville and Detroit. his career ended with a stint on injured reserve with Houston in 2006. Brooks went to the Saints in 2000 and became the starter midway that season until he left for Oakland following the 2005 season. He’s thrown for 20,261 yards and 123 touchdowns during his eight-year career, and is the Saints passing touchdown leader with 120 TDs.

Round 5: ILB Eric Barton

Original pick: none (via NO). Eric Barton became a starter for the Raiders in 2002, and signed with the Jets in 2004. From 2002 to 2006, he amassed over 100 tackles each season except for 2005, when he only played in four games due to injury.

Round 5: DT Kelly Gregg

Original pick: WR Darrin Chiaverini. Gregg was originally drafted by the Bengals, but was cut during training camp, and signed with the Eagles. He signed with the Ravens in 2001, and became the starter at Nose Tackle in 2002. Since then, he averages over 66 tackles and 2.5 sacks per year. Chiaverini played two seasons with the Browns, starting in 10 games. He played one year with Dallas and finished his career in 2002 with Atlanta.

Round 6: WR Donald Driver

Original pick: DT Marcus Spriggs. Spriggs had an uneventful three-year career with the Browns, playing in 18 games. Driver is a three-time Pro Bowler (2002, 2006, 2007) with career statistics of 503 receptions, 6977 yards and 38 touchdowns. He has at least 70 catches and over 1,000 yards five of the past six years.

Round 6: TE Desmond Clark

Original pick: LB Kendall Ogle. Ogle had an uneventful two years with the Browns, only appearing in two games. Desmond Clark has had a productive career with Denver, Miami and Chicago throughout his nine-year career.

Round 6: C Todd McClure

Original pick: none (via NO). McClure was originally drafted by the Falcons and became the starting Center midway through the 2000 season (he missed all of 1999 with an ACL tear), and has missed one game since.

Round 6: WR Brian Finneran

Original pick: TE James Dearth. Finneran was undrafted and signed with the Eagles. He moved to Atlanta in 2000 and became a solid slot receiver until tearing up his knee in 2006 and 2007. Dearth joined the Jets in 2001, where he primarily plays special teams and is the long snapper.

Round 7: G Jamar Nesbit

Original pick: RB Madre Hill. Nesbit became a starter for Carolina in 2000, and missed only two games since. He is an anchor on the Saints offensive line, where he’s played since 2004. Hill was cut by Cleveland after 2000, played one year in NFL Europe, appeared in two games with Oakland in 2002, and is now out of the league.

Round 7: LS Mike Schneck

Original pick: none (via NO). Mike Schneck was undrafted and signed with the Steelers in 1999, where he played until 2004. He then played with Buffalo for two years before signing with Atlanta in 2007. He went to the Pro Bowl as a special teams selection in 2005.

Free agent signings:

One free agent I would make a strong push for is Center, Jeff Saturday. He was undrafted in 1998, signed and released by the Ravens that year, and eventually signed with the Colts in 1999. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, he’s started all but two games for the Colts, and has gone to the Pro Bowl every year since 2005.

1999 Wrapup:

Let’s compare actual picks from 1999 with the redraft. With eleven picks in 1999, the Browns took the following:

• one quarterback (1)
• two wide receivers (3)
• three linebackers (6)
• two defensive backs (8)
• one defensive tackle (9)
• one tight end (10)
• one running back (11)

Out of those eleven picks, four players had a career lasting longer than five years (Johnson, McCutcheon, Rainer and Dearth), and only one still active (Dearth). My redraft had five additional picks based on the New Orleans trade.

• two defensive ends (2)
• one offensive tackle (3)
• two guards (5)
• one cornerback (6)
• one running back (7)
• one quarterback (8)
• two linebackers (10)
• one defensive tackle (11)
• two wide receivers (13)
• one center (14)
• one tight end (15)
• one special teamer (16)

Of those fifteen picks, three have made multiple Pro Bowl appearances (Kearse, Porter, Driver), with two others making it once (Smith, Schneck). Of the remaining eleven, eight are still starting for their respective teams. Of the other three, two players have struggled with cronic injures the last few years, and the other (Brooks) was active as recently as 2006.

The redraft wills just about every single position taken in the actual 1999 draft (one less linebacker and defensive back), but also addresses two areas the actual draft didn’t cover, defensive end and offensive line. That’s big, considering how many talented offensive linemen came out of that draft. So in comparison, the redraft puts the actual picks of 1999 to shame. Granted, any team can look back and see what they overlooked. But its clear by looking at this initial draft, the Browns did a horrible job of evaluating talent that first year in attempting to build a team. Outside of a few players, you can even go so far as saying this first draft was a complete waste of time and hurt the team more than helped. Next, we’ll tackle year 2 with the 2000 draft.