Let's say that hypothetically, the player Cleveland Browns fans seem to want most, Tennessee S Eric Berry, suffers a fluke injury prior to the draft that takes him out of contention for being a high draft pick. Now, imagine it is draft day. With the Rams on the clock first, they draft Sam Bradford.
As Browns fans eagerly await for the team's seventh overall pick to arrive, we hear an announcement in the draft room that "there has been a trade." Before someone officially makes an announcement, we then hear the radio guys say, "all we know is that the logo of the Cleveland Browns just flashed up on the screen."
How would I feel about that? In the heat of the moment, I would be buzzing because pretty much everything that happens on draft day draws a squealing reaction, even if it's a measly 6th-round draft pick trade. In that limited span of time that the Browns would have to make their pick, I'd eagerly anticipate the announcement. Out walks commissioner Roger Goodell.
"With the second pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select...CB Joe Haden, Florida.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?
According to our first draft board, that's what the Browns would be doing, and there's definitely something wrong with that in my book. Can we assume that the order of the voting was just an anomaly for a few reasons:
- People assumed Ndamukong Suh would be gone, and hence ranked him lower?
- People thought we were picking who we thought the Browns would end up drafting seventh overall?
If you don't recall, this is what the top five slots of our draft board look like:
- Eric Berry, S, Tennessee--422 total points.
- Joe Haden, CB, Florida--226 total points.
- Ndamukong Suh, DL, Nebraska--202 total points.
- Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma--132 total points.
- Gerald McCoy, DL, Oklahoma--80 total points.
The draft board should be a combination of need and "the best player available." A better way of thinking of this would be, "if the Browns had the first overall pick in the draft, who would you take?" Throughout the voting process, you'd continually assume, "ok, if the player I ranked first is gone and we are drafting second overall, who would I draft next?"
We'd probably be a laughingstock for passing over Suh for Haden, and I assume most of you agree with me based on a few of the confused comments in the results post. I wanted to bring it up again just to have a discussion dedicated to this topic though, because to me, it looks like a big flaw right at the top of our draft board.
So, if the Browns are on the clock and both Suh and Haden are there, who do you take? Do you think the draft board should be amended by what I'm calling an anomaly, or am I just misguided in my belief of what we would do in that situation (note: rufio has no obligation to change the draft board; I'm just bringing it up for the sake of sparking a discussion).