@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Shaffer got paid way too much for his spot, so he was released. It made sense, but i would have liked to have a better replacement than St. Clair who Bears fans cried about forever for the exact same reasons we've seen this year.

@hoorta said:

No way in hell the Browns draft Clausen- and Bradford will go high, way high.

I think Bradford's injuries will scare some teams away. He could fall a bit, maybe to rd 2 IMO

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Personally, I think if we're going to pick in the top 5, we should get Russell Okung, the OT from Ok. St. He's been compared to D'Brickashaw Ferguson, which bothers me, but he's an amazing tackle. And that's exactly what we need, a RT.

Glad to hear someone else mention O-line. We need a bookend for Thomas.

IMO a top RT would be the best pick we could make. It would impact all phases of the offense...and based on where we are likely to be slotted, it would fit right in with BPA.

When BPA and needs match, it becomes a no brainer.

@chicopee-john said:

Holmgren will have done as much evaluation of players and staff as humanly possible. He will develop a model for this team and could go either Offense or Defense early in the draft.

If I remember correctly, the Browns have 11 picks over the 7 rounds. I'm not sure how they are distributed but I do know that it is unlikely that close to 11 will make the team.

Picks are important chits that can be used in a number of ways.

Any way, what about this.

Assuming the team goes Defense first, why not bundle a number of these picks - perhaps a combination of 1st, 3rd, and 4th rounders (or whatever it takes) to move up and draft Suh from Nebraska.

If he is as good as advertised, he will become a terror the likes of Warren Saap or better.

Maybe a team would be willing to move down a couple of spots - the Browns will still be in the top 5 - and acquire additional picks.

Thoughts??

John, I'd love to have Suh in a Browns uniform- but beating the Steelers and Chiefs have effectively taken us out of the Suh sweepstakes. The Rams may possibly draft a qb- but Tampa surely won't. Let's say the Browns draft #5. To get Suh, we'd probably have to give up our first, next years first, and Sean Rodgers. Sorry, no thanks- that's a move a team that's one player away from the Super Bowl will make, not a team on the rebuild. We need more picks, not less.

If we sit a #5 and Suh and Berry are both gone, we take Okung. If Berry's still on the board, it's a no brainer. If all three are gone we try mightily to trade down.

@thaak said:

We wait till round three and pick up that guy from Cincinnati. With all our defensive needs, I can't see us drafting a qb high.

No way in hell the Browns draft Clausen- and Bradford will go high, way high.

@thaak said:

Personally, I feel Bradford is going to have a pretty decent career in the NFL. Bob Stoops runs a very good Pro-style offense in Oklahoma, and that's going to translate well for Bradford. As for Clausen, I'm on the fence about him.

@thaak said:

But I just read a report on Bradford... super accurate. I'd love to see that in the WCO with the Browns.

Hey Stan, you seem to do fairly well at guessing which QB's will be good in the NFL, and which will suck. What do you think of Bradford or Clausen? Worth taking a flyer on , or do you think we wait till Round 3 and pick up that guy from Houston?

But I just read a report on Bradford... super accurate. I'd love to see that in the WCO with the Browns.

@kosar_for_president said:

I don't know what we were thinking when we released Kevin Shaffer. I know he's not a stellar RT, but he's definitely a lot better than St. Clair. There's a reason St. Clair has bounced around so much after being drafted in the third round. He's a bust.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Worst O-linemen we have played in a while.

@thaak said:

Anyone notice that the 208 yards in the 2nd half that Harrison got, came after Womack was moved to RT and Fraley played RG?

Yeah, St. Clair has been the death of our offensive line. I'm not necessarily glad he was injured, but I'm happy he didn't play.

@kosar_for_president said:

Some responses from Tennessee ticket holders below. These are people who have seen every game and every play.

This might address peoples concerns with play this year, look at years of film before this year.

"As far as football, he is a very hard hitter (Bob Sanders, Ronnie Lott etc), and dynamic when he gets his hands on the ball. His role was switched a bit with our new defense this year and he didn't have as many pics, but he never complained that I know of."

Another...

"He great leader. VERY class individual, excellent student (said he wants to be a dentist if football doesn't work). His teammates have enormous respect for him, as do coaches. His maturity as a freshman was already above that of most seniors. Great leader by example with tremendous work ethic. He played on kick coverage and return kicks in the last game. If not for concern of getting him injured, he probably would have returned kicks his whole career. He's electric with the ball in his hands."

Another...

"Coverage skills, hard hitter, knack for making plays, great leader, great in the community, and good family behind him. If I was to say there was any weakness in his game is that he doesn't tackle with form a lot of the time. But he doesn't have to half of the time cause he knocks the crap out of people. He is a top 3 player in UT history along with Reggie White and Peyton, and that is saying a lot."

What I am saying is Eric Berry will be a 7 - 8 Year Pro Bowl player (barring injury of course, which no one can predict).

I've been on the Berry bandwagon all season long. I would love to see us have a dominating safety, just like Baltimore and Pittsburgh. I'm only worried about his tackling form, he seems to forget he has arms half the time. But that's an easily remedied problem. The situation I was referencing earlier was if we won out the season, then had 5th or later pick. I honestly don't believe Berry is going to fall past the third pick.

If we do miss out on Berry, we could always go for Taylor Mays later in the draft. He's a little rough around the edges, but still serviceable. And definitely a huge upgrade over what we have now.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Personally, I think if we're going to pick in the top 5, we should get Russell Okung, the OT from Ok. St. He's been compared to D'Brickashaw Ferguson, which bothers me, but he's an amazing tackle. And that's exactly what we need, a RT.

I wouldn't be at all upset if we picked a good RT. With great RT, LT, and C, we can plug serviceable guards like Steinbach and Womack in, and have a dominating line.

Anyone notice that the 208 yards in the 2nd half that Harrison got, came after Womack was moved to RT and Fraley played RG?

@thaak said:

I agree we do have many pressing needs, but what if you passed on Ronnie Lott?

Some responses from Tennessee ticket holders below. These are people who have seen every game and every play.

This might address peoples concerns with play this year, look at years of film before this year.

"As far as football, he is a very hard hitter (Bob Sanders, Ronnie Lott etc), and dynamic when he gets his hands on the ball. His role was switched a bit with our new defense this year and he didn't have as many pics, but he never complained that I know of."

Another...

"He great leader. VERY class individual, excellent student (said he wants to be a dentist if football doesn't work). His teammates have enormous respect for him, as do coaches. His maturity as a freshman was already above that of most seniors. Great leader by example with tremendous work ethic. He played on kick coverage and return kicks in the last game. If not for concern of getting him injured, he probably would have returned kicks his whole career. He's electric with the ball in his hands."

Another...

"Coverage skills, hard hitter, knack for making plays, great leader, great in the community, and good family behind him. If I was to say there was any weakness in his game is that he doesn't tackle with form a lot of the time. But he doesn't have to half of the time cause he knocks the crap out of people. He is a top 3 player in UT history along with Reggie White and Peyton, and that is saying a lot."

What I am saying is Eric Berry will be a 7 - 8 Year Pro Bowl player (barring injury of course, which no one can predict).

@thaak said:

Although there is a name in the top 5 that I would like if we cannot get Suh, and that is McCoy (the DE from Oklahoma State I think, not Colt.)

I do like Gerald McCoy a lot. He's from Oklahoma, though, not State. He would be a good addition, I'm just worried about going DE with the 5th-ish pick, when we could trade back and pick up a Carlos Dunlap, Jason Pierre-Paul or a Ricky Sapp later in the first round, if not the second. But if we went with McCoy, I would not be pissed.

Personally, I think if we're going to pick in the top 5, we should get Russell Okung, the OT from Ok. St. He's been compared to D'Brickashaw Ferguson, which bothers me, but he's an amazing tackle. And that's exactly what we need, a RT.

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

I would not at all be opposed to trading down.

Although there is a name in the top 5 that I would like if we cannot get Suh, and that is McCoy (the DE from Oklahoma State I think, not Colt.)

@thaak said:

I think we trade down, personally. Not out of the first round, but toward the end of it, like we did last year. Mangini's draft record isn't too bad, and neither is Holmgren's. Working together, I believe they could put a great draft class together for us.

@kosar_for_president said:

Berry is a terrible option. Seriously. Go read reports about his lackluster play in other threads on this board. Plus, you don't take a safety in the top 5 of the draft when you have so many other pressing needs. Period. Eric Turner aside, you just don't draft a safety that high.

The Walrus, has a decent track record in the draft, but remember he was coaching as well. Many of the "busts" people criticize him about were late 3rd and 4th rounders. People think everyone gets these picks right, they don't. Compare him with other GM's and he is up there. I think when he concentrates on just one thing, like the draft he's going to do a hell of a job.