As a BC alum, I can tell you Raji is incredible and would be worth taking at number 5. I just don’t know if that is enough to justify not doing something to satisfy our awful linebacking corps

I agree with this, nice analysis. 5th pick has to be one of Crabs, Raji, Curry, Orakpo

Great analysis as always, rufio. I agree with Dorn about the 5th pick. I don’t know much about Orakpo and I’m a little wary of him, but if he looks good in workouts and Mangini likes him then I can support that pick. I don’t know much about Raji but he sounds like a great lineman. I don’t know if he’ll fit in our defense with Rogers, but if you guys this he will then he could be a good choice. A dominating D-line would greatly help our LB’s.

I would love Curry but I think he’ll be gone, and you guys know how I fell about Crabtree. So any of those four look good to me.

It would be nice to trade down and I would be talking to Det for #20, their 2nd round this year and a 3rd next year.

That would be a bit beyond nice and reaching into super awesome happy fun time.

i still can’t understand how people can say we should take a stud OT at 5. we already have one of those.

I think Keiaho is just a poor fit in our scheme. He is maybe big enough to play in the Colts’ Cover-2 scheme that needs really quick LBs (and can sacrifice size for speed). We need fast LBs too, but they need to be big enough to take on OL at times. Maybe he would work inside next to Jackson, but I don’t think he would. Rob Ryan and Mangini would know a lot better than me, though.

Seemed cheap enough, and with Jones looking around, we need bodies at S.

I actually think that would be an excellent pick in the 7th round.

If you really knew for sure that he was leaving, it would be worth it to try to get his replacement now. That said, not a lot of WRs are as talented as Braylon and it would be hard to do. I think we should try to get another WR regardless of Braylon’s status, but it might cause us to move guys like Crabtree, Heyward-Bey, Nicks, Kenny Britt or Robiskie up on our draft board.

I also don’t think you can count on him as being gone. If he and Mankok feel each other out and the season starts out well I think we sould offer him a bunch of money. If he had to resign or test FA right now I think he would walk, but there is a whole year between now and when he would leave.

my refrain with braylon, as with all the players on this team, has been that we have to maximize his value to the organization…and that may be best realized in a trade. i don’t want to see us move him, but if the ManKok can acquire 2 impact players, or the opportunity to acquire 2-3 players who may become impact contributors, then you have to ship him out. kiwi + a first rounder, to me, is a deal that is a no-brainer, especially when considering the likelihood of edwards trying to leave cleveland after this year.

that said, there are no players in this draft who can fill his shoes at the receiver position.

Mcshay is an a hole

6’3", 263 is pretty prototypical for that rush LB position, I would say. Ware is 6’4", 262. Merriman 6’4", 272 before getting caught ‘roiding. Terrell Suggs 6’3" 260, Adalius Thomas 6’2" 270, Vrabel 6’4" 261, Woodley 6’2", 265.

All within 1" and 10 lbs of Orakpo. I am more worried about his lower body strength and durability than anything.

what…no USC RB’s to take in the 4th? the talent at SC is obviously overflowing, but suggesting we take 3 SC defenders in the first 50 picks seems a bit much, not least b/c Rey is WILDLY overrated at 5.

i think you mean Arian Foster…not Adrian.

1.Arian Foster is not a bruiser. He doesn’t run with consistent body lean and runs smaller than his size would indicate. He also weighed in at the combine at 226, not 235. I wouldn’t be against getting him in the 4th, but if he really was a “bruiser with speed and hands” who weighed 235 and is less than a thousand yards from being Tennesee’s all-time leading rusher, don’t you think he would project as a 1st rounder?

2. There is no way Moala could play NT in our 3-4. No way. He could be a very good DE in our scheme and play either LDE or RDE depending on how much more aggressive we get.

3. Cushing and Matthews could both be good players for us. I doubt either will be there in the 2nd. But would be absolutely happy if we picked Matthews there.

1st. No way on Evertte Brown. We already have one DE from FSU that runs around blocks.

2nd. I would kill for a trade down. The only player that I like at 5 is Crabtree. If it is not Crabtree I would trade down ten spots for a 2nd rounder no questions asked.

3rd. Hell yes I am interested in Ken Lucas. But he didn’t play for the Jets, so Mankok has no intrest.

Shaun Smith arguably can’t play NT either. Rogers is listed at 350, and he says he was playing at 360, and I bet his weight was upwards of that at times last year. Moala weighed in at 305 and he probably tried to gain weight for the combine because I saw him listed in the 280s and 290s prior to that.

You might have a better argument by talking about Vince Wolfork or Casey Hampton, both listed at 325. However, Wolfork is a lot stouter at 6’1+", as is Hampton at 6’1" (vs. Moala’s 6’4", a lot closer to Rogers). Also, there is no way Hampton plays at 325, he is way above that.

He would probably make a great RDE in our scheme. I just don’t see him packing on 50 or so pounds after college and becoming a NT. Beyond simple size, he doesn’t play like a NT. His ESPN scouting report reads “Needs to be more stout at the point. Turns his back too much and gets rooted off the line of scrimmage.” That isn’t a NT.

I would like to draft the kid, play him at RDE in our 3-4 and move him inside to DT in passing situations. He just is not a NT.

Seriously, is it really that hard to figure out how to use the reply button?!?! You’ve posted on here enough that you should know that by now. It’s not that hard, really, and it makes it much easier to follow conversations. Don’t you notice that everyone else uses it?

I think that Brown is going to be a bust. Watch some FSU tape. Reminds me of Jamal Reynolds. FSU has not produced a big time legit NFL DLineman in quite sometime unless I am forgetting someone. I can only think of Darnell Dockett and he is a bad ass.

The busts on the other hand remain numerous (Broderick Bunkley, who the Browns were rumored to be interested in amongst others.)

I thought they always ran indoors on that turf?

dude, but you have no basis whatsoever to assume that maualuga will run afoul of the police, or that he is a “wacko”. he was arrested for an altercation as a freshman, and has had zero incidents since…in fact, by all accounts, he’s matured into a pretty solid, reflective guy.

i agree that he is overrated, though, and hope the browns pass on him.

I had heard about that. I really have a hard time taking the Sporting News seriously though. This scenario just seems outrageous

I would love to trade down if both Sanchez and Stafford were still there.

That sounds like something that would be leaked deliberately.

Hood?

No improvement by Jenkins?

There is no proof that players play better in their contract year. That is something which fans and media people talk about, and they bring up whenever it happens, but of course they never show when it doesn’t happen, when players play poorly in contract years. Most players play hard all the time, no matter it they’re in a contract year or not. Not all, but certainly the majority do. So the idea that they try “extra hard” when they’re playing for a new contract doesn’t fit, because these players are supercompetative people who want to win every game they play in.

Braylon had a bad year last year — he got injured in preseason and I don’t think he was fuly ready when he came back. Then he started having a few drops and it got in his head, and he was mentally messed up the rest of the year. I think an offseason of rest and relaxation will do him wonders, and he’ll bounce back to have a great year again this year. But it won’t have anything to do with being in a contract year.

I would say trading a draft pick for Shaun Rogers turned out pretty good, wouldn’t you? So you shouldn’t be so absolute with your pronouncements.

chris…if you don’t, someone else is going to…and rudely…

For f’s sake, lurk for a while.

peppers doesn’t seem like a ManKok type of player, to me. i’d love to see him on the erie’s shores from a production perspective, but he seems to be a bit of a complainer, which will not fly in this new regime…and i’m pretty ok w/ that.

I think ManKok is looking for young talent that they can build up their way vs. anything else. I think they would pass on a 29 year old for the chance to draft and develop some young talent, even if the 29 year old was a beast.

I might make the deal, essentially trading K2 for Peppers and a 5th rounder.

Both of our QBs didn’t get hurt because of poor RT play—Quinn’s injury seemed like a freak accident. There was plenty of poor RT play, don’t get me wrong. I just think we would have scored if we hadn’t lost both Quinn and Anderson. No NFL team expects to score a lot with their 3rd QB, and our season was more or less over at that point anyway.

Stud RTs don’t “slip” to #5 overall, they are probably rarely considered worth drafting in the top 15. LTs are the freaks of nature, 300lb ballerina/monsters who need to be picked that high. I don’t think committing that much of the salary cap (top 5 money to LT and RT) is worth it. I also think you can find stud RTs a lot later in the draft, where you usually can’t find freak LTs, NTs, and LBs.

Crabtree or trade down.

Raji and Courtney Brown are different positions, no comparison. All I can say about Raji is that he does an incredible job pushing back the o-line and getting upfield. I don’t think I saw Gerard Warren ever do that. As a BC fan, I saw Raji do this sort of thing 4-5 times a game

I am convinced Curry would be a great player as a Brown. We should consider all trades down unless Curry is available. If nothing looks good in terms of deals, I wouldn’t mind Crabtree for sure, or maybe Raji or Orakpo.

Brown played DE, and Gerrard Warren was not the physical freak that Raji is. Raji is 6’1" 330lbs with speed for a DT. You can question his technique, work ethic, and college production, but the man has physical tools Warren could only dream about. Being short enough to be at a leverage advantage at 6’1" and yet really really stout at 330lbs…he could turn out to be an animal. Orakpo is probably only in the mix to me because of the lack of talent at OLB on the Browns’ roster. I question how much he has done to set himself apart from other guys at that position who would be available later. ManKok also seems to dislike injury-prone guys and Orakpo doesn’t seem like he is made of iron.

I think both of those defenders are boom-or-bust guys and it is impossible to tell before they actually suit up. If we pick someone at #5 and it isn’t those guys I will have to question the pick.

it’s an interesting thought. if ManKok were convinced that one of the guys likely to go in the top 3 (read: aaron curry) is a lock to be a stud, then i’d say go for it. however, i believe we can still get a difference maker at 5, and turn DA into yet another pick in the top 60-70 selections. at this stage, we need to stockpile picks and get as many players as we can into the fold.

as well, 4 picks in the top 60-70 would give us an opportunity to wheel and deal and potentially add established players or increase our picks next year.

I would be ok with it, especially if we could get a 6th or 7th round pick in the deal, too. Even a future 6th or 7th rounder.

I think that ManKok really wants to get more picks right now vs. better picks and that they would rather get yet another 2nd round pick.

I really like Curry, though.

you mention you’re new here…one thing worth getting used to early on is the “reply” button at the bottom of each post. in order to respond directly to another post, and thereby continue a conversation/thought w/in a larger thread, reply is a necessity.

1. Curry would probably play ILB in our scheme. He isn’t a pass rush specialist, and seems to do better at traditional linebacker duties (tackling, covering backs and TEs, zone coverage) than getting after the QB. Unless Alex Hall and Wimbley make significant improvements, we would still need a OLB who can get after the quarterback, even if we drafted Curry.

2. Egboh might be too lanky to play DE in our scheme. Romeo liked his DEs at 300+ lbs, and Egboh is 276. Rob Ryan might be able to find a place for him. Davis is a little shorter and heavier, but he graduated high school in 2001…that would make him about 26 years old?

3. Jackson is exactly the type of DE we should be looking for, at least in terms of frame and ability to stop the run. I do not believe he will be there in the 2nd. If he was, I would love to get him.

4. I bet Barden gets picked before the 4th round. I am not sure if I would mind spending our second 2nd round pick on him. The good thing is that there look to be a lot of solid WRs in this draft.

5. I don’t think Coffee will be able to “mow down” anyone in the NFL, but I do like him, and your list of backs. I do wonder if Ringer will be good in the NFL. The kid is straight up tough, but he isn’t big and his running style was based on getting a ton of carries and running with power. How will that translate to the NFL? Will he break down soon because of the ungodly amount of carries he’s had?

6. I think that saying “we need to come away with position X and position Y from this draft” is a bad strategy, especially when there are 5 or 6 Xs and Ys. You might be able to say “we need a pass rusher and a WR at some point in time” and do that, but in terms of trying to guess what specific guys will be there, especially in the 2nd+ rounds is impossible. The “experts” can’t do it, and the GMs probably can’t either. We should just take the best players available later in the draft, and if people who we think are really good players fall to us in the 2nd round, we should pick them even if they aren’t our greatest positions of need.

The Browns will probably made a RB selection at some pt on day 1, but I find it very improbable at pick 5

how quickly can i say yes? this is the no-brainer of all time.

I would already be calling the Jets, Bears, and Vikings so when we tried to reach each other, we would both get busy signals.

I would also call the 2 that didn’t trade up to ask them if they want DA.

I think I would still take Robo over Barden. While Barden is ridiculously big, Robiskie is much more polished and is just a more natural pass catcher. I think Robiskie gets in and out of his cuts a lot better than Barden and while their 40 times sound similar, I would rather have the guy with good starting and stopping skills, acceleration, etc. over the guy who has a higher top speed.

 Granted, I have only seen Barden on Youtube.

I do not think both players will still be on the board at the 50th overall pick and I would like to see us draft either.

That’s cruel, getting my hopes up only to crush them like that.

Brodney Pool is our starting FS and has been for several years now.

Didn’t we already shoot down a deal of Edwards for the Giants’ 2nd, 5th, and our choice of Hixon or some other receiver?

Please learn to use the REPLY button, it makes it much easier to follow a conversation. Why do I have to say this to every new member of this site? Did you not read the Community Guidelines when you joined?

I watched film on NFL Live on him and really liked what I saw and heard. The idea of Raji, Rogers and Williams immediately helps vs. the run. Between those 3 guys, that’s 1000 lbs! You really can’t count on Robaire Smith, because of the achillies surgery and Shaun Smith is too slow. Raji can play the Nose at times and move Rogers to DE, which Mangini wants. That may have been a hint as whom the Browns are going to take at #5. Then with our (2) second round picks, we could choose the DE/OLB that fits Mangini’s sytem the best and add that Safety.
I was all for Malcolm Jenkins at #5, but after thinking about it, B.J. Raji makes more sense.

We don’t have one! When you think of other teams in the league, most of the good teams have an “identity”. The Browns don’t have one.
I think Mango/Koko want the Browns to be known as a “strong defensive, ball control, hard hitting” team, so I think we should assemble players that reflect that.
A good start would be to draft Brian Orakpo, Tyson Jackson and Alex Mack with our 3 picks on day one of the NFL Draft and sign Roy Williams as our SS from free agency.
If we can get a day one pick for DA, I would like to see the Browns draft (ILB) Clint Sintim with that pick.