| Authored by Carl Setterlund - 15th May, 2006 - 1:09 am
 Cleveland Browns
Picks:
1st Round: Kamerion Wimbley, OLB/DE, Florida State (13)
2nd Round: D’Qwell Jackson, ILB, Maryland (34)
3rd Round: Travis Wilson, WR, Oklahoma (78)
4th Round: Leon Williams, ILB, Miami (110); Isaac Sowells, OT, Indiana (112)
5th Round: Jerome Harrison, RB, Washington State (145); DeMario Minter, CB, Georgia (152)
6th Round: Lawrence Vickers, FB, Colorado (180); Babatunde Oshinowo, DT, Stanford (181)
7th Round: Justin Hamilton, S, Virginia Tech (222)
Oh I love what Savage and Crennel did in this draft. I love, love, love the way they approached things. When the Lerner family handed over the keys to Romeo Crennel last year, he was taking over a mess (thank you Butch Davis!) and probably the least talented team in the NFL. The whole situation in Cleveland needed to be addressed and after giving attention to the offense, the Browns finally are giving Crennel some weapons on defense.
Willie McGinest and Ted Washington are going to be huge (pun intended) for the defense but they’re not long term fixes. The first round went even better than planned when Cleveland gained a sixth round pick (whom I’ll talk about shortly) for almost nothing.
Kamerion Wimbley is such a great talent at that hybrid DE/OLB position that he’s a deserving heir to Willie McGinest. He’s going to learn from the best and I love what the future holds for him.
In another smooth maneuver, Cleveland traded extra baggage (Jeff Faine) to move up and get D’Qwell Jackson. There’s no doubt in my mind when I say Jackson is the best ILB in this draft and Mel Kiper was spot on when he said D’Qwell has a little Jonathan Vilma in his makeup. Crennel just has to be drooling when he thinks of all the possible ways he can use his linebacker core of McGinest, Wimbley, Jackson, Andra Davis and Chaun Thompson.
Back to the Browns’ draft, Travis Wilson was another nice pickup in the third round. He was underrated coming out this year, but he’s definitely got an NFL future and to be honest the wide receiver group in Cleveland isn’t the most talented out there.
The second day was as much a success as the first. Leon Williams is a risk-reward player but he was undoubtedly one of the two or three most talented linebackers available in the second day. In my honest opinion, neither Isaac Sowells nor Justin Hamilton were very good picks but all the others were just great. Jerome Harrison was a 1,900 yard rusher last season and he’s a nice addition to a Cleveland running game that seems to be perpetually in flux. He went later than I expected, but in some form this guy is going to contribute in the NFL.
Minter was a steal, an absolute steal in the later part of the fifth round. I had him going in the first day easily and I’m confident he’s going to challenge to be a starter opposite Gary Baxter someday very soon. I realize I’m waxing poetically on these Browns but I can’t help myself.
Vickers is one of the top fullbacks out of a strong class and I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes and immediate impact. You’re getting tired of my ranting so I’ll keep it short about Oshinowo. While he is no Ted Washington, this guy is a player and should have been a third rounder.
In my opinion, Cleveland comes out of this draft with (count ‘em) seven first day talents. I think they’ve got eight keepers from this draft if everything pans out the right way and that is an exceptional scouting job by Cleveland. The offense gets another little boost, but more importantly, impact players were brought in to make their mark all over this Browns defense. Possibly my favorite draft right here, just for it’s depth of quality.
Grade: A+ |
