In the NFL drafting is a science. Some teams seem to always get it right, and others seem to miss constantly. The cool thing about having a totally new regime in place is that whatever demons from past drafts can be exorcised. While Courtney Brown, Gerard Warren, William Green, Charlie Frye and Tim Couch are long gone, so are all the people who drafted them. The exciting thing (or scary thing) about this upcoming season is that I think we will know right away whether or not the new Browns’ front office is a capable scouting and drafting regime.
The Browns were thought to have had a late start in getting their scouting and drafting departments ready for this year’s draft. If the players drafted this season turn out to be busts, I am sure that will be the first excuse thrown out by the apologists. Also, a lot of draft “experts” like to say that you have to wait a few years before you can really rate the quality of a draft. But in the Browns’ case with the inherited “depth,” Mangini and Kokinis won’t have the luxury of letting a lot of the young guys work it out in practice. Just look position by position to see which rookies could end up playing meaningful football this season. And I am not just talking about special teams.
Center - Alex Mack is a first rounder who could (should?) beat out Hank Fraley for the starter’s role. Not much else needs to be said. First rounders frequently start and/or play right away.
Wide Reciever – This position (obviously) is where we could potentially see rookies earn the second most playing time this year. Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi could both see significant time on the field this season. It seems from reading training camp reports from The OBR and the PD that Robiskie could potentially even find his way to the 2nd or 3rd receiver role this season. And not that I want to scare anyone, but if the Browns fail to work things out with Josh Cribbs, won’t Robiskie be on the list of potential punt returners?
Running Back – The Browns just inked James Davis out of Clemson to his rookie deal. At first glance it would appear that Davis might have trouble finding the field. Then again, I expect Mangini to spread the ball around more than Romeo Crennel did. I also know that Jamal Lewis continues to age and have surgery every off-season. I don’t know much about Noah Herron which is pretty instructive, I guess. If Mangini paints Jerome Harrison into the role of utility back and Jamal Lewis gets hurt and James Davis plays well, it isn’t too far-fetched to think Davis could end up working opposite Harrison a lot this season.
Cornerback – The Browns seem committed to finding depth at corner for the first time since Leigh Bodden was still here. They drafted Don Carey in the 6th round. While on paper it looks like he might have trouble finding the field this year, it also wouldn’t surprise me much if he jumped in front of guys like Hank Poteat and maybe even Corey Ivy. Rod Hood appears to be the third musketeer along with McDonald and Wright. If nothing else, we should see a lot of Don Carey on special teams attempting to block kicks as we have read about at NoLogoNeeded.
Linebackers – This is another position where with and injury or two we could see a whole lot of rookie football this season. David Veikune and Kaluka Maiava could both find their way to the field this year in meaningful situations. This position is especially tough to analyze, though, because we didn’t get to see very much of Alex Hall or Beau Bell last season. In fact, I don’t know if we have heard a Beau Bell update in quite some time.
And that is it as far as I know. We will know very quickly if the Browns are capable drafters. And I know that I, like most of you, are hoping Kokinis is in the mold of Bill Polian instead of Dwight Clark.