Browns draft choices reveal Heckert’s thought process

Published May 2, 2012 | By Justin Higdon

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When Mr. Irrelevant 2012, quarterback Chandler Harnish of Northern Illinois, was announced last Saturday evening, pundits immediately started formulating their draft grades, trumpeting the “winners” and disparaging the “losers.” I certainly have my opinions. The Bengals, for example, appeared to blow it out of the water, routinely drafting players two rounds later than I had ranked them. They seemed to accumulate steal after steal all weekend, and were almost universally praised. They looked like the champs of the draft, and their fans are right to be anxiously awaiting the start of the 2012 season. Draft grades are all well and good. I don’t do them (though if I did this full time, I might) but I read them. I agree with some, disagree with others, and get annoyed when people complain about them or use the old cliché that “you can’t really grade a draft for three years.” (Thanks, genius. No sh*t.) The point isn’t the grade, it’s that someone has an opinion and is willing to share it. One thing I have learned over the past couple of years, when I’ve produced my own rankings, is that no matter how much I enjoy watching games, cut-ups – and in rare occasions, tape – I can’t be absolutely certain how any of these draftees will turn out. Nobody can. However, we can examine a given team’s selections and get inside the heads of the people doing the choosing. Opinions on the Cleveland Browns’ draft were mixed. Praised by some, lambasted by others. Many fans wondered what the team brass was thinking. Allow me an attempt at answering that question. I’ve had a few days to digest the goings on of the past weekend, and here’s what I learned:

The Browns view Trent Richardson as the league’s next star running back – Ok, that’s rather obvious. They dealt three draft choices and swapped first rounders to move up one slot despite current conventions that suggest running backs are an expendable, dime-a-dozen, position rarely worthy of a first round pick – let alone a top five selection. But the Browns aren’t bucking a trend necessarily. Running backs are important. Five of the league’s top ten rushers were in the playoffs last season, and two teams (the Ravens and Bears) used their franchise tags on runners. The ’08 Saints, ’07 Giants, ’05 Steelers and ’04 Patriots all won Super Bowls in the past ten years with top ten rushing attacks. Having a stellar running game helps control the clock and open up the pass. Richardson is a terrific receiver and pass protector as well, so his addition helps in all facets of the offense. Though he’s a workhorse who will rarely leave the field, he can’t be expected to save the offense all by himself. It is a passing league, and all four of those Super Bowl winners I mentioned had pretty decent quarterbacks. Which leads me to believe…

A new quarterback was always a priority – The Browns have known for quite some time that Colt McCoy was not the answer. My guess is they arrived at that conclusion even before I did, when last October I realized that McCoy often had to roll out to see the field, cutting his available passing area in half. He rarely saw his receivers running open, and when he did, he was either too late or didn’t have enough mustard on his passes. McCoy is a nice guy, and a tough cookie, but he lacks the physical attributes that many of the top passers possess. Last year on draft day, the Browns may have suspected they’d be in for a rough 2011 and had future quarterbacks in mind when they acquired a pile of draft choices for their sixth overall pick. This year, once they recognized that Andrew Luck was unobtainable, the tried like crazy to package some of those picks, and move up for Robert Griffin III. They ultimately used the first rounder that Atlanta traded them, the 22nd overall pick, on quarterback Brandon Weeden. While Weeden possess a strong arm and prototypical size, he’s quite the risk. He’s the oldest player ever drafted in the first round. He’s also the fourth quarterback selected 22nd overall in just the past ten drafts. The others were Brady Quinn, J.P. Losman, and Rex Grossman – hardly murderer’s row. The odds against Weeden’s success are long, but Cleveland was so certain that McCoy was a major weakness that they were willing to roll the dice on the 28-year-old former-baseballer. The Weeden selection also indicates that…

The Browns have faith in their wide receivers – At least to a degree. Some have speculated that Cleveland was considering Justin Blackmon with the fourth overall pick, or that they may have selected Kendall Wright at 22 if he’d still been available. But this doesn’t quite add up. Just after drafting Richardson and Weeden, Browns GM Tom Heckert stated, “We liked Kendall, we really did. Like I said, it is more so it was a quarterback. We liked Kendall and there were a couple of guys that we liked, but a quarterback is a quarterback, which I think that outweighs everything, at least in our opinion.” Outweighs everything. Doesn’t sound like a man who weighed improving the receiving corps more heavily than moving on from McCoy. Even after drafting Weeden, Heckert had a shot at several highly touted receivers in the second round (Stephen Hill, Alshon Jeffery and Ruben Randle to name a few), and passed them up for tackle Mitchell Schwartz. Heckert not only valued Richardson and Weeden over receivers, he valued help on the offensive line more as well. The Browns dipped their toes in the free agency pool, but never intended on outbidding anyone for the likes of Pierre Garcon or Josh Morgan. For better or worse, they’ll likely enter the season with Greg Little, Mohamed Massaquoi and Josh Cribbs as their top three receivers. They’ll see what they have in youngsters Jordan Norwood and Carlton Mitchell. And they’ll evaluate fourth round pick Travis Benjamin, a slight speedster who is unlikely to contribute right away. These receivers might not scare anybody at first, but onlookers may be surprised how much difference the change at quarterback will make for this crew. Much like the receivers…

The Browns also believe in their young defensive backs – The only 2012 draftee added to the defensive backfield will be seventh round cornerback, Trevin Wade of Arizona. Returning from 2011 will be former first rounder and budding star, Joe Haden (who was slowed by a knee injury last season), nickel corner Dimitri Patterson, veteran Sheldon Brown, and second year players Buster Skrine and James Dockery. Brown may move to safety to compete for a starting job with T.J. Ward, Usama Young, and Eric Hagg. For all of the speculation that Morris Claiborne was being considered with the number four overall pick, this is a solid unit that allowed the second fewest yards in the league and only a 56.5% completion percentage a year ago. The problem was…

The Browns needed to improve their run defense – And this is where third round pick John Hughes comes in. Hughes, a relatively unknown defensive tackle out of Cincinnati, was a surprise selection last Friday night. Many draft sites (including this one) didn’t peg Hughes as a draftable prospect, let alone consider him worth a Day Two pick. Hughes is known as a run-stopper, and Heckert clearly sees him as a major contributor. He’ll rotate in with holdovers Ahtyba Rubin and Phil Taylor, in an attempt to keep the defensive interior fresh throughout games. In a continued effort to strengthen the league’s 30th ranked run defense, Heckert targeted linebacker James-Michael Johnson with a fourth round pick; and landed linebacker Emmanuel Acho and defensive lineman Billy Winn with back-to-back picks in the sixth. That’s a total of four names added to beef up the defensive front seven, and only Hughes was considered a “reach” by most experts. If the Browns still can’t stop the run next season, it won’t be for lack of trying.

Look, the selections last weekend appear to be a mixed bag. It’s easy to dismiss Weeden for being old (I have), ignore Hughes for being a mystery man, or question Heckert for believing in his current cache of receivers. But it’s also easy, when reviewing each selection, to understand the thought process behind the picks. Last year, the Browns couldn’t score, block on the right side, pass consistently, run, or stop the run. With eleven new players in tow, they look to right the ship. Are Richardson, Weeden, Schwartz, Hughes, et al, part of the solution? Time will tell. After all, “you can’t really grade a draft for three years.”

Browns draft choices reveal Heckert’s thought process

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