@tour2ma said:

Yeah...not sure on where Funchess is best....he was "better" as a TE than WR.....

I guess anyone that gets considered for the mid - later rounds is gonna have issues....Smith and Funchess included.

Im really trying to fill the void on our receiving corp, as we dont have a deep threat/burner or a big rangy type to go up and get it....Funchess fills that void(esp with Cameron possibly leaving).......

And Smith has a mind numbing 28 yd average per catch....and 12 td's in 33 catches......extraordinary numbers......WOW!!!

The way things go with the media, by draft day, Smith could be wayyyyyy up there.....

@tour2ma said:

The huge problem with Funchess is he has miserable hands. People love his size but he has Greg Little-esque drops. He's going to go in the 2nd round or so cause of his size and what not but I don't want to see dropped passes again. I still have nightmares of Greg Little dropping a wide open pass and talking crap when he finally caught a 3 yard gainer on 3rd and 8.

@mudfly said:

A couple interesting ones that may fall to the 2nd or even 3rd round are Funchess (6-5") and Devin Smith(deep baller, extraordinaire!!)....

Funchess as a part-time, hybrid TE now, a role he likely will grow into full-time in the future, is more interesting than he is as a pure WR.

Smith in Rnd 2 is very interesting. Not only has speed, but is also a great 50/50 ball guy for his size.

No doubt slow receivers don't work, but quickness and the ability to juke a bit to get open are far more mportant IMO. Just a shoulder dip and slight head turn the other way are usually enough to gain seperation from the defender.

Whatever happened to receivers working to get open rather than simply running a route and hope they get open?

@adoug319 said:

White doesn't have elite top end, but he gets to his high gear in a few strides.

Fact is, some of the very best WR's in NFL history were not by any stretch "burners".

@mudfly said:

A couple interesting ones that may fall to the 2nd or even 3rd round are Funchess (6-5") and Devin Smith(deep baller, extraordinaire!!)....

Funchess might fall to the 2nd round because of his hands, Devin because there are times he's allergic to blocking and aside from the vertical threat its hard to get a gauge on his abilities in the full route tree.

If either falls to the second, I'd prefer Devin. Not simply because of tOSU thing, because he's a speed vertical threat and his hands have been far more consistent throughout his career than Funchess.

@adoug319 said:

He's a looker alright. My favorite, after Cooper of course.........and I agree #19 would be the appropriate place for us to pick him (though I think he'll be gone by then)...

Im gonna assume that the best ones wont be coming our way, as Farmer seems like he wont be picking WR in the first round.....

A couple interesting ones that may fall to the 2nd or even 3rd round are Funchess (6-5") and Devin Smith(deep baller, extraordinaire!!)....

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Here's a video of Kevin White vs. Alabama

Here's what I see:

I love the way he attacks the ball at the highest point. Strong body, strong hands

Good route running

Great run blocking

However, he does't have elite speed like you said, as you can see on the screen passes. However he's a smart runner who uses blocks wisely and cuts at the right time.

I would be happy if we got him, I wouldn't take him with our first pick though. At #19 yes, and in the 2nd round he;d be a steal

@walterwhite said:

My favorite player in the draft. He is the run stuffer/Chris Borland type player we need to stop the fun especially in a division with Leveon Bell and Jeremy Hill.

Ferocious hitter that would give our defense some attitude.

http://dawgpounddaily.com/2015/01/24/browns-rumor-team-gave-lot-attention-miami-lb/

Some memory of Painter's college footage which no longer seems to be posted. He wowed at combine where he ran sub-5.0. Strong with speed and agility. Height and especially arms seem a bit short for ideal NFL OT, so might end up inside.

Karim Barton moved well and had good "punch", but was really raw. Came out of small school program (Morgan St.) lacking Pass drop technique as a RT primarily. At 6'3 he's even more likely to move inside.

Got nothing on Bowie or Andrew McDonald.

@gftchris said:

Sorry peen, but I'm a little disappointed with your post. You stuck solely to football, and talked about issues with a level head.

Yeah... what an asshole...

The "where are we set" approach is a good approach for an alternate take. Only area that pops up for me is our secondary.

O-line needs help. Unless the staff is in love with one of the few O-line back-ups we've not seen, Painter, if the right OT falls to us in round 2, I think we take one there. Starting to audition OTs to replace Thomas down the road is not a bad idea, but drafting so we can move Schwartz inside is a bad one. Mitch certainly doesn't start at OG for us as he simply could not beat out Greco. I do not think Mitch can keep DTs off of his body. I'm still "scouting" O-line, but there may be a legit inside/ outside guy in the draft around that spot.

If Painter is well regarded, but has been held back by his injury, then Rnd 3 OG options start looking likely. I've already mentioned I like Duke's Laken Tomlinson in another thread, but he's iffy to make it to Rnd 3.

@ballpeen said:

Must try harder.

We all know our needs. The thing is that we don't know how we are going to address our needs in free agency. Face it, free agency is all about addressing needs. IMO the draft is less about that and bringing in the best players we can, not ignoring needs, but also not allowing needs to dictate the direction we take.

Look at it this way. What don't we need? When you look at it that way, we don't have many positions that couldn't use upgrade.

I like Perryman as well. I also like Dante Fowler at backer, but I doubt he falls to is at 19.

I also like the idea of Shelton. A Vince Wolfork type in the middle to stuff the run and the guy gets solid pressure on the QB up the middle. I'd say right now our biggest weakness is pass rush. I think improving our ability to consistently pressure the QB would be the single biggest thing we can do to impact games.

I am not against drafting a receiver early, but we sure don't deen blinder on and think we have to address that position in round 1. Last year was a good example. We went in to the draft saying our receivers sucked, went in to the season saying our receivers sucked, then once we got to playing, they didn't suck.

I view the loss of Gordon as a non-issue. We basically played last year without the guy. He was out for 10 games or whatever it was, then came back and basically did little. I actually think our team chemistry at the position dropped once he returned.

I'd make a push to get Austin back in the fold, and make a solid play for one of the free agent receivers, then draft a guy where it makes sense. That might be round 1 for a guy like White, or a little later for one of the next tier players. As someone said, receivers tend to come out from all positions in the draft. If the guy can catch, has proven to be a hard worker, you can teach him the rest. In the sceheme of things, I rate receiver pretty low on the importance scale when compared to other positions on offense. The reason is that everything else needs to be working effectivly in order for receivers to be able to do their thing. If the blocking, running the ball, and QB play aren't there, receivers are going to be fairly limited in what they can do.

So, on O, we obviously need to settle the QB position. I'd like to make a push for Bradford if he become a free agent. We have seen the Brian Hoyer show. It isn't going to get any better. Manziel isn't yet finished, but at this point it isn't looking very good. We have to bring in a bridge QB to cover for the likely Manziel bust. If he doesn't, who would be unhappy with that?

Next we need a RT. Schwartz is a bit outmatched out there. Move him inside and we strengthen 2 positions with one draft choice. Two for ones are always good, right?

@tiamat63 said:

Far too many abbreviations. I'd like to keep Buster if at all possible. I'd also consider WR, LB, NT/DE and QB all higher needs than OT.

Fair enough. Abbreviations are Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron, A. Rubin, Jamal Sheard, and Buster Skrine. I appreciate your position on Buster but I don't agree. We have a stable of CB's ready to take his place and with more potential. I liked his scrappy style but if we could use the money elsewhere, I'd rather address a more pressing area of need.

@frenchie said:

Browns need 2 WR's, OT, NT, OLB, QB. That's 6 positions I want filled in FA. Let go of JG, JC, AR, JS and BS. Then you can go into the draft with more options and ability to take the best player on the board. With these positions filled in FA, we could go 1A) TE and 1B) ILB. ( for example). I just don't want to go into the draft with a glaring hole on the team. Spend that available money -Jimmy!

Far too many abbreviations. I'd like to keep Buster if at all possible. I'd also consider WR, LB, NT/DE and QB all higher needs than OT.

@miktoxic said:

19? Not a chance, especially after the combine.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

I hear what you're saying. I actually get that vibe of what you're saying about White from Parker the WR from Louisville. I happen to catch their bowl game and he had an almost Larry Fitzgerald type of vibe going on-we're throwing the ball to him no matter what and he's still good enough to beat you type deal. That could easily be the case for White but I can freely admit I know nothing about him.

My thing is at first glance I'd agree that on paper we have good depth, but the proof on the field was different to me. I'm of the mindset as well that you can't have enough DL depth and adding a top DE and/or NT would be fine with me. Obviously ILB is a priority as well but that's a position we can snag in a later round at least according to how things are grading out now. I can see what you're saying about OL depth too but it's hard to avoid seeing the trend of WR draft positions on elite teams.

Overall, I think the Browns have a legit chance to become a top 3 defense in the NFL by adding good, top talent in the draft. If we made the DL our anchor with another good pick and added another pass rusher it could be really, really good. That's something I'd rather see the team do.

Love McKinney's size and speed, but did not see a block-shedding, impact ILB in him worthy of a #1.

For value I keep being drawn back to Penn St's Mike Hull who I've seen projected anywhere from Rnd 3 to 5.

@jrb12711 said:

I'm normally of that same mindset. I've been vociferously against taking a WR in the past few drafts for that same reason.

However, I believe White possesses a true talent that would be more beneficial to the growth of our team than an OL or DL would at this point. We have a solid foundation along both lines. Even losing Rubin, we have enough talent between Taylor, Bryant, Bryant, and Winn to get along without adding anyone, even a later round prospect or FA.

White's ability to attack the ball in midair is something we haven't had in a while. Even Gordon wasn't a forceful WR. White is open even when he isn't, which makes him a tremendous 3rd down and red zone read on top of a solid #1.

Another overlooked aspect is White's ability to draw the penalty, he led the NCAA is drawing pass interference calls last year if I'm not mistaken. These are the little things that tremendously help a young team with a young QB (whoever it ends up being).

I don't deny we need one more OL, but having three first round picks and two second round picks along the OL is a bit of a waste. You were correct in saying top tier WR talent isn't needed to make the Super Bowl. But an abundance of early picks along the offensive line isn't needed, either. Seattle has one of the

At one point last season, PFF had Cleveland ranked as the #1 offensive line in the NFL in terms of production. Granted, things changed when Mack went down with an injury, but the point is still there - our offensive line has the talent to not only compete, but play exceptionally well.

Dallas graded out as the top offensive line in 2014. They feature three first round players (LT, C, RG) an undrafted player (RG) and a 4th round player (RT). The line is a cohesive unit. You don't need to stock it with studs, you need consistency, familiarity and versatility.