"The Sunday Five" is a loosely-titled piece where I talk about five NFL- or Browns-related topics related to this past week. In tonight's late-night bonus edition, we take a look at what it means that the team did not draft a safety, our record-breaking numbers this past weekend for Dawgs By Nature, and more. (Our early edition of The Sunday Five can be found here).
Prior to the draft, I addressed the issue of the team's depth at the safety position. All things considered, besides the wide receiver position, safety is the position that largely went unaddressed in free agency and the draft. Let's consider the facts from last year. Last year, the team signed free agent safety Usama Young as a candidate to start over veteran safety Mike Adams. Young suffered an injury in camp, and as a result, Adams won the safety job by default (although you could say that he won it by playing better in camp, too). Adams started 16 games at safety for the first time in his career. T.J. Ward played a few games at safety before suffering a season-ending injury. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Young for the remainder of the season.
"The Sunday Five" is a loosely-titled piece where I talk about five NFL- or Browns-related topics related to this past week. In today's early edition, we take a look at the strategy the front office took during the three-day draft, what positions-of-need were left unaddressed, and more.
My top three positions that I wanted the Browns to address heading into the draft were wide receiver, offensive tackle, and outside linebacker. By the end of the draft, the front office really didn't emphasize improving those three positions, but that does not mean I came away terribly disappointed. As long as I looked at the picks and saw the front office following a clearly-defined vision, I would support it. The first three picks that were rattled off included running back, quarterback, and offensive tackle. Considering the revolving door at running back and departure of Peyton Hillis, the lack of star-power at quarterback last year, and the obvious need at right tackle, you can't argue with the needs the team addressed there.
The NFL Draft might be over, but the fun hasn't ended yet. The media, along with the players themselves, are reporting on the undrafted free agents who teams are trying to sign. After the jump is a list of players who have been rumored to have been contacted and signed by the Browns:
With the Cleveland Browns final selection in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft, they selected tight end Brad Smelley out of Alabama. Whether it counts for anything or not, consider that Smelley is from the same college as running back Trent Richardson.
Besides having a funny name, Smelley is your typical size for a tight end at 6-2, 237 pounds. Per Bucky Brooks of NFL.com:
The Browns nab a tough, physical tight end with soft hands. Smelley is a scrappy competitor capable of making contributions as receiver or blocker as a No. 2 tight end.
It would seem that Benjamin Watson, Evan Moore, and Alex Smith are roster locks. You would think that Jordan Cameron, taken in the fourth round last year, has a better chance at making the roster this year, but Smelley could offer some competition if he turns out to be a better blocker. For those Alabama fans who saw Richardson play, do you have any insight as to how Smelley plays?
You don't think of getting too many high-profile prospects in the seventh round, but that might be a different story with the Cleveland Browns' first of two seventh-round draft picks. With the 245th pick overall, the Browns selected cornerback Trevin Wade out of Arizona.
Wade was projected to go somewhere around the third round, and with the team possibly considering a shift of Sheldon Brown to safety and Mike Adams not returning, Wade could have a chance to make an impact in training camp.
The Cleveland Browns used their fourth-round draft picks on wide receiver Travis Benjamin and ILB James-Micheal Johnson, drawing some pretty positive reactions from fans. Cleveland still has five draft picks to go, though, and it's time to crack open a new open thread! Here are Cleveland's remaining picks:
Round 5: No. 160 (25th in round)
Round 6: No. 204 (34th in round), No. 205 (35th in round)
Round 7: No. 245 (38th in round), No. 247 (40th in round)
Have fun predicting what gems the Browns might find! We had one user correctly identify Johnson before he was picked.
It is Day 3 of the 2012 NFL Draft, and fans will undoubtedly be wondering when the Cleveland Browns will be drafting a wide receiver today. Will it be at the start of the day in round four, or later on? Cleveland had the following seven draft picks available heading into Saturday:
Round 4: No. 100 (5th in round), No. 120 (25th in round)
Round 5: No. 160 (25th in round)
Round 6: No. 204 (34th in round), No. 205 (35th in round)
Round 7: No. 245 (38th in round), No. 247 (40th in round)
The draft begins at 12:00 PM EST today and will feature rounds 4-7. Teams will have a maximum of five minutes to make their selections the rest of the way. There are hardly any players remaining on our community big board or draft tracker. Here is a link you can use, though: Mocking the Draft's Best Available Players Heading Into Day 3.
There are a couple of tight ends and wide receivers there that the Browns might be interested in. They will inevitably have to address a lot of other positions, though, so they could really go in one of many directions. Use this as your open thread to discuss all of the Day 3 happenings related to the Browns and the draft!
Head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert met with the media following the conclusion of round three of the 2012 NFL Draft Friday night. They talked about the selections of offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz and defensive tackle John Hughes, the status of quarterback Colt McCoy, and the decision not to take a wide receiver. The entire transcript, re-ordered by topic, is after the jump.
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