<![CDATA[A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009)]]>My first post so I thought I would make it a good one. With Rucker gone I got curious on exactly how many drafts we have utterly botched since our dubious return to the league in 1999. For your enjoyment here are the top 10 picks of every draft since we came back when we had a pick in the top 10. Enjoy getting extremely p!ssed off.

1999

# Cleveland -- Tim Couch, QB, Kentucky

# Philadelphia -- Donovan McNabb, QB, Syracuse

# Cincinnati -- Akili Smith, QB, Oregon

# Indianapolis -- Edgerrin James, RB, Miami

# New Orleans -- Ricky Williams, RB, Texas

# St. Louis -- Torry Holt, WR, NC State

# Washington -- Champ Baily, CB, Georgia

# Arizona -- David Boston, WR, Ohio State

# Detroit -- Chris Claiborne, LB, USC

# Baltimore -- Chris McAlister, CB, Arizona

Definitely wouldn't have wanted Bailey, Holt, or McNabb.

2000

1. CLEVELAND DE Penn State Courtney Brown

2. WASHINGTON(via New Orleans) OLB Penn State LaVar Arrington

3. WASHINGTON(via San Francisco) LT Alabama Chris Samuels

4. CINCINNATI WR Florida State Peter Warrick

5. BALTIMORE(via Atlanta) RB Tennesse Jamal Lewis

6. PHILADELPHIA NT Florida State Corey Simon

7. ARIZONA RB Virginia Thomas Jones

8. PITTSBURGH WR Michigan St. Plaxico Burress

9. CHICAGO OLB New Mexico Brian Urlacher

10. BALTIMORE(via Denver) WR Florida Travis Taylor

Every defense needs a heart. We chose Brown to be ours and Chicago chose Urlacher. We got Lewis eventually...after he was used up by the Ravens

2001

1(1) Atlanta (From San Diego) -- Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech

2(2) Arizona -- Leonard Davis, OT, Texas

3(3) Cleveland -- Gerard Warren, DT, Florida

4(4) Cincinnati -- Justin Smith, DE, Missouri

5(5) San Diego From Atlanta -- L. Tomlinson, RB, TCU

6(6) New England -- Richard Seymour, DT, Georgia

7(7) San Francisco (From Seattle through Dallas) -- Andre Carter DE,

8(8) Chicago -- David Terrell, WR, Michigan

9(9) Seattle (From San Francisco) -- Koren Robinson, WR, NC State

10(10) Green Bay (From Seattle) -- Jamal Reynolds, DE, Florida St.

LT who? Gerard Warren is the best DT of ALL TIME!

2002

Browns drafted 16 and took William Green. Should be noted that the Ravens picked a major draft dud named Ed Reed with the 24th pick.

2003

Browns took Jeff Faine with the 21st pick. Whiffed on Larry Johnson who went to the Chiefs with the 27th pick.

2004

1. San Diego - Eli Manning, QB Mississippi

2. Oakland - Robert Gallery, OT Iowa

3. Arizona - Larry Fitgerald, WR Pittsburgh

4. NY Giants - Philip Rivers, QB North Carolina State

5. Washington - Sean Taylor, S Miami (Fla)

6. Cleveland ( from Detroit) - Kellen Winslow Jr, TE Miami (Fla)

7. Detroit (from Cleveland) - Roy Williams, WR Texas

8. Atlanta - DeAngelo Hall, CB Virginia Tech

9. Jacksonville - Reggie Williams, WR Washington

10. Houston - Dunta Robinson, CB South Carolina

Probably one of our best drafts since we burst back on the scene. A motorcycle accident and staph infection later, he is chilling in Tampa.

I really hate to do a mod edit- it's a first for me, but you missed a biggie here. The Steelers took a guy by the name of Big Gay Ben. 😠

@mod - I noticed that, he went 12th in that draft I believe.

2005

1. San Francisco 49ers - Alex Smith*, QB Utah

2. Miami Dolphins - Ronnie Brown, RB Auburn

3. Cleveland Browns - Braylon Edwards, WR Michigan

4. Chicago Bears - Cedric Benson, RB Texas

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Carnell Williams, RB Auburn

6. Tennessee Titans - Adam Jones*, CB West Virginia

7. Minnesota Vikings (from Oakland) - Troy Williamson*, WR South Carolina

8. Arizona Cardinals - Antrel Rolle, CB Miami (Fla)

9. Washington Redskins - Carlos Rogers, CB Auburn

10. Detroit Lions - Mike Williams*, WR USC

Pretty weak draft class, can't really blame us on this one. Shawn Merriman went 12th

2006

Didn't pick until 13th. This 2006 is the year where we brilliantly traded picks with the Ravens and picked up the yet to develop Wimbley and the Ravens got the fully developed bad@ss Ngata. Go Browns!

2007

1 Oakland Russell, JaMarcus QB 6-6 263 Louisiana State

2 Detroit Johnson, Calvin WR 6-4 237 Georgia Tech

3 Cleveland Thomas, Joe OT 6-6 313 Wisconsin

4 Tampa Bay Adams, Gaines DE 6-5 260 Clemson

5 Arizona Brown, Levi OT 6-4 328 Penn State

6 Washington Landry, LaRon FS 6-2 205 Louisiana State

7 Minnesota Peterson, Adrian RB 6-2 218 Oklahoma

8 Atlanta (from Houston) Anderson, Jamaal DE 6-6 279 Arkansas

9 Miami Ginn Jr., Ted WR 6-0 180 Ohio State

10 Houston (from Atlanta) Okoye, Amobi DT 6-2 287 Louisville

Ok, Joe Thomas is a great OT and there were questions on Peterson's durability. Is anyone questioning AD's durability now?

2008

Savage traded this draft away. Took Beau Bell with our first pick of the draft...in the fourth round.

2009

Well, after looking at this draft it ranks almost at the top of dumb@ss browns drafts since our return. Passed on a bunch of legitimate talent to take a center that bounces balls off his @ss and a bunch of practice squad jets.

Poll results from the old forum

Which year was the browns worst draft?

  • 1999: 6 votes
  • 2000: 3 votes
  • 2001: 5 votes
  • 2002: 1 vote
  • 2003: 0 votes
  • 2004: 0 votes
  • 2005: 1 vote
  • 2006: 0 votes
  • 2007: 1 vote
  • 2008: 0 votes
  • 2009: 1 vote
]]>https://brownsboard.com/topic/7020/a-look-back-at-botched-browns-drafts-1999-2009RSS for NodeFri, 02 Oct 2026 09:08:49 GMTWed, 23 Sep 2009 16:07:49 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:24:02 GMT]]>The Tim Couch pick was the poster child for all that came after. Taking a weakarmed run-n-shoot QB from Kentucky who didn't even have a playbook when we didn't even have a jock strap in the locker room yet was just plain stupid.

That draft was loaded and there were good FA QB's available as well as in the expansion draft.

Had we come out and established the run game or the defense to fit into this division it could have gone far in getting the franchise on track. Ten years later we are still chasing our tail with no identity.

Fold up the pie chart, the Tim Couch pick (not necessarily Tim Couch himself) and Carmen Policy's West Coast vision killed this franchise.

I hope Carmen gets glass chards in his wine tonight.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112292https://brownsboard.com/post/112292Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:24:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:18:09 GMT]]>screw the hindisght chit.just a cop out. Well known Browns scouts wanted Seymour that yr. Butch screwed that one taking his guy but did get KW......the browns only impact player in 10 years of drafts. Passing on AP was the killer.............then and now.

Should have and I would have taken AP Sanchez and Rey Rey.........Taylor Mays if available next draft. 4 playmakers right there.

If you don't take Sanchez trade 1st this yr and 1st next yr and go get a legit established starting quarterback for 5 years.

IE JAY CUTLER.

Simple guys.

ps 3-4 don't work for chit.

Antonio bryant best receiver browns have had since 99.

Chris Jennings needs to play........you cant teach natural strength and ability to break a tackle.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112270https://brownsboard.com/post/112270Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:18:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:49:10 GMT]]>I know hindsite is 20/20 blah blah blah, but this is one of the most depressing topics I have ever seen in my entire life. I knew it was bad but when you see who was taken after us, it's a worthy of a pill overdose.

(3) Cleveland -- Gerard Warren, DT, Florida

(4) Cincinnati -- Justin Smith, DE, Missouri

(5) San Diego -- L. Tomlinson, RB, TCU

(6) New England -- Richard Seymour, DT

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112213https://brownsboard.com/post/112213Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:49:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:44:05 GMT]]>

@hiwaygal said:

Only that he was listed as 'inactive'...as far as I can tell he's not injured. Who knows what the coach is thinking?

Maybe he didn't pay for his water

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112211https://brownsboard.com/post/112211Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:44:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:46:40 GMT]]>

@hiwaygal said:

Only that he was listed as 'inactive'...as far as I can tell he's not injured. Who knows what the coach is thinking?

Maybe because Mangini thinks we have too much depth at the WR position, it wouldn't be fair to the other team to activate all of our talent at the same time.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112180https://brownsboard.com/post/112180Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:46:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:32:16 GMT]]>

@sez.ej said:

Any team in the league can look back at a draft and say ...man we "should have" taken this other guy... Hindsight is 20/20... Every year we look at our drafts and say ...hey this looks like a good draft"..these guys will help us.. Hindsight is 20/20 this is meaningless. Look forward..the past is gone... I think this can be one of our best drafts in decades...

However, I may look back in 5 years and say this was one of the worst drafts ever... You just don't know... FUTURE my friends FUTURE.. Looking to the past is just like picking an old scab.. you just prolong the bleeding and it never quite heals right... Don't pick it..let it heal and after a while it's forgotten.

I see your point but looking back at drafts can definitely provide some insight as to why we have failed miserably as an expansion teams, for the most part, teams that have drafted those players are solid NFL teams, the draft is a crap-shoot but to say it is blind luck is an overstatement.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112068https://brownsboard.com/post/112068Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:32:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:48:38 GMT]]>Any team in the league can look back at a draft and say ...man we "should have" taken this other guy... Hindsight is 20/20... Every year we look at our drafts and say ...hey this looks like a good draft"..these guys will help us.. Hindsight is 20/20 this is meaningless. Look forward..the past is gone... I think this can be one of our best drafts in decades...

However, I may look back in 5 years and say this was one of the worst drafts ever... You just don't know... FUTURE my friends FUTURE.. Looking to the past is just like picking an old scab.. you just prolong the bleeding and it never quite heals right... Don't pick it..let it heal and after a while it's forgotten.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112026https://brownsboard.com/post/112026Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:48:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:47:00 GMT]]>Only that he was listed as 'inactive'...as far as I can tell he's not injured. Who knows what the coach is thinking?

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112024https://brownsboard.com/post/112024Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:47:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:40:13 GMT]]>

@hiwaygal said:

Yeah, but from my perspective the draft is a crap shoot. You never know who is really going to pan out. Any one of these guys could get hurt in their first game and they're a bust. They could have been the best out there ever, but no one will ever know it.

The impact of ONE player on a team of 53 is dependent on too many variables to assume that ONE draft pick is going to signficantly impact your team as a whole. They fill a role and they may do it well or they may do it just enough to get by...no one knows these things on draft day.

Personally, I think we did really well in our draft this year. With a new coach and last minute deals to at least get us SOMETHING out of the draft. It's going to take time for Mack to develop but I have no doubt he will. I see a lot of potential in Coye Francies, and Robo and MoMass...but it takes time for these guys to make an adjustment from college to NFL.

IMO, we can talk about how successful this draft was in two years.

Anyone know what Robo was chilling in his street clothes last sun?

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112020https://brownsboard.com/post/112020Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:40:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:31:05 GMT]]>Yeah, but from my perspective the draft is a crap shoot. You never know who is really going to pan out. Any one of these guys could get hurt in their first game and they're a bust. They could have been the best out there ever, but no one will ever know it.

The impact of ONE player on a team of 53 is dependent on too many variables to assume that ONE draft pick is going to signficantly impact your team as a whole. They fill a role and they may do it well or they may do it just enough to get by...no one knows these things on draft day.

Personally, I think we did really well in our draft this year. With a new coach and last minute deals to at least get us SOMETHING out of the draft. It's going to take time for Mack to develop but I have no doubt he will. I see a lot of potential in Coye Francies, and Robo and MoMass...but it takes time for these guys to make an adjustment from college to NFL.

IMO, we can talk about how successful this draft was in two years.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112013https://brownsboard.com/post/112013Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:31:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:32:23 GMT]]>It's impossible for me to pick a loser- sort of trying to say which turd stinks worse. But it's no wonder the Browns have been in the toilet for the last 10 years with drafts like that.

If you twist my arm, I'd have to pick '04, not only did they whiff on Ben, trading up to pick KW (giving away a second rounder in the process) to draft a guy the Lions weren't going to take anyway, was beyond stupid.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112012https://brownsboard.com/post/112012Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:32:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:22:25 GMT]]>

@hiwaygal said:

Waaaaay too early.

I agree, but I have said that every draft hoping for some breakout stars and as you can see from above, not much to hope for.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112009https://brownsboard.com/post/112009Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:22:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:14:57 GMT]]>Here's all of Savage's draft picks, can we say we had 4 bad years?

2008 (Round Player College)

4 Beau Bell UNLV Total turd

4 Martin Rucker Missouri Total turd

6 Ahtyba Rubin Iowa State

6 Paul Hubbard Wisconsin Total turd

7 Alex Hall St. Augustine’s

2007

1 Joe Thomas Wisconsin

1 Brady Quinn Notre Dame

2 Eric Wright Nevada-Las Vegas

5 Brandon McDonald Memphis

6 Melila Purcell Hawaii Total turd

7 Chase Pittman Louisiana State Total turd

7 Syndric Steptoe Arizona Total turd

2006

1 Kamerion Wimbley Florida State

2 D’Qwell Jackson Maryland

3 Travis Wilson Oklahoma Total turd

4 Leon Williams Miami (FL) Turd

4 Isaac Sowells Indiana Turd

5 Jerome Harrison Washington State

5 DeMario Minter Georgia Total turd

6 Lawrence Vickers Colorado

6 Babatunde Oshinowo Stanford Total turd

7 Justin Hamilton Virginia Tech Turd

2005

1 Braylon Edwards Michigan

2 Brodney Pool Oklahoma

3 Charlie Frye Akron Large turd

4 Antonio Perkins Oklahoma Total turd

5 David McMillan Kansas Total turd

6 Nick Speegle New Mexico Total turd

6 Andrew Hoffman Virginia Total turd

7 Jon Dunn Virginia Tech Total turd

That's an 18 to 27 total turd ratio or TWO OUT OF THREE DRAFT PICKS BEING TURDS!

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/112007https://brownsboard.com/post/112007Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:14:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:08:35 GMT]]>

@samoth said:

It's too early to tell about 2009.

Waaaaay too early.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/111999https://brownsboard.com/post/111999Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:08:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to A Look Back at Botched Browns Drafts (1999-2009) on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:35:24 GMT]]>2001 was by far the worst. The team needed a running back and LT was there. Warren had serious character issues and questions about his work ethic. Also drafted in the first, Probowlers Marcus Stroud and Richard Seymour.

1999 was bad because we had no front office and no scouting. Even if we had taken advantage of Ditka with the Ricky Williams deal we would have whiffed on every pick.

It's too early to tell about 2009. We have potentially 5-6 guys from the draft who could play here for a long time since there's no talent to challenge them.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/111983https://brownsboard.com/post/111983Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:35:24 GMT