BEREA: The Browns selected a record-tying 14 players and executed five trades in this year’s NFL Draft as the new regime continued to overhaul the roster and stockpile future picks.
“A change is coming,” new Browns edge rusher and Oklahoma State product Emmanuel Ogbah said Saturday while he and four other rookies were introduced to the media during the third and final day of the draft. “I feel like we are ready to make that change.”
No one will know for years whether the decisions made the past few days were wise, but the team with a dismal track record in the draft and just two winning seasons since 1999 is optimistic.
“I truly believe that this class will start to put a stamp on what we’re truly about and what we’re becoming,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “We’re not there yet by any stretch of the imagination. We have a long way to go. But you have to start some place, and I think this is where we’re starting.”
The Browns owned 10 picks before their blockbuster trade down from the second overall pick on April 20 and ultimately selected a record-tying 14 players, most in the league this year, after executing four additional trades during the draft. Only the 1997 Miami Dolphins have picked as many players since the NFL adopted a seven-round format in 1997. The Browns hadn’t taken that many since 1979, when there were 12 rounds.
But because the organization has consistently failed for so long, many observers will expect more of the same results from the first draft run by head of football operations Sashi Brown.
“I am confident in my ability to lead us to winning ways again, but I’m humble enough to understand the task at hand and why people would be skeptical about it,” Brown said. “And I know that the only way that I’ll prove them wrong is not by being defensive, but really proving it in our work. ... I think there’s brighter days ahead, probably a few less laughs after this weekend than there were going in.”
The team’s haul is composed of four wide receivers, three linebackers, two offensive tackles, a quarterback, a defensive end, a safety, a cornerback and a tight end. They also traded for veteran cornerback Jamar Taylor in a swap of seventh-round picks with the Dolphins.
After the previous regime led by former General Manager Ray Farmer drafted just one receiver in the last two years — fourth-round pick Vince Mayle didn’t even make the team — the Browns made the position a top priority.
“You have to score touchdowns,” Jackson said. “You have to put yourself into position to score touchdowns. Schematically, I think we’ll be as good as we can be, but at the same time, you’ve got to have players that give you the flexibility to do that from a lot of different areas, from a lot of different places, whether it’s by air or whether it’s by land. So I think we accomplished that in this draft.”
Brown said this class will be the “foundation” of what the revamped front office and coaching staff are trying to build.
“I think everybody has a sense that we’re headed in a positive direction after a long offseason, another difficult transition,” Brown said. “It’s been really a positive three days, a culmination of a lot of hard work. ... Really we’re pleased with what we were able to accomplish, the volume of talent, but specifically addressing particular areas of the roster where we wanted to improve — wide receiver, obviously, and pass rusher as well.”
The Browns began the draft by trading down Thursday night from No. 8 overall to No. 15 and selecting Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman.
“We will do our best to change this organization around,” he said.
Then on Friday, they picked Ogbah (second round, No. 32 overall), Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib (third round, No. 65), Auburn offensive tackle Shon Coleman (third round, No. 76) and Southern California quarterback Cody Kessler (third, No. 93).
The Browns added nine players Saturday in the final four rounds: Wisconsin linebacker Joe Schobert (fourth round, No. 99), Auburn wide receiver Ricardo Louis (fourth, No. 114), TCU free safety Derrick Kindred (fourth, No. 129), Princeton tight end Seth DeValve (fourth, No. 138), UCLA wide receiver Jordan Payton (fifth, No. 154), Baylor offensive tackle Spencer Drango (fifth, No. 168), Colorado State wide receiver Rashard Higgins (fifth, No. 172), Louisiana-Monroe cornerback Trey Caldwell (fifth, No. 173) and Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright (seventh, No. 250).
“I have a great vibe from this group,” Ogbah said. “We all came together. They brought us in to change this program. We all have a mindset to be better at what we do, so I feel like we have a lot to prove to the Browns family for drafting us.”
An ability to overcome adversity is a theme of the class. Two players were college walk-ons (Nassib and Schobert), one battled back from leukemia (Shon Coleman, who’ll begin his NFL career at right tackle along with Drango), another played with a broken collarbone all last season (Kindred) and another endured surgeries on unclosed growth plates in each foot (DeValve).
“This is a tough sport,” vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry said. “You need tough men to play it. So certainly we’re happy with all these guys because we feel like they embody that criteria.”
Some of the picks, though, were perceived as reaches.
After passing on a potential franchise quarterback in North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz by trading down from No. 2 overall, the Browns finally addressed their glaring need at the game’s most important position by picking Kessler. On Saturday, Brown said Kessler will compete with presumptive 2016 bridge-starter Robert Griffin III for the top spot on the depth chart, but many draft analysts believe the USC product is merely a backup.
NFLDraftScout.com’s Dane Brugler projected Kessler to go undrafted. Analyst Nolan Nawrocki tabbed him as a fifth- or sixth-round pick.
Fourth-round picks Louis, Kindred and DeValve were also deemed reaches along with fifth-rounder Caldwell, according to the draft guides.
“It’s just the nature of the draft, and I think that will happen,” chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta said. “Just about any organization will take some players that people say, ‘Jeez, this seems high for him,’ or what have you because everyone does have different values on different traits. There were a handful of players that we thought were taken pretty high that we didn’t have very high at all.” BEREA: The Browns selected a record-tying 14 players and executed five trades in this year’s NFL Draft as the new regime continued to overhaul the roster and stockpile future picks.
“A change is coming,” new Browns edge rusher and Oklahoma State product Emmanuel Ogbah said Saturday while he an four other rookies were introduced to the media during the third and final day of the draft. “I feel like we are ready to make that change.”
No one will know for years whether the decisions made the past few days were wise, but the team with a dismal track record in the draft and just two winning seasons since 1999 is optimistic.
“I truly believe that this class will start to put a stamp on what we’re truly about and what we’re becoming,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “We’re not there yet by any stretch of the imagination. We have a long way to go. But you have to start some place, and I think this is where we’re starting.”
The Browns owned 10 picks before their blockbuster trade down from the second overall pick on April 20 and ultimately selected a record-tying 14 players, most in the league this year, after executing four additional trades during the draft. Only the 1997 Miami Dolphins have picked as many players since the NFL adopted a seven-round format in 1997. The Browns hadn’t taken that many since 1979, when there were 12 rounds.
But because the organization has consistently failed for so long, many observers will expect more of the same results from the first draft run by head of football operations Sashi Brown.
“I am confident in my ability to lead us to winning ways again, but I’m humble enough to understand the task at hand and why people would be skeptical about it,” Brown said. “And I know that the only way that I’ll prove them wrong is not by being defensive, but really proving it in our work. ... I think there’s brighter days ahead, probably a few less laughs after this weekend than there were going in.”
The team’s haul is composed of four wide receivers, three linebackers, two offensive tackles, a quarterback, a defensive end, a safety, a cornerback and a tight end. They also traded for veteran cornerback Jamar Taylor in a swap of seventh-round picks with the Dolphins.
After the previous regime led by former General Manager Ray Farmer drafted just one receiver in the last two years — fourth-round pick Vince Mayle didn’t even make the team — the Browns made the position a top priority.
“You have to score touchdowns,” Jackson said. “You have to put yourself into position to score touchdowns. Schematically, I think we’ll be as good as we can be, but at the same time, you’ve got to have players that give you the flexibility to do that from a lot of different areas, from a lot of different places, whether it’s by air or whether it’s by land. So I think we accomplished that in this draft.”
Brown said this class will be the “foundation” of what the revamped front office and coaching staff are trying to build.
“I think everybody has a sense that we’re headed in a positive direction after a long offseason, another difficult transition,” Brown said. “It’s been really a positive three days, a culmination of a lot of hard work. ... Really we’re pleased with what we were able to accomplish, the volume of talent, but specifically addressing particular areas of the roster where we wanted to improve — wide receiver, obviously, and pass rusher as well.”
The Browns began the draft by trading down Thursday night from No. 8 overall to No. 15 and selecting Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman.
“We will do our best to change this organization around,” he said.
Then on Friday, they picked Ogbah (second round, No. 32 overall), Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib (third round, No. 65), Auburn offensive tackle Shon Coleman (third round, No. 76) and Southern California quarterback Cody Kessler (third, No. 93).
The Browns added nine players Saturday in the final four rounds: Wisconsin linebacker Joe Schobert (fourth round, No. 99), Auburn wide receiver Ricardo Louis (fourth, No. 114), TCU free safety Derrick Kindred (fourth, No. 129), Princeton tight end Seth DeValve (fourth, No. 138), UCLA wide receiver Jordan Payton (fifth, No. 154), Baylor offensive tackle Spencer Drango (fifth, No. 168), Colorado State wide receiver Rashard Higgins (fifth, No. 172), Louisiana-Monroe cornerback Trey Caldwell (fifth, No. 173) and Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright (seventh, No. 250).
“I have a great vibe from this group,” Ogbah said. “We all came together. They brought us in to change this program. We all have a mindset to be better at what we do, so I feel like we have a lot to prove to the Browns family for drafting us.”
An ability to overcome adversity is a theme of the class. Two players were college walk-ons (Nassib and Schobert), one battled back from leukemia (Shon Coleman, who’ll begin his NFL career at right tackle along with Drango), another played with a broken collarbone all last season (Kindred) and another endured surgeries on unclosed growth plates in each foot (DeValve).
“This is a tough sport,” vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry said. “You need tough men to play it. So certainly we’re happy with all these guys because we feel like they embody that criteria.”
Some of the picks, though, were perceived as reaches.
After passing on a potential franchise quarterback in North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz by trading down from No. 2 overall, the Browns finally addressed their glaring need at the game’s most important position by picking Kessler. On Saturday, Brown said Kessler will compete with presumptive 2016 bridge-starter Robert Griffin III for the top spot on the depth chart, but many draft analysts believe the USC product is merely a backup.
NFLDraftScout.com’s Dane Brugler projected Kessler to go undrafted. Analyst Nolan Nawrocki tabbed him as a fifth- or sixth-round pick.
Fourth-round picks Louis, Kindred and DeValve were also deemed reaches along with fifth-rounder Caldwell, according to the draft guides.
“It’s just the nature of the draft, and I think that will happen,” chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta said. “Just about any organization will take some players that people say, ‘Jeez, this seems high for him,’ or what have you because everyone does have different values on different traits. There were a handful of players that we thought were taken pretty high that we didn’t have very high at all.”