Looking at the Browns Draft
This will just be a quick hitter on the upcoming NFL Draft, which will be held in a new three-day format for 2010.I have never claimed to be very knowledgeable about the game of football, but as a casual fan we sometimes can see the obvious better than the lifers.
Regardless of its entertainment value, the Browns have some business to address, and they have the draft picks with which to do just that.
The first business at hand is shoring up their porous defensive backfield. Gone is the mediocre, yet effective, play of Brodney Pool at safety. Pool, who left as a free agent, never quite lived up to the hype surrounding him coming from Oklahoma, but his career has been marred by numerous concussions. At the corner, Eric Wright has been adequate, while Brandon MacDonald has seen his performance slip quite a bit in 2009, leaving the door open for the Browns to upgrade.
The Browns recently did just that, acquiring corner Sheldon Brown along with linebacker Chris Gocong from the Eagles for some lower draft picks and little-used linebacker Alex Hall. Both should be a tremendous help to the defense, with Brown being a veteran who has many successful years starting in the league and Gocong seen as a great fit for the outside spot in a 3-4 defense. That's the old "two-birds-with-one-stone" deal.
Back to the draft, the Browns desperately need a playmaker in their defensive backfield and have to be hoping the six teams ahead of them stay excited about linemen and quarterbacks. There is one player who the Browns need more than any other in this draft.
Eric Berry.
Berry is the stellar safety from the University of Tennessee who's combination of speed, strength and football savvy makes him ideal to anchor a defense that is woefully short on impact players. If Berry falls to them at seven the Browns should thank their lucky stars. If he's not there, they should attempt to trade down a few spots and take Texas safety Earl Thomas, who is rated as the next-best safety in the draft.
Yes, I think they need a safety that badly, and the acquisition of Brown makes the need to draft Florida corner Joe Haden less important.
Now on to an out-of-the-box idea.
The Denver Broncos just shipped wide receiver Brandon Marshall off to the Miami Dolphins for two second-round draft picks. Miami will want to recoup whatever picks they can in this deep draft, and they have the underachieving enigma Ted Ginn, Jr. pining away on their bench as a wideout. Apparently, Ginn has contracted Braylon Edwards disease. No, he doesn't run off at the mouth, he just drops balls at an alarming rate.
Miami has had enough of Ginn's hands, and they have too many wide receivers. So the Browns can probably land Ginn for a fourth or fifth round draft choice.
But why, you say, do the Browns need the second coming of Braylon? For one, Ginn brings a special set of skills to the special teams game, and Josh Cribbs cannot take the constant beating and workload he is starting to build up. So Ginn would be a nice complement to him. The other reason is Sheldon Brown.
Brown is solid, but he's not great, and he's 33 years old. If you recall, Ginn came to the Buckeyes of Ohio State as a quality defensive back and was switched to offense to further take advantage of his awesome skill set.
So here's your out-of-the-box moment. If Ginn can't catch the ball, who cares? Make the transformation back to defensive back. You get a corner with incredible speed and athleticism, and if he gets into form and learns a bit you could end up with a lockdown corner along the lines of Deion Sanders (great coverage, no tackle).
It's a risk I'd take, and actually very little risk.
Ginn could learn as a nickel back playing behind Brown, and could even help the Browns anemic receiving corps along the way. Plus, Ginn is a native Clevelander, so it's a great PR move for the team.
It's a win-win, giving Ginn a chance for a fresh start. The Browns should make that move today.