Recently, I’ve been revisiting the Cleveland Browns draft picks during the last 20 years and, with hindsight as my tool, thinking how I would have done things differently. Most recently, I’m redoing the  Browns drafts in the early 1990s under Bill Belichick. Below is the result of the 1991 redraft:

Now let’s move on to year 2 of the Belichick regime, 1992. The season began on a sour note, when the head coach jettisoned longtime Browns receivers Reggie Langhorne and Webster Slaughter that summer, a move not appreciated by the fans. Although the season was respectible (7-9 finish) and the defense improved, the offense was horrible. The line was still sub-standard, Kosar- sacked eleven times in an ugly opening-day loss to the Colts- was oft-injured, the running game was among the league’s worst, and the receiver corps lacked quality depth, even as Slaughter and Langhorne played well for their new teams. Belichick also misused running back Eric Metcalf, regularly trying to run him up the middle, to little avail. The conflict with quarterback Bernie Kosar would also begin to show during this season, as Kosar sat out most of the year with injuries, and the head coach developed an unhealthy fascination with third-stringer Todd Philcox.
Another area that came into question was the Brown’s 1992 draft, and especially the first round pick of Tommy Vardell. Overall, the 1992 draft by the Browns was nothing to write home about:

Cleveland did some draft-day dealing that year, moving down in the 2nd round and giving up their 5th round pick to the Cowboys in exchange for Dallas’ late 2nd round, 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th round picks. The Browns also gave up an 8th round pick to the Patriots for OL Freddie Childress, which was a complete bust. As new GM, I wouldn’t make the trade with New England, but go ahead with Dallas. Here’s what our draft board would look like:

That gives us 13 picks total. Based on our highly-successful draft of 1991, our areas of need are wide receiver, offensive line, running back, inside/middle linebacker, cornerback, strong safety, and depth along the defensive line. Unfortunately, the 1992 class is nowhere near as deep and the previous, but still had some talent. However, I would like to move up higher to better players. My fantasy deal would be with the Atlanta Falcons, owners of the 8 and 19 picks in the draft. I would ask for the 19th pick in exchange for my 3rd (65), 6th (143), 8th (205), and 9th (233) round picks. I would then trade my 3rd (78), 6th (163) and both 12th (316, 329) draft picks to the Green Bay Packers for their two 5th (119, 130) and 9th (240) round picks. Our revised draft board now looks like this:

That gives us nine picks to work with. Here’s what I would do with them:

McGlockton made four straight Pro Bowls with the Raiders during his ten-year career. During those Pro Bowl years, he averaged eight sacks a season. He would have been the final piece in an all-pro defensive line with Perry, Burnett and Sinclair.

Dale Carter was spectacular from the beginning, chosen as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. A vital part of the Chiefs’ defense in the 1990s, Carter was elected to four Pro Bowls, and would have given the Browns two of the best shut-down corners in the league with Aeneas Williams.

Brooks was a key weapon for Brett Favre during the Packers success during the 1990s. He started off as a talented kick returner, leading the league kickoff returns in 1993 with a 26.6-yard average. In 1995, he set a franchise record with 1,497 receiving yards on 102 receptions, and scored 13 touchdowns. After missing half the 1996 season with a torn ACL, he won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1997, catching 60 passes for 1,010 yards and 7 touchdowns. He would have been the next wave of a solid receiving corps. (I would not have released Slaughter and Langhorne.)

McDaniel played ten years with the Minnesota Vikings, anchoring their defense. He made the Pro Bowl in 1998.

Dotson won the 1992 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and played ten years for the Bucs and Packers. He averaged five sacks a season, and recorded ten his rookie year. He would have added solid depth behind Perry and McClockton.

Widmer played eight years with the New York Giants. Along with McDaniel, Cox and Lewis, Widmer would have helped drastically remake an aging linebacker corps in two years.

Leeuwenburg played nine seasons with five different teams during his career. He was the starting center for both the Bears and Colts before winding up his career with the Bengals and Redskins. He and Erik Williams (drafted in 1991) would have been the start of repairing a pourous offensive line.

McMillian was a solid cornerback during his eight-year career. He led the league in INT return yards in 1997 with the Chiefs. He would have worked as a nice nickelback and backup corner behind Pro Bowlers Williams and Carter.

Gammon played 15 years with the Steelers, Saints and Chiefs. He was an everything lineman, playing in multiple positions. He became most adept as long snapper, being named to the Pro Bowl in 2005 as a special teams player.

1992 Redraft Summary

Although not the class of 1991, the 1992 redraft class was still pretty good, especially after making some additional draft pick trades. Out of the needs mentioned earlier that needed to be addressed, we addressed all except Strong Safety and definitely built one of the best defenses in the league (at least on paper). We have revamped cornerbacks and linebackers, and a strong and deep defensive line after two drafts. We helped our receiving corps with Robert Brooks (and not dumping veterans Slaughter and Langhorne), and helped the offensive line with Leeuwenburg and Gammon.

After two drafts, we would have a lot of key pieces in place for a championship-contending team for a long time. Also, if Kosar struggled with the injuries that he did in 1992, Brett Favre would have had his chance to show that he was the quarterback to take them to the Super Bowl. If fact, considering the 1992 Browns flirted with a .500 record despite their lack of talent, this team would have had a great shot at the playoffs.

Next we’ll redo the 1993 draft. We’ll look to strengthen a still average offensive line (despite Erik Williams), find a strong safety, and continue to improve the running backs and receivers.

The start of the 2008 NFL season is a few weeks away, and I find myself in an unfamiliar place … high expectations for the Cleveland Browns. A few months ago, I began to reexamine the drafts of the “expansion” Browns, starting with the 1999 draft. But a couple of things motivated me to go back even further and reexamine the Browns drafts before the infamous move to Baltimore. They were:

• A series of articles revisiting Bill Belichick’s five-year tenure as Browns head coach
• The success said coach has had at New England (four Super Bowl appearances, three NFL championships)
• The Brett Favre situation with Green Bay this summer (you’ll see why)
• I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to the Browns

The Browns were coming off a disastrous season (3-13, second worst record in the league), after five straight playoff appearances, four division titles during that stretch, and playing in three of the last four AFC Championship games (losing all three to Denver). Their quick collapse was due to a number of factors:

• poor drafting under head coach Marty Schottenheimer (anyone remember Mike Junkin? Nope, didn’t think so.)
• the team got old, especially along the offensive line, defensive backfield and linebackers
• the trading of Ernest Byner, scapegoat for the 1988 playoff loss
• the Plan B fiasco of 1989-1990, which led to a number of players leaving due to contract disputes

This led to head coach Bud Carson getting canned after only two years on the job, and opened the door for Bill Belichick, defensive genius of the New York Giants. Here’s where I step in as fantasy General Manager with hindsight as my ally. First off, I don’t hire Belichick. Not because he’s not a good coach, but because he was horrible with the local media, was at odds almost from the beginning from existing team leaders, and completely disenfranchised the Browns fan base. When you do things like that, you gain no grace when the team struggles. Instead, I hire another candidate who was in the running for the job as well, Bill Cowher. He played for the Browns and was an assistant coach under Marty when he was Cleveland’s head coach. He served as defensive coordinator in Kansas City under Marty as well. Also, with hindsight, look what he did with Cleveland’s biggest rivals, the Steelers. Not only would the Browns get a great head coach, but screw Pittsburgh as well.

My next move would be to pick up some extra draft picks in the draft, since there are some major holes to fill, and the 1991 draft class was one of the richest in history. The Browns had the following picks:

Originally, not a bad draft at all. Eric Turner and Michael Jackson became stars for the Browns, Ed King was a starter, and James Jones and Pio Sagapolutele were good defenders. However, every pick after Jackson was a waste. We need a more productive draft to get the Browns back on track.

My first task would be to pick up some additional picks in rounds 2-5. First I work out a deal with the Dallas Cowboys, who were stuffed with picks due to the raping of the Vikings over the Hershel Walker trade. I would swap first round picks (my #2 pick for their #20 pick), and give up my 9th round (239) pick for the Cowboys’ 3rd round (62) and 4th round (110) picks. As much as I liked Turner, this team needs too much help, and there’s too much talent in the draft not to make this deal.

Next I would work out a deal with Minnesota. I would trade the 20th overall pick (acquired from Dallas) and my 6th round pick (141) and 9th round pick (225) for the Vikings’ 3rd (68) and 5th (119) round picks, and WR Cris Carter. (Carter was acquired via waivers the following season from Philadelphia and had a very unimpressive year in 1990.)

One last deal would be with San Francisco. I would trade my 4th (85), 5th (119) and 10th (252) round picks in exchange for the 49ers’ 4th (95) and two 5th round picks (122, 127). Our draft board now looks like this:

We end up with the same number of draft picks that we started with (11), lose out on FS Eric Turner (Round 1) and WR Michael Jackson (Round 6) by giving up those picks, but losing nothing else of significance. In exchange we add two additional picks in the 3rd round, pick up and additional pick in the 4th, and pick up two picks in the 5th round, while we shed our two 9th round picks and 10th round pick. We also steal away a potential Hall-of-Famer in WR Cris Carter. Now let’s examine our new draft pick-by-pick:

Let me make two points before you read the rest of this. First, I’m a realistic Browns fan, willing to see the faults in the team and players, and also willing to see the team improve itself for the long term. Secondly, I liked Bernie Kosar. He had talent, he wanted to play for the Browns, and we’re both from the Youngstown area. With that said, Bernie was never going to take this team to the Super Bowl at this point. He was becoming injury-prone due to his lack of mobility and the bad offensive line he had in front of him. This would have been the perfect pick in getting his replacement. I’m not going to list all of Favre’s accomplishments and records to justify this pick, because I don’t need to.

The defenisve backfield was a mess in 1991. Starting Safety Felix Wright left after a contract dispute, Minnifield was getting old, and Blaylock and Hilliard weren’t much. Williams was an 8-time Pro Bowler for the Cardinals. Enough said.

The linebackers was another area in trouble. Eddie Johnson retired, Clay Matthews was starting to run out of gas. David Grayson and Mike Johnson were good, but not great. Van Waiters, well, he was better than Mike Junkin, which isn’t saying much at all. Mo Lewis was a 3-time Pro Bowler.

Originally taken by Dallas with this pick, Williams, a 4-time Pro Bowler, became the anchor for the offensive line for a Cowboys team that won three Super Bowls in the 1990s and saw Emmitt Smith become the league’s all-time leading rusher.

Bryan Cox made an immediate impact for the Dolphins, making the first of three Pro Bowl trips in his second year.

It’s amazing that a team that drafted one of the best tight ends in history in Ozzie Newsome completely missed out on a quality tight end three years in a row. They drafted Scott Galbreath in 1990 over Shannon Sharpe. Coates could arguably be considered the next best tight end during the 1990s. Five Pro Bowl appearances will do that for you. He would be a necessary offensive weapon that struggled with an offensive identity since Lindy Infante left to coach the Packers in 1988.

As noted above, the defensive backfield was a mess in 1991. Along with Williams, Hanks would have added a second future Pro Bowler (four times) in one draft.

The defensive line was one of the only strong points of the Cleveland team in 1991 with future Pro Bowlers Michael Dean Perry and Rob Burnett. Sinclair, a 3-time Pro Bowler, would have made this one of the best lines in the league.

The running game was also a major problem. Byner was continuing to play at a Pro Bowl level in Washington, Mack was getting beat up too much (and soon to get into legal trouble), and Metcalf was not a featured back. Brown, the only player in our redraft to never make the Pro Bowl, was a good running back for both Houston and the Giants. His two best years were 1993 (Houston) with 1,002 yards and six TDs, and 1998 (NY Giants) with 1,063 yards and five TDs.

Originally drafted by Washington, McCardell spent four good, but unspectacular, years in Cleveland before becoming the 2-time Pro Bowler in Jacksonville. His presence becomes more important with not drafting Michael Jackson.

Another important piece to repair a broken running game. Originally undrafted, Anders was a 3-time Pro Bowler and a devistating blocker for the Chiefs.

1991 Redraft Summary

The 1991 redraft adds some important pieces to a team that is aging quickly. Only one of the 11 picks have at least two Pro Bowl appearances in the career. Favre (9), Aeneas Williams (8), Lewis (3), Erik Williams (4), Cox (3), Coates (5), Hanks (4), Sinclair (3), McCardell (2), and Anders (3) have a whopping 44 Pro Bowls combined. Add in the eight from Cris Carter and our Pro Bowl total climbs to 52. The defense would have quickly been rebuilt with five key players at CB, FS, DE and LB. The offense would be on its way back with a repaired running game with Brown and Anders, a major piece to the line with Williams, some receiving playmakers in Coates, Carter and McCardell, and the QB of the future in Favre.

Discouraged by the lack of success that my favorite NFL team, the Cleveland Browns, have had since their return to the NFL in 1999, I’m deciding to be a fantasy GM and redo their drafts. After redrafting in1999, 2000, and 2001, we’ve built quite an impressive team through the draft alone. Along with redoing those three year’s drafts, I also collected a number of free agents that first year, some whom Cleveland did sign, some others they didn’t but should have. Let’s look at the team that I’ve built. The free agents from 1999 are indicated in italics, and actual Pro Bowl selections of a player are represented by the number after their name:

I’m  in a good position to move some players via trades, especially from the wide receiver position. Marty Booker and Laveranues Coles are tradable with the drafting of both Steve Smith and T.J. Housmandzadeh in 2001. We could also potentially part with QBs Jeff Garcia or Jake Delhomme and RB Reuben Droughns for draft picks, or at least moving up in this draft. And, due to the New Orleans trade way back in 1999, I have the last pick from that deal in the second round this year. My prospects of strenghtening this team even further is great.

As good as my redraft is, the actual drafting by the Browns during those three years was just as bad, which is a big reason for the firing of Dwight Clark, who was mainly responsible for the three-year train wreck. Now we’re fully into the Butch Davis era. Although he was head coach in 2001, he gained power of personnel decisions in 2002, and mainly the draft. So now I reexamine the 2002 draft and see how my picks (granted in hindsight) stack up to what Davis did. At this point, there aren’t very many holes to fill on the team. I still need to deepen the safety and offensive tackle positions, and also improve the tight end position. Also, if history would repeat itself, I lose Jamir Miller in training camp, where he suffered a career-ending Achilles injury, so outside linebacker becomes an area that would need improved, but that isn’t evident during the draft. Cleveland originally picked around the middle of the draft (16), but I’m assuming the team was more successful in 2001 with the new crop of players, so I’m choosing around picks 22-23. Here’s my draft board, with only the Saints second round pick indicating a selection number in the round. I did indicate where the actual Cleveland picks went with the number after their names:

With eight picks in 2002, Cleveland originally drafted the following:

• one running back (1)
• one wide receiver (2)
• two offensive linemen (4)
• one tight end (5)
• three linebackers (8)

Out of those eight, at least four are still in the league, and two have had fairly good careers (Fowler and Andra Davis). A better draft than in previous years, but no stars in this group either. As in the previous years, the high round picks are busts for their draft positions. Let’s see how I do in comparison:

2002 Redraft

Taken eight picks after William Green, Ed Reed has been nothing short of a terror in the defensive backfield for the Ravens, making it to the Pro Bowl five times (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008). He probably would have made it in 2005 as well if he didn’t miss six games with an ankle injury. He is the Ravens all-time INT leader with 34, has blocked four punts and returned three for touchdowns. He is also the first person in NFL history to return an interception, punt, blocked punt, and fumble for a touchdown. Did I mention he plays for the Ravens? It would be great to screw them out of a player of this caliber.

Taken by the Saints in this very spot, Bentley excelled at the guard position and started in 14 games. He was named Sports Illustrated ‘s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2002 and Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie Team. He was selected to two Pro Bowls with the Saints (2003, 2005). He left New Orleans as a free agent following the 2005 season and signed with the Browns. He suffered a serious knee injury during his FIRST play in training camp. Attempting to make a come back in 2008, he brokered his release from Cleveland, but failed to catch on with another team that year.

Picked in the second round, Brown is a fixture in the Eagles defensive backfield, playing in every game during his six-year career, and starting every game since late in 2003. Since becoming a full-time starter, Brown is averaging over 66 tackles and nearly 3 INTs a season.

A a third-round pick and two-time Pro Bowl selection (2004, 2007), Westbrook is a key part of the Eagles offense. He became the featured back midway through his second year, when he rushed for 613 yards, caught 37 passes for 332 yards, and scored 11 TDs. The following year, he ran for 812 yards, caught 73 passes for 703 yards, and scored nine TDs, and still missed three games. The next year, he missed four games and still put up 1,233 yards rushing and receiving, and scored seven times. He’s been fairly healthy the last two years, missing only three games total. During those two years, he averaged 1,275 yards rushing, 84 receptions for 735 yards, and 12 TDs. Imagine the damage an offense can do with he and LT in the backfield together.

A late fourth-round pick by Pittsburgh, Foote played very little during his first two years. In 2004, he became a starter and hasn’t missed a game yet. During the last four years, he’s averaging 85.5 tackles, three sacks and one interception a season.

A fifth round draft pick, Kampman made his mark during the 2003 playoffs by recording three sacks in two playoff games for the Packers. The following year, he’s become a steady defender, playing every game the last four seasons, and averaging 75 tackles and 9.5 sacks a season. He was elected to the Pro Bowl the last two years while recording 27.5 sacks during that span.

Scott was undrafted and signed with Baltimore. He made his mark on special teams during his first three years in the league. Scott came into his own filling in for the injured Ray Lewis in 2005, starting ten games and recording 92 tackles and four sacks. In 2006 he was second on the team in tackles with 103, he has also recorded 9.5 sacks and two interceptions. He was elected to the Pro Bowl that year as an injury replacement for Lewis. This past season, he made 93 tackles.

Another Ohio-bred player (he was born in Youngstown), Givens has had a productive, if unremarkable, career. Drafted late in the 7th round, he played four seasons for New England, winning two Super Bowls. In 2007, he signed with Tennessee, but tore his ACL after five games. He’s currently a free agent.

Also from Ohio, Harrison went undrafted out of Kent State, and signed with the Steelers. Harrison saw limited playing time (mostly on special teams) during his first four years with Pittsburgh. He broke out in 2007, starting in all 16 games, and recording 98 tackles and 8.5 sacks. He was elected to the Pro Bowl that year.

2002 Redraft Summary

Let’s look how I did with the nine picks:

• two defensive backs (2)
• one running back (3)
• three linebackers (6)
• one defensive end (7)
• one wide receiver (8)
• one offensive lineman (9)

Out of my group, there are four multi-time Pro Bowlers, and a couple with one trip to Hawaii. I address a couple of need areas, depth in the secondary and running back. Reed adds a dominant defender in the backfield with Mike Brown, and Sheldon Brown adds strength to the cornerback position. Westbrook also adds another stellar back to pair, or split time, with LT. Givens is a lesser receiver in a crowd of Pro Bowlers, but adds depth there as well. Bentley and Kampman can’t be passed up despite  glut of studs in those positions on the team. But this could be a blessing, considering Randy Thomas left as a free agent after 2002, and Kearse and Ogunleye both left their teams as free agents after 2003, and may do the same here. Timmerman or could be potentially traded, lowering the salary cap significantly, or McClure as well. I’m also crowding the linebacking corp, but consider that most of these guys played a couple of years on special teams before breaking into the lineup, and again if/when free agency plays a factor, the position is loaded with talent.

Here’s the challenge in today’s NFL, with a salary cap, whom do you give raises to in order to keep them, and whom do you let go to free up cap space and give their spot to younger (and cheaper) talent? In the old days (pre-1990s), cap space and free agency was never an issue. Now, teams need to let popular and talented players go elsewhere for the sole reason of financials. Now with a solid team in place, those factors will help determine some decisions in the next couple of drafts. Next, we revisit 2003.