Savage Draft Grades

[Mac]

You say Im not right for giving a guy that didn't play but some garbage minutes an F, but you give him a good grade? How does that work?

Nobody is saying how it might work out in the future, that's why the old adage of saying you cant grade a draft for three years comes into play, but as of now, the guy didnt play, didn't produce, didnt do jack, was a third round selection and was worthless. That's a horrible pick as of now. A third round selection should be playing. Watson played, so that's more than you can say about Wilson. Of course you are going to know our DT, but like I said, themajority of fans that follow the Browns, even the ones that like them a lot, dont have a clue. If you think Ted Washington is good, well....I dont know what to tell ya...Obviously something isnt clicking up stairs for you, because he is old, he is slow and he wasn't a difference maker. Yeah, he gets double teams every now and then, but last time I checked, Im pretty sure the Browns finished like 29, 30, or 31 in rush defense and he is the main cog so something had to go wrong..

Am I comfortable with Northcutt starting? Eh...he isn't bad. He will be on somebody's team next year. Braylon wasn't going to be out forever, you don't waste a third round pick because a guy is going to be out a couple of weeks. That doesnt make any sense. WRs are a dime a dozen, there are plenty of WRs out on the market. WRs come and go all day, every year. You can go from being a starter to not getting a job as a WR, it happens all the time. We could have gotten a WR of quality in the 5,6 or 7th round. Hell, the Saints got Colston in the 7th round right??

You are trying to grade the draft based on the future, it doesn't work like that. You don't have the slightest clue if Wilson or the other guys are worth anything....you have to grade on what ya got and so far, we didnt get much from the draft. We got Wimbley, but you should never flop in the first round. D Jax could be good and Leon Williams is def a quality backup and Vickers is a special teamer. After that, we have crap at the third round. Harrison was a stupid pick and the 6 and 7th round picks are a crap shoot. But atleast get a guy that can be on the roster.

There isn't a snow balls chance in hell that is a B draft. That's my opinion and I really don't see any sense in talking about it any further...you have yours, I have mine and we said our sides, we will leave it at that and let other people put their grades in.

 

[Mac]

You say Im not right for giving a guy that didn't play but some garbage minutes an F, but you give him a good grade? How does that work?

Nobody is saying how it might work out in the future, that's why the old adage of saying you cant grade a draft for three years comes into play, but as of now, the guy didnt play, didn't produce, didnt do jack, was a third round selection and was worthless. That's a horrible pick as of now. A third round selection should be playing. Watson played, so that's more than you can say about Wilson. Of course you are going to know our DT, but like I said, themajority of fans that follow the Browns, even the ones that like them a lot, dont have a clue. If you think Ted Washington is good, well....I dont know what to tell ya...Obviously something isnt clicking up stairs for you, because he is old, he is slow and he wasn't a difference maker. Yeah, he gets double teams every now and then, but last time I checked, Im pretty sure the Browns finished like 29, 30, or 31 in rush defense and he is the main cog so something had to go wrong..

Am I comfortable with Northcutt starting? Eh...he isn't bad. He will be on somebody's team next year. Braylon wasn't going to be out forever, you don't waste a third round pick because a guy is going to be out a couple of weeks. That doesnt make any sense. WRs are a dime a dozen, there are plenty of WRs out on the market. WRs come and go all day, every year. You can go from being a starter to not getting a job as a WR, it happens all the time. We could have gotten a WR of quality in the 5,6 or 7th round. Hell, the Saints got Colston in the 7th round right??

You are trying to grade the draft based on the future, it doesn't work like that. You don't have the slightest clue if Wilson or the other guys are worth anything....you have to grade on what ya got and so far, we didnt get much from the draft. We got Wimbley, but you should never flop in the first round. D Jax could be good and Leon Williams is def a quality backup and Vickers is a special teamer. After that, we have crap at the third round. Harrison was a stupid pick and the 6 and 7th round picks are a crap shoot. But atleast get a guy that can be on the roster.

There isn't a snow balls chance in hell that is a B draft. That's my opinion and I really don't see any sense in talking about it any further...you have yours, I have mine and we said our sides, we will leave it at that and let other people put their grades in.

 

[Style]

Good work, gentlemen. This has been an entertaining read. As far as other posters' grades go, mac's were too harsh and Smooth's were too savory. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Mac, you have unrealist expectations for late round picks. Justin Hamilton made the team and got some PT, as a 7th round pick. No way in hell is that an F. It's actually pretty hard to give an F even if your 7th round pick does get cut. Most 7th rounders get cut, plain and simple. That is reality. (This is especially the case for good teams with depth.) If your 7th rounder makes the team, even just the practice squad, that's a C. If he makes the team and plays, I don't see how you can go below a B-.

With out further ado, my grades:

2006
RD PK(OVR) NAME POS SCHOOL
1 13(13) Kamerion Wimbley DE FLORIDA STATE
A : What's not to like? Making it even better was Savage traded down and still got his man. If you factor that in, this is probably an A+.

2 2(34) D'Qwell Jackson ILB MARYLAND
C : I haven't made up my mind on this kid yet. If I had to grade him right now, I'd say he is a below average starter/above average backup. Considering he is a rookie, I think he will improve and become an average starter. That's pretty close to his ceiling though. I guess best case scenario is a little above average starter, but this kid will never be a star. This is not a bad pick, but it's not a good one either, hence the C.

3 14(78) Travis Wilson WR OKLAHOMA
D : A third round pick should be contributing. Wilson didn't get any pt until long after the wheels had come off and RAC was just looking at what he had. And as Mac says, WRs are a dime a dozen.

4 13(110) Leon Williams ILB MIAMI (FLA.)
A- : I view Leon Williams right now about equal with D-Jax: he's a below average starter/above average backup, at the ILB position. After that, I see three differences leading to the higher grade: 1) He has more potential. He's bigger, faster, stronger, and more raw. This kid didn't even start in college, so with experience he could really blossom. 2) He's more versatile. I believe he'll be able to play ILB or OLB before it's said and done. 3) He was picked 76 slots lower. Duh!

4 15(112) Isaac Sowells OT INDIANA
D : In the fourth round you're still hoping you can get solid reserves. With all the injuries up front, Sowells still never got PT, so I'm left to conclude he's not a solid reserve.

5 12(145) Jerome Harrison RB WASHINGTON STATE
C- : Looks like a decent backup, which is about what you expect in the fifth round, which would mean a C. I'll give it a C- b/c reserve RBs are a dime a dozen.

5 20(152) DeMario Minter CB GEORGIA
Incomplete.

6 11(180) Lawrence Vickers FB COLORADO
B : Vickers made the team and contributed. If you can say that in the 6th and 7th rounds, you did a good job and deserve at least a B.

6 12(181) Babatunde Oshinowo DT STANFORD
C : He's on the PS? If so, then this is an ok pick, considering it's the 6th.

7 14(222) Justin Hamilton S VIRGINIA TECH
B : See Vickers.


2005
RD PK(OVR) NAME POS SCHOOL
1 3(3) Braylon Edwards WR MICHIGAN
C- : I expect more from a WR taken #3 overall.

2 2(34) Brodney Pool S OKLAHOMA
C : Everything I said about D-Jax applies here .

3 3(67) Charlie Frye QB AKRON
F : :chuckles: If I put my hate aside and make a serious grade, this is probably a C-. Frye looks like an ok backup, which is less than what you hope for from a third round pick, but not much less.

4 2(103) Antonio Perkins CB OKLAHOMA
D : The fact that he's on the PS is the only thing keeping this one from being an F.

5 3(139) David McMillan DE KANSAS
D : On the team, but not contributing.

6 2(176) Nick Speegle OLB NEW MEXICO
C : On the team, not contributing, but this is the 6th round and he IS on the team.

6 29(203) Andrew Hoffman DT VIRGINIA
D : On the IR, but was on the PS before that, keeping this from being an F.

7 3(217) Jon Dunn OT VIRGINIA TECH
F : It's hard to give an F for any 7th round pick, but then he didn't make the team, so it's hard not to give an F.


Overall grades:
2006: C
2005: C-


This is pretty much what I expected. Before performing this exercise, my gut feeling was Savage's drafts were not good or bad, just right in the middle. Now that I've gone through them pick by pick, that is confirmed.

Sadly, it feels like he actually is doing a good job drafting b/c relative to past regimes, he is. Average is alot better than what we've had in Browns Town.

 

[Mac]

Id def agree with the majority of what you said....everybody knows that Im going to be more drastic and lean to the left, more so than the right, when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

[Smooth]

You say Im not right for giving a guy that didn't play but some garbage minutes an F, but you give him a good grade? How does that work?

I explained how I graded the picks... I didn't base it soley on playing time/production... I took into account, where he was picked, what the need was there, who else was available and if he's still on the roster...

Nobody is saying how it might work out in the future, that's why the old adage of saying you cant grade a draft for three years comes into play,

Exactly... So at the least we should agree on it being an incomplete grade and leave it at that...

I gave the grade I gave him based on the things I said in the first couple of sentences...

A third round selection should be playing.

That depends on the position or situation they were selected into... Wilson was picked where he was behind 3 or 4 guys..

Watson played, so that's more than you can say about Wilson.

Doesn't really mean anything to me... The Cardinals had a huge need for a DT and really had no backups, unlike Cleveland and the WR spot...

Of course you are going to know our DT,

What are you implying? :chuckles:

If you think Ted Washington is good, well....I dont know what to tell ya...Obviously something isnt clicking up stairs for you, because he is old, he is slow and he wasn't a difference maker. Yeah, he gets double teams every now and then, but last time I checked, Im pretty sure the Browns finished like 29, 30, or 31 in rush defense and he is the main cog so something had to go wrong..

I understand that, but all the blame shouldn't fall on him... Alvin McKinley is terribe, just terrible.. And Orpheus Roye was out for most the year as well... 3-4 DE's are also keys to stopping the run...

If you want to judge how Washington did, then you'd have to base it off of up the middle runs...


You're right he wasn't a difference maker, but he wasn't brought into be that... He was brought in to clog running lanes, provide veteran leadership and be a temporary bandaid until we could find somebody to take over...

Just admit this, he WAS a upragde over Fisk...

Am I comfortable with Northcutt starting? Eh...he isn't bad.

He's terrible...

He will be on somebody's team next year.

And I hope we play them...

Braylon wasn't going to be out forever,

That may be true, but you don't know how a guy is going to come back... Whether he's going to be effective right out of the gates, whether he still might need more time to recover or would need to be eased into the rotation... You just don't know...

That doesnt make any sense. WRs are a dime a dozen,

I agree A Mac they are... You got me there...

But, I really don't think Savage felt like reaching for a need, so instead he took the best player available, much like what he did with Braylon...

there are plenty of WRs out on the market. WRs come and go all day, every year.

That's true again, but you can't build your team through free agency, you need to build it through the draft...

We could have gotten a WR of quality in the 5,6 or 7th round. Hell, the Saints got Colston in the 7th round right??

True, but how often does that happen?

Harrison was a stupid pick and the 6 and 7th round picks are a crap shoot. But atleast get a guy that can be on the roster.

Just curious why you think Harrison was a stupid pick and Hamitlon was a wasted pick?

There isn't a snow balls chance in hell that is a B draft. That's my opinion and I really don't see any sense in talking about it any further...you have yours, I have mine and we said our sides, we will leave it at that and let other people put their grades in.

That's fine with me... We can leave it at that.

 

[Mac]

What was the need for Harrison? A small scat back in the AFC North? It makes no sense to begin with and Id rather just use Jason Wright. He has some NFL experience, he is cheap, so I don't see why we wasted a pick on Harrison. He is worthless.

 

[Smooth]

What was the need for Harrison? A small scat back in the AFC North?

Exactly... That wanted him to compliment Droughns running style.. Having two different running styles keeps the defense guessing and most importantly off balance..

It makes no sense to begin with and Id rather just use Jason Wright. He has some NFL experience, he is cheap, so I don't see why we wasted a pick on Harrison. He is worthless.

No one thought Wright would do as well as he did or take carries away from Droughns, no one...

 

[Smooth]

Some stuff to consider:

http://www.gbnreport.com/2006whatifprojection.html

From same site:

Cleveland … No one in Cleveland was quite sure what they were getting in Kamerion Wimbley, the former Florida State tweener whom the Browns took with the 13th pick overall at the 2006 draft. Was Wimbley in fact a big OLB or a quick DE. Whatever you call him - Wimbley is nominally an OLB in the Browns 3-4 scheme - Wimbley proved he can get after the QB this fall as he posted 11 sacks, second among all rookies this fall. The Browns, in fact, have some hope for the future on that side of the ball as MLB D'Qwell Jackson, the team's second rounder, was all over the field this season racking up 93 tackles before being forced onto injured reserve for the final three games of the year. As well, another ILB, Leon Williams, a 4th rounder who didn't play the first half of the season, really came on over the final weeks of the schedule, posting 42 tackles, including two 10+ tackle games. On the other side of the ball, the Browns were more than pleased with FB Lawrence Vickers, a 6th rounder who did a nice job lead blocking, while 5th round RB Jerome Harrison had a handful of touches this fall... First-year grade: A-

 

[Style]

It's really hard to make a draft grade in a vacuum. For an accurate grade, you really need to grade all the teams. Then you get a good idea just how good the draft was.