DJ SBS - 2009 NFL Draft (Remix)

As the 2009 season is officially winding down, the 2010 season began for the Browns sometime around the 2009 Bye Week. Were oh so close to not having to watch videos of Peyton Manning throw better footballs at age 5 than Brady Quinn does at age 25.

Before we completely move on to 2010, in the spirit of Festivus, SBS felt it was necessary to have an airing of grievances, where we will gather the Browns' 2009 draft class and former front office employees and tell them all the ways they disappointed us over the last year.

One of the greatest frustrations watching the garbage most NFL fans call Weeks 1-13 for me was the lack of productivity from our 2009 draft class. While other teams' rookies were making plays on Sundays, ours mostly stayed on the sidelines. As we all know by now, we managed to rally in the final quarter of the season, winning the last four games on our way to a 5-11 record. What this article presupposes is, maybe we didn't?

As a ground rule, I assumed the Browns had to pick where they ended up picking after trades. For instance, I'm not going to argue with trading out of the 5 spot to get extra picks and players from the Jets. We were not enamored with the talent at the top and needed the extra rookies and vets in camp. The move also saved us a significant amount of cap space going into this year and future years. I really think Sanchez isn't that good and in time will not pan out to be the sanchise quarterback everyone thinks he is. With that said, here is SBS giving the Browns a mulligan on the 2009 NFL Draft. Here are the results:

Round 1, Pick 21 (21st Overall)
Actual Pick: Alex Mack - C (California)
REMIX: Percy Harvin - WR (Florida)

Don't get me wrong, I think Alex Mack is a stud center and was a good pick. He will be making line calls for us for the next decade. I understand the thinking behind the pick at the time too. Eric Mangini began his run with the Jets by drafting center Nick Mangold. Mangold did an excellent job his rookie year starting from day 1 and is now a Pro Bowler. He was was the ideal fit in Mangini's physical style offense. Coming to the Browns he saw the same opportunity in Mack and was happy to take him where he did, saving boat loads of cash in the process. However, watching the Brown's struggle on offense, especially at the receiver position, trade away their #1 receiver in Braylon "Look Mom, No Hands!" Edwards, looking at our team needs now going into this draft, and how we approached our subsequent picks, I really have to question the logic. In a team extremely deficient and depleted of play makers, we constantly passed on proven, talented college players for project, developmental types (my last statement applies more to the Browns later picks than Mack). We obviously identified receiver as a major need, drafting two in the 2nd Round. Why not take perhaps the most dynamic receiver in this draft? Percy Harvin was a game breaker for the Gators and his talent carried over to the NFL. Maybe the Browns had concerns about his migraine headaches or his character. Percy Harvin proved to be a great teammate on the Vikings and won Rookie of the Year.

Also Considered:
Michael Oher - T (Ole Miss) - Solid swing tackle for the Ravens, played both left and right tackle for Baltimore as a rookie. We now have a glaring hole at RT. Plus he had a movie about him which would have drawn some nice pub to Cleveland.
Clay Mathews - OLB (USC) - Clay Mathews started 2009 slowly but was extremely productive for the Packers, racking up 51 tackles, 10 sacks and a forced fumble. I'd still take Mack over him.

Round 2, Pick 4 (36th Overall)
Actual Pick: Brian Robiskie
REMIX: Rey Maualuga

Even with the DUI on his record I still hate the fact we didn't draft this guy. I was convinced we kept trading down in the 1st to take him. Then when he was still available to us in the 2nd I was ecstatic! This guy is a warrior. He is completely reckless and loves running full speed into things (insert DUI joke here). I was very much looking forward to the illegal contact, late hit penalties and watching this guy destroy opposing players. Now we have to face him twice a year. I recently read hes going to move to MLB next year (another position we still need). Weird as he may be, he's a football player, plain and simple. I really think he's going to be good for a long time. Robiskie will be a decent possession receiver in time but his 2009 season was very disappointing.

Round 2, Picks 18 and 20 (50 and 52 Overall)
Actual Picks: Mohammed Massoquoi - WR (Georgia) and David Veikune - ??? (Hawaii)
REMIX: Phil Loadholt - RT (Oklahoma) and Sean Smith - CB/S (Utah)

Drafting Percy Harvin in the 1st Round gives us the luxury of skipping out on Mo Mass in the 2nd. While Mo had a good rookie season and stepped up in Braylon's absence, he wasn't spectacular. David Veikune is a whole different story. The fact that this guy could not see any significant playing time was maddening. We can't afford to waste such a high draft pick on a guy were trying to move from DE in college to MLB in a 3-4 defense. Hopefully he learned a lot this season and will develop into a starting quality player in the NFL. We can't afford to swing and miss in the 2nd round. That is why were 5-11 and constantly picking so high in the draft. Loadholt started at right tackle for the Vikings all season, protecting Brett Farve. Loadholt played extremely well in pass protection and is a force to be reckoned with in the running game. Sean Smith is a tall, physical DB that has the speed and fluidity to play corner. On a team solely lacking a good #2 corner, I think Smith would have been a good pick. As receivers in the NFL get taller, why not take a corner thats just as big? He also has really good hands. I have a feeling he'll be making plays in this league for some time.

Round 4, Pick 4 (104th Overall)
Actual Pick: Kaluka Maiva
REMIX: Brian Hartline - WR (Ohio State), Louis Murphy - WR (Florida), Austin Collie - WR (BYU) or Johnie Knox - WR (Abilene Chistrian)

If we wanted two WR in this draft, we should have taken better ones. I would have been nice to pair Percy Harvin with any of the four listed above. Kaluka Bean played okay filling in for Eric Barton once he went on IR for the year, but the four receivers above had very productive seasons. Hartline may already be the Dolphin's best receiver and Louis Murphy IS the Raider's best receiver. Austin Collie has made the Colts forget about gonzo in Indy. Knox was not even taken until the 5th Round but is one of the fastest players in the NFL and played very well in Chicago. If I had to pick one, I would take Austin Collie. He's a great route runner and would be a perfect complement to Harvin's speed.

I'm ending the re-draft there because I can't rip the Browns for their 6th Round picks. Don Carey and Coye Francies seemed to be great values in the 6th round on a team in need of corners. However, in trying to sneak Carey through waivers in training camp, the Jaguars snatched him up. Another wasted pick. We constantly read about how good Francies looked in practice but he never showed up on Sundays. Mangini refused to play him and instead favored Hank Poteat. That worked out well. The way the he performed in the preseason, James Davis looked like he could be on his way to Rookie of the Year honors. However, Davis was lost early in the season after a heckler ran over him with an old Volkswagen after practice. Hopefully the latter two players will rebound and be able to contribute next year.

Recap:
Actual Picks
Alex Mack - C
Brian Robiskie - WR
Mohammed Massoquoi - WR
David Veikune - LB
Kaluka Maiva - LB

REMIX
Percy Harvin - WR
Rey Maualuga - LB
Phil Loadholt - RT
Sean Smith - CB/S
Austin Collie - WR

-Charlie