Browns First round draft Busts
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The topic came up elsewhere, but I am giving it a separate treatment. Here are some of the worst of the worst of Browns first round draft busts. You are welcome to add to it:
1995 Craig Powell LB played only 3 games with Browns, moved to Baltimore, only played 9 there.
1988 Clifford Charlton. LB Started 1 game for the Browns. Did play in 30 others as backup.
1987 Mike Junkin. LB Made only 7 starts for Browns. Played in only 15 NFL games.
1979 Willis Adams. WR Made only 10 starts (but did play in 75 games.....a 2d stringer)
1968 Marvin Upshaw DE Made only 10 starts for the Browns (but did have a long career with KC)
1962 Leroy Jackson. RB played -0- games for Browns, only 15 for Washington. I believe he may have been a part of the Ernie Davis trade
1955 Kurt Burris OC Did not play one game in the NFL.
1954 Bobby Garrett #1 overall QB. Cut by the Browns in training camp. played in 9 NFL games with Green Bay, but no starts.
In essence you could say that it would be a much shorter list to list successful Browns 1st rounders than their busts.
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Or, perhaps let me do it this way: This is the Good, the Mediocre and the Ugly of Browns first round picks over the years:
The Good:
Jim Brown
Paul Warfield
Clay Matthews
Joe Thomas
Gary Collins
Chip Banks
Hanford Dixon
Eric Metcalf
Mike Pruitt
Ozzie Newsome
Clarence Scott
Jim Houston
Thom Darden
Eric Turner
Alex Mack
Joe Haden
Ken Konz (pro bowl DB from the 50s)
The Mediocre:
Doug Atkins...Hall of Famer, but for Bears, not Browns
Ron Johnson.....traded to NYG
Derrick Alexander....career mostly with other teams
Gerard Warren....bust for Browns....mediocre for most of career with other teams
Kameron Wimbley.....ditto
Jeff Faine....traded to N.O.
Bob Matheson....most of career in Miami
Braylon Edwards.
Mike Phipps
Marvin Upshaw...most of career with KC
Kellen Winslow II
Steve Everitt
Bob McKay
Tim Couch
Antonio Langham
Charles White ....most of career with Rams
Jim Shofner
Preston Carpenter
Phil Taylor
Don Rogers...career cut short
Ken Carpenter
next post...the Bad/Ugly
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The Ugly...Busts:
Courtney Brown
Rich Kreitling
Tommy Vardell
Mack Mitchell
Robert Jackson (LB...not OG)
Brandon Weeden
William Green
Pete Adams
Barkevious Mingo....so far anyway
Steve Holden
Willis Adams
Johnny Manziel
Tom Hutchinson
Leroy Jackson
Bert Rechichar
Justin Gilbert...so far anyway
Clifford Charlton
Mike Junkin
Brady Quinn
Craig Powell
Bobby Garrett
John Bauer
Kurt Burris
Harry Agannis
There are far more members in the Ugly crown than in the other two: Good or mediocre.
Out of 62 first round selections, I count only 17 that can be considered "Good" for the Browns anyway (a few good went elsewhere, like Atkins) That is only a 27.4 % success rate. Terrible in my opinion.
Two players I did not include: Shelton/Erving....too soon to tell....but why, with the above track record, do I not like the chances for these two?
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Let me repeat: Browns history of having a good first round draft pick: 27.4%.
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Oh, it's true, Gip, but I don't see any dimwittedness in Hue.
It's a new Hue era. He won't botch a first round pick in his HC career.
and Farmer is gone.....I'm great with starting over smart, for the first time
since '99. New Day Dawning ! We have met the enemy, and it isn't our
own FO or coaching anymore !
Things are lookin up, as long as we don't dwell on the miserable past.
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Let me repeat: Browns history of having a good first round draft pick: 27.4%.
Let me repeat: Browns history of having a good first round draft pick: 27.4%.
I have no arguments with any of your selections.
Let me repeat - it's in the past. Let it go.
Gip beat me to it Cal. If we extended it to the "premium" picks- the first three rounds, It gets worse. Greg Little, Brian Slow-biski, Mohamed Massivedrop.
Let's hope the new guys can bat better than .274. A lot of those "good" picks predate 1999. After that, it's been two. the Joes- Thomas and Haden. = 12.5%. The reason for suckage is obvious.
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Oh, it's true, Gip, but I don't see any dimwittedness in Hue.
It's a new Hue era. He won't botch a first round pick in his HC career.
and Farmer is gone.....I'm great with starting over smart, for the first time
since '99. New Day Dawning ! We have met the enemy, and it isn't our
own FO or coaching anymore !
Things are lookin up, as long as we don't dwell on the miserable past.
Oh, it's true, Gip, but I don't see any dimwittedness in Hue.
It's a new Hue era. He won't botch a first round pick in his HC career.
and Farmer is gone.....I'm great with starting over smart, for the first time
since '99. New Day Dawning ! We have met the enemy, and it isn't our
own FO or coaching anymore !
Things are lookin up, as long as we don't dwell on the miserable past.
I hope you are right Pogo.
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The Ugly...Busts:
Courtney Brown
Rich Kreitling
Tommy Vardell
Mack Mitchell
Robert Jackson (LB...not OG)
Brandon Weeden
William Green
Pete Adams
Barkevious Mingo....so far anyway
Steve Holden
Willis Adams
Johnny Manziel
Tom Hutchinson
Leroy Jackson
Bert Rechichar
Justin Gilbert...so far anyway
Clifford Charlton
Mike Junkin
Brady Quinn
Craig Powell
Bobby Garrett
John Bauer
Kurt Burris
Harry Agannis
There are far more members in the Ugly crown than in the other two: Good or mediocre.
Out of 62 first round selections, I count only 17 that can be considered "Good" for the Browns anyway (a few good went elsewhere, like Atkins) That is only a 27.4 % success rate. Terrible in my opinion.
Two players I did not include: Shelton/Erving....too soon to tell....but why, with the above track record, do I not like the chances for these two?
Out of 62 first round selections, I count only 17 that can be considered "Good" for the Browns anyway (a few good went elsewhere, like Atkins) That is only a 27.4 % success rate. Terrible in my opinion.
I know we've had some really bad luck there....no dispute.....but I once read a great article that calculated the league average in the low 30's.....so we're not the only ones and probably just not as tuned into other teams picks....
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Let me repeat: Browns history of having a good first round draft pick: 27.4%.
I have no arguments with any of your selections.
Let me repeat - it's in the past. Let it go.
Gip beat me to it Cal. If we extended it to the "premium" picks- the first three rounds, It gets worse. Greg Little, Brian Slow-biski, Mohamed Massivedrop.
Let's hope the new guys can bat better than .274. A lot of those "good" picks predate 1999. After that, it's been two. the Joes- Thomas and Haden. = 12.5%. The reason for suckage is obvious.
I have no arguments with any of your selections.
Gip beat me to it Cal. If we extended it to the "premium" picks- the first three rounds, It gets worse. Greg Little, Brian Slow-biski, Mohamed Massivedrop.
Let's hope the new guys can bat better than .274. A lot of those "good" picks predate 1999. After that, it's been two. the Joes- Thomas and Haden. = 12.5%. The reason for suckage is obvious.
Well, I will include Mack, even though we will now lose him, so only Mack, Thomas, Haden can be put in the Good category, this century.
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Out of 62 first round selections, I count only 17 that can be considered "Good" for the Browns anyway (a few good went elsewhere, like Atkins) That is only a 27.4 % success rate. Terrible in my opinion.
I know we've had some really bad luck there....no dispute.....but I once read a great article that calculated the league average in the low 30's.....so we're not the only ones and probably just not as tuned into other teams picks....
I know we've had some really bad luck there....no dispute.....but I once read a great article that calculated the league average in the low 30's.....so we're not the only ones and probably just not as tuned into other teams picks....
I haven't done it for any other team, or league wide. I would have predicted it to be somewhere in the 40 percentile range.
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I know we've had some really bad luck there....no dispute.....but I once read a great article that calculated the league average in the low 30's.....so we're not the only ones and probably just not as tuned into other teams picks....
I haven't done it for any other team, or league wide. I would have predicted it to be somewhere in the 40 percentile range.
I haven't done it for any other team, or league wide. I would have predicted it to be somewhere in the 40 percentile range.
another interesting stat is only about 10% of first round picks ever even make a pro-bowl....so, while most teams hope for stars, they rarely get em.....and most pro-bowlers are not first round picks.....
Examples from our last 11 pro bowlers, only 4 were 1st rd picks....Barnidge 5th rd, Cameron 4th rd, Gipson 5th rd, Cribbs udfa, Ward 2nd rd, Dawson UDFA, Gordon 2nd rd....
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I haven't done it for any other team, or league wide. I would have predicted it to be somewhere in the 40 percentile range.
another interesting stat is only about 10% of first round picks ever even make a pro-bowl....so, while most teams hope for stars, they rarely get em.....and most pro-bowlers are not first round picks.....
Examples from our last 11 pro bowlers, only 4 were 1st rd picks....Barnidge 5th rd, Cameron 4th rd, Gipson 5th rd, Cribbs udfa, Ward 2nd rd, Dawson UDFA, Gordon 2nd rd....
another interesting stat is only about 10% of first round picks ever even make a pro-bowl....so, while most teams hope for stars, they rarely get em.....and most pro-bowlers are not first round picks.....
Examples from our last 11 pro bowlers, only 4 were 1st rd picks....Barnidge 5th rd, Cameron 4th rd, Gipson 5th rd, Cribbs udfa, Ward 2nd rd, Dawson UDFA, Gordon 2nd rd....
Gipson was a UDFA, not a 5th round pick.
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