Plums And Prunes
-
Since the era of the "Common Draft" which began in 1966 the following 20 players +1 for ties who were drafted by the Cleveland Browns have gotten the highest "Career Average Score" by Pro Football Reference. Note that this takes in complete careers.....no active player....like say Joe Thomas is on this list because his career is just beginning really. In essence, these Browns draftees have had the highest career production. (and note....it may not have all been with the Browns):
PLUMS:
1. Clay Matthew 96
2. Michael Dean Perry 87
3. Ernest Byner 82
4. Rob Burnett 80
5.t Ozzie Newsome 79
5.t Doug Dieken
7. Brian Sipe 75
8. Chip Banks 72
9. Greg Pruitt 70
10. Hanford Dixon 68
11. Jack Gregory 65
12.t Cody Risien 64
12.t Clarence Scott 64
12.t Milt Morin 64
15.t Eric Metcalf 63
15.t Mike Pruitt 63
15.t Jerry Sherk 63
18. Anthony Pleasant 61
19. Ron Johnson 60
20t. Thom Darden
20t. Webster Slaughter
PRUNES: (for this, I only included draftees who were 1st or 2d rounders who got the lowest CA scores given by PFR,):
1.t Billy Corbett -0-
1.t.Lester Sims -0-
1.t Greg Allen -0-
1.t Patrick Rowe -0-
1.t Travis Wilson -0-
6.t Cleveland Crosby -1-
6t. Bruce Davis -1-
6t. Craig Powell -1-
6t. David Veikune -1-
6t. Larry Conjar -1-
10.t Mike Junkin -3-
10.t Clifford Charlton -3-
10t. Brady Quinn -3-
10t. Brian Robiskie -3-
Quinn, Junkin, Charlton, and Powell were first round picks, all the others were second round picks.
To be fair, Quinn and Robiskie could improve their career scores...I guess.
Bottom line, the above represents the best choices and the biggest busts in recent Browns history.
-
Here are the "Plums" drafted by the Browns from 1950 to 1965:
1. Jim Brown 148
2. Doug Atkins 120
3. Jim Marshall 114
4. Willie Davis 113
5. Henry Jordan 111
6. Paul Warfield 105
7. Bobby Mitchell 95
8. Dick Shafrath 91
9. Gene Hickerson 90
10.t Leroy Kelly 87
10.t Dick LeBeau 87
All but Shafrath and Marshall are HOF....but half of them were not retained by the Browns. (Atkins/Marshall/Davis/Jordan/LeBeau)
-
Courtney Brown has to be on the "Prune" list....dude was a #1 overall pick
-
Funny how David Veikune managed as high as a 1. What with his 5 tackles in 14 game appearances, all of which came in his 4 games with the Broncos. We really pulled a quick one on the rest of the league.
-
Wow, I can remember Billy Corbett, Cleveland Crosby, and Lester Sims being terrible choices. How about Willis Adams, Quiny Morgan, Andre Davis, and of course David Vekune? We haven't drafted very well over the years. -
what about steve everitt (center from mich) and dan foote (de from FS)? both prunes picked by none other than mike lombardi. shit i looked at the list of players he picked with his first stint in cleveland and there were some great picks about 4% of the time. yes he landed us eric turner antonio langham derrick alexander BUT there were years in between where not one of his picks EVER panned out.
live and learn my friend.
-
Gotta give Everitt a pass for wearing a Browns bandanna in 96 under his Ravens helmet.
-
Here are the career production averages of our worst overall #1 choices. I like the stat because it can be somewhat comparative all positions....but also be reminded that it is "career production", so, I guess, technically a guy with a long mediocre career can have a better score that someone with a short excellent career, so, for this purpose, I am leaving out active players:
Harry Agannis QB -0-
Kurt Burris OC -0-
John Bauer OG 1
Craig Powell LB 1
Bobby Garrett QB 1
Mike Junkin LB 3
Clifford Charlton LB 3
Leroy Jackson RB 4
Bobby Crespino WR 8
Willis Adams WR 9
Steve Holden WR 10
Pete Adams WR12
Don Rogers DB 13
William Green RB14
Robert L. Jackson LB 15
Tommy Vardell RB 19
Mack Mitchell DE 20
Rich Kreitling WR 23
Charles White RB 28
Courtney Brown 28
Courtney Brown actually sits 36th out of 63 Browns first round draft choices, which means that right now 27 Browns first round draft choices have had less productive careers than Courtney Brown. However, of those 27...5 of them are new active players including TR/BW3/Taylor/Haden/Mack).
So, figuring that there have been over 20 some less productive 1st round picks than Brown, it means, yes, the Browns have had some bad choices. And FYI, Bobby Garrett, who was far less productive, was also a #1 overall.
-
what about steve everitt (center from mich) and dan foote (de from FS)? both prunes picked by none other than mike lombardi. shit i looked at the list of players he picked with his first stint in cleveland and there were some great picks about 4% of the time. yes he landed us eric turner antonio langham derrick alexander BUT there were years in between where not one of his picks EVER panned out.
live and learn my friend.
what about steve everitt (center from mich) and dan foote (de from FS)? both prunes picked by none other than mike lombardi. shit i looked at the list of players he picked with his first stint in cleveland and there were some great picks about 4% of the time. yes he landed us eric turner antonio langham derrick alexander BUT there were years in between where not one of his picks EVER panned out.
live and learn my friend.
Steve Everitt had a 30 score for Browns first rounders and Langham had a 29. Those scores are right about average. Alexander and Foote, I don't know. would have to check.
-
Steve Holden is the one I really remember from 1973. He was quoted as saying he would bring his surfboard to get out on Lake Erie. I remember that being reported after the draft. Holden was the highest rated WR in that draft and the Bengals drafted Issac Curtis. Advantage Bengals on those two picks.
-
Here are the Plums and Prunes among NFL and AFL #1 overall picks since 1950:
PLUMS:
1. Peyton Manning 165
2. Bruce Smith 143
3. John Elway 138
4. Steve Young 135
5. Chuck Bednarik 129
6. Ron Yary 118
7. Terry Bradshaw 106
8. Buck Buchanan 104 AFL
9. Drew Bledsoe 103
10.t Orlando Pace 98
10.t OJ Simpson 98
10.t Roman Gabriel 98 AFL
13.t Troy Aikman 97
13.t Vinny Testaverde 97
13.t Ed Too Tall Jones 97
16. Joe Namath 94
17. Michael Vick 88
18. Eli Manning 86
19. Jim Plunkett 85
20. Carson Palmer 81
24. Bernie Kosar 71 Supplemental
And here are the Prunes among #1 overall picks, but here, just since 1950:
1. Ernie Davis DNP
2. Bobby Garret 2
3. Randy Duncan 2
4. Harry Babcock 4
5. Terry Baker 6
6. Jamarcus Russell 7
7. Bob Gaiter 11 AFL
8. KiJana Carter 12
9. Steve Emtman 13
10. King Hill 19
A theme with a few of these prunes of course is injury/illness. Ernie Davis we know died of Leukemia. Emtman and Carter had devastating knee injuries.
The others just couldn't play. Garrett, Baker, Russell etc.
-
A couple of notes: The Productivity Scores, like several other statistics can be skewed I believe to the more wide open offensive game played more recently. That is why the likes of Steve Young and Peyton Manning are so high on this list....and why QBs who had longevity get high scores, like Testaverde and Bledsoe. Those guys played a lot and produced a lot of yards/passes/TDs....but neither was ever an elite QB I don't believe.
Plus, scouting now is so much better than it was in the 50s/60s. Back then sometimes scouting was done just by reading Street and Smiths college review. That is why busts like Garrett, Duncan, Hill, Baker could occur so readily then.
Now it is different. Now scouting is far more sophisticated and supposedly accurate.
And that is why I would say Jamarcus Russell may be by far the biggest scouting blunder/draft bust in history. Much, much more is know about the guys who are drafted now.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login