2015 NFL Draft Thread - April 30 - May 2 - Chicago, IL

[Randolphkeys]

A slightly off-topic kudos:

Kiper called Michigan's Jake Ryan, who grew up in Westlake, the best pick of the 4th round and a favorite to start at one of the middle linebacker spots for Green Bay. My family has known his family since Jake was an elementary school kid. Very happy to see a local kid land in a really nice spot.

 

[chumpclassic]

A slightly off-topic kudos:

Kiper called Michigan's Jake Ryan, who grew up in Westlake, the best pick of the 4th round and a favorite to start at one of the middle linebacker spots for Green Bay. My family has known his family since Jake was an elementary school kid. Very happy to see a local kid land in a really nice spot.

He dated my best friends ex girl friends sister. A fact I only know since he's a die hard Michigan fan and brings it up every time. Good to hear such high praise for a local kid.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

I just question Jake Ryan's ability to handle his popularity. He seems to really be at odds with it and goes with the flow because that's expected of him. How will that translate to the NFL? Is his heart really in it or will he go with his heart and play in the CFL or another less popular league? Will his agent be Farmer Ted?

 

[Randolphkeys]

I just question Jake Ryan's ability to handle his popularity. He seems to really be at odds with it and goes with the flow because that's expected of him. How will that translate to the NFL? Is his heart really in it or will he go with his heart and play in the CFL or another less popular league? Will his agent be Farmer Ted?

I'm sure Duckie thought he had a shot to get drafted, but let's get real here... he had no chance to join the Packers. Long Duc Dong is a sleeper.

In reality, I think Kiper was singing Ryan's praises because he has 2nd round talent and should allow Clay Matthews to return to the outside. He had the knee problem in 2013 but he answered questions about his rehab on the field and with an excellent combine. He was better than most of the MLB prospects drafted ahead of him in the cone drills.

The Packers just collect linebackers I wanted on the Browns... Browns had bigger needs, but Ryan will be a solid pro.

 

[MoFlo]

View: https://twitter.com/Browns/status/595332850691362817

 

[Soar]

For those into this sort of thing, the new Browns jersey numbers have been finalized. Might just be helpful for when you ask "who is that guy?"

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news...signings/cd3552ad-782b-4cf9-9fbd-2cd9675def04

 

[macbdog]

With a rebel yell, Walter will be screaming Morse, Morse, Morse. Just you wait!

I cringed so much I smiled.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I cringed so much I smiled.

In the midnight hour... you cringed Morse, Morse, Morse?

 

[Seiklis]

Pro Football Focus did their Browns draft overview, has some UDFA notes in there as well

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/05/01/2015-draft-in-review-cleveland-browns/

 

[Spectre]

And what do we know historically about teams that run the ball well and play great defense??? They win games.

What do we know from recent history about teams that can't pass the ball? They suck. And I'd argue we have the worst QB/WR/TE personnel in the league.

The last time a team finished bottom 5 in QB rating and finished over .500 was 2009 and that was the year Rex Ryan led the league in defense and rushing... and they still only finished 9-7. Yet you have Pettine (who was DC on that team) striving for the exact same model and talking lunacy like how a QB is only 1 of 11.

If you can at least pass the ball efficiently then sure, run the ball and play defense and you stand a chance. If your passing game is atrocious though, there's not a whole lot you can do to prevent yourself from being terrible.

So for as much as I liked the solid, foundational pieces we took, we're still going to stink in 2015 because we're weakest at the area of utmost importance. We have a great offensive line and nothing worth protecting... frankly, it's a waste.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

There is no alternative, though, Spectre. It was either sell the farm for one of the young guys or try and build the rest of the team.

 

[Spectre]

There is no alternative, though, Spectre. It was either sell the farm for one of the young guys or try and build the rest of the team.

I would've sold the farm for one of the young guys or gotten a veteran better than Josh McCown. At least with a trade up I'd have the hope a young QB gives a team (kind of like how when Hoyer was mediocre as hell last year we still had Johnny in the back of our minds even if we didn't like him).

I mean it's all well and good if Pettine and Farmer are able to draft a QB next year and some skill position help to go with him but I sure hope Jimmy is giving them that leash. If not, all we'll have is a nice foundation for the next regime.

Pettine said we weren't going to "over-prioritize" QB this year. I don't know if that's even possible at the most important position in professional sports. Instead, they under-prioritized it and now we're set up to be one of those "if they only had a QB" teams with a monster schedule in front of us.

 

[Ohdang]

I would've sold the farm for one of the young guys or gotten a veteran better than Josh McCown.

You're assuming either of these things were options. What if they weren't? If I had a top draft pick and needed a QB, one was on the board, and the Browns offered me their entire draft, I still don't know that I'd do it because QB is that important and that hard to find. Tennessee may not have ever really been considering a trade down, we don't know what the talks between them and the teams looking to trade up were like.

Or are you actually upset we didn't give up a #1 for a (likely) 1 year rental of Sam Bradford's glass body? Outside of that, I don't know how exactly we were supposed to address the QB position. I'm really bummed, probably more so than anyone not named b00bie, that we're going into the season with Manziel still in play as a starting QB in 2015. But what could they really do this offseason that would have addressed a need this year? Or even next year if they drafted a flawed QB prospect that was still on the board when we picked? I'm glad they didn't, we've seen that same old story too many times. The best case scenario was likely re-signing Hoyer - and that's not a good scenario at all.

I would have liked a WR at 19 instead of an OL, but I really like the one we drafted. Bowe and Hartline are probably going to have a much bigger impact for whoever is playing QB than anyone we drafted this year anyway. Its hard to be upset with this draft as they had a clear plan to draft BPA based on what they felt was important and they executed that plan better than any Browns team since they came back. We as a fan base may not agree with what they found important, but we can't say that wasn't a good draft.

I'm back on the wait and see train after having thrown myself off the train entirely after they sent me an invoice for 30% more expensive season tickets earlier this year after that near epic disaster that was the end of our season. That's pretty good progress for one offseason.

 

[AZ_]

McCown was pressured on 43 percent of his passes last season, a ridiculous number which would have been the second worst in the NFL.

For my money, he will improve if that number goes down. That makes him somewhat viable in the short term.

It's easy to say "sell the farm" for the top guy, though it's often highly unrealistic as we all found out.

 

[Phills14]

I agree with Boobs here. McCown will not be Tampa Bay bad. However; he won't be Chicago good. Somewhere in the middle trending towards the Tampa Bay version.