Who should we take?

[TheOUTLAW]

We're down to the last day before the big day. Who do you think that the Browns should take in this most critical season?

I'm still on the Joe Thomas bandwagon.

[GreenDemon]

I would be kinda suprised to see us take Thomas, I realize we could still use some help on the oline but I would rather see us take a skilled position player in the first round and then take an olinemen in the secound. I am still liking Peterson even with some of the problems that has had I also wouldnt be surpised to trade down if Johnson is at our pick and then take either Quinn or a Defensive player.

[snazel]

I think in terms of logic it would be Joe Thomas, but in terms of impact it may be Quinn. Logically Thomas makes sense to me on too many reasons. 1) Savage has said his philosophy is to build around a QB, not through one, and I don't believe we've got the talent yet on our oline to get a good read on Chuck/DA or even Quinn for that matter. Sure, we can go oline later on, but I feel we have a gaping hole at RT, and a guy like Ugoh would not be able to start right away at LT. The dropoff from Ugoh is quite severe as well. To add, remember Phil saying that Frye has not gotten a 'fair chance' considering the pass protection and lack of a running game? 2)I think Savage is not worried about losing his job and that fuels him for the long term option which would be to draft Thomas who would help provide spark to both our passing game and running game, allowing us to FULLY EVALUATE both Jamal Lewis AND Chuck/DA, getting a clear read if any are the answer there. 3) Thomas fills 2 positions - LT and RT - our gap at RT is now filled for the future in 26yr old (I think) Kevin Shaffer. Yes, Butler got an extension, but c'mon he's nothing more than a backup RT. Thomas at the LT position will man it down for years to come. 4) A deal at LT. Thomas taken at #3 would likely earn approx 5million per year which is VERY AVERAGE for LT money I believe. I also believe that Thomas would be a guy who wouldn't quandry over big money because he is not necessarily a 'skill' player like Quinn/Peterson, but that is still essentially debatable.

[gflem]

I think thomas is the safest pick at 3. if they can trade down in the 8-10 range then I wouldnt mind petersen or even (gasp) quinn. at least trading down would get us another #2 and the ability to fill another need with a (hopefully) high quality player.

[B Mac]

Im of the belief that outside of Andruzzi, (who came to Cleveland and turned horrible) our O-line honestly isnt that bad anymore. Plus the O-line depth behind Thomas, that will be available in the 2nd round is very strong. I think we can draft an O-lineman in the 2nd round and be able to stick him in the line, if not right away, then at least midway through the season or when someone goes down.

I think you have to look at our RB situation and realize that we have Jamal Lewis signed to a 1 year deal and then... Jason Wright, and Jerome Harrison. This is a big weakness, espeically if Lewis goes down for any stretch, which is entirely possible. Plus imagine next year when Lewis is gone and this need becomes HUGE. For that reason Peterson makes the most sense to me.

However, I like a lot of people am not sold on Frye whatsoever. He has a noodle arm, which makes him unable to throw deep, and his accuracy leaves much to be desired. I hate to judge him too harshly because he had to play on a pretty crappy team, but he did have very quality targets in Winslow, Edwards, Joe J, etc to throw to and didnt seem to be able to get it done. I dont think drafting an o-lineman with the 3rd pick to give him more time is going to change his inaccuracy and inability to throw deep.

I thought for a few days that we might be getting Trent Green which would have all but solidified our drafting of Peterson IMO, but now I really dont know where we go because we have two huge needs and only one pick. lol

Im scared of taking a QB with that high of a pick just because of the history of such picks and because we've been burnt ourselves in that department. Im also a little leary about drafting a RB because with the inability to get the ball to our receivers defenses will be able to play the run every time and snuff out the run.

So after all that babble I can say with much certainty that I want the Browns to draft:
Adrian Peterson or
Jemarcus Russel or
Brady Quinn or
trade down.

I would honestly be happy with any of those scenarios, just as long as we draft an o-lineman in the 2nd round, or with an extra pick if we trade down.

[snazel]

I feel you for being burnt, but another chance to land a franchise QB doesn't come around often, and I think in this way Quinn WOULD be hard to pass up, and I would be jumping for joy if that were the case, too. I'm not at all heartbroken about Couch. He's over and done with, its been plenty of years, and I dont want to see us struggle with the washed up vets (Holcomb, Garcia), the bench-warming hopefuls(McCown, Peterson), and the mid round QBs(Frye/Anderson) we've seen come in and fail since. As for RB, I think the Browns are very heavily interested in two RBs outside of Peterson. One being Michael Bush, and the other being Chris Henry, who Adam Caplan said is a "lock" to be our pick in the second rd - to me this implies that we'll be dealing down in rd 2. if Caplans info is worth anything. Landing a franchise QB,and a RB with franchise potential like Bush or Henry, and I would quite literally cream my pants.

[L&H_05]

Best player available...

If that means it's CJ, then it's CJ... Other than JJ, we don't have a receiver that is reliable... Braylon drops a ton, Travis is an unknown...It's not like we have a dominant receiving core at WR..I wil not have any problems getting the best overall player in this draft..

If we can get Russell somehow, I'll take my chances, although I'm not sure any of these OB's are franchise OB's...I've went back and forth between Quinn and Russell.. Somedays I like Quinn better, somedays it's Russell... Today is a Russell day...

Peterson has the shortest shelf life and we won't be competing for anything in the next few years as is.. (Could be like Curtis Martin with the Jets or Barry Sanders with the lions...And in no way do I believe AP is even on their levels... But the situations could be the same..)

I go with the following:

CJ if available

Russell if available

Thomas (will be there, and can never go wrong with a LT)

Quinn

[LoveThemCavs]

At this point, I'm going to be okay with just about any player we take at pick 3. We could use a QB, RB, WR and OL. So you can't go wrong. They just showed on the pre-draft show the guy with the Raiders. He said there is a 20 percent chance the Raiders will trade the first overall pick and the Browns are interested. If we trade up, it will ruin the draft for me. There is no need to trade up and give up picks we need for other positions.

[Smooth32]

Quinn, Quinn, Quinn, Quinn, Quinn and I can't stress that enough...

[B Mac]

I heard that too LTC. If the Browns even consider trading up I will scream my head off. We have way too many holes to give up a bunch of picks.

[TheOUTLAW]

I do not think that the players that are available after Thomas are anywhere near as good as Thomas. Yeah, Staley is good, but after that there is an enormous drop off.

As of right now, The Browns are on the clock