Emotional rollercoaster

The second night of the National Football League college draft produced an interesting, to say the least, set of emotions Friday night as rounds two and three entered the history books.

The new Browns’ brain trust, as expected, exhibited analytical tendencies in each of the rounds, trading down in each, procuring an extra fifth-round choice this year and a third-rounder next year.

Each move downward produced interesting results as General Manager Andrew Berry addressed the defense (smart move) with his three selections, adding safety Grant Delpit, defensive tackle Jordan Elliott and inside linebacker Jacob Phillips.

His first deal smacked of brilliance and sure looked as though it would set the tone for the rest of the evening. Sadly, it did not. Here’s why.

After moving down three slots with Indianapolis in the second round and picking up the fifth-round choice this year, Berry grabbed Delpit, who slipped into the second round after having a subpar season at Louisiana State last year.

It marked the second straight season the Browns took a member of the Tigers’ secondary in the second round as Delpit, who will definitely open as the club’s free safety, now joins Greedy Williams in the Cleveland secondary. Plug him in at the position for the next half dozen years.

How smart was that, I gushed to myself. Delpit, projected as a high first-rounder at the beginning of the collegiate season, was hampered by a high ankle sprain midway through the season and never fully recovered.

He fell precipitously in the draft, as did Williams last season, and lost his first-round projection in the eyes of many draft analysts. Berry fortunately thought differently.

Delpit has got the size at 6-2½  and 215 pounds and can play just about anywhere on the field, but probably schemes best at free safety because he has a nose for the football. He’s also quite effective on safety blitzes and working in the box.

Great pick, I told me. The GM shrewdly waited patiently before striking. What a great away to start the evening. A starting offensive tackle in round one Thursday night and now this. Can’t wait until round three.

There were still a lot of very good players on the board and Berry was just getting started. At least that’s what I thought. It didn’t take long, though, for the euphoria to turn into what the hell is he doing?

Just when Berry sent strong signals that after all these years he just might be the main man in charge of turning around this moribund franchise, he went completely off the rails in round three. And analytics was the main culprit.

With Wisconsin outside linebacker Zack Baun still on the board at pick 84, Berry and New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis, hooked up. Loomis teased a pick next year to move up from pick 88 and Berry bit.

That future pick was a third-rounder, a bauble Berry could not turn down even though he moved down a whopping 14 slots.The Saints then wisely grabbed Baun, who would have fit nicely in the Cleveland defensive scheme. But, hey, Berry had another third-round choice next year.

By the time pick 88 arrived, the talent field shriveled to the point where he selected Jordan Elliott, a defensive tackle from Missouri who was not projected as an every down player. He’s strictly a sub package kind of player.

A third-round selection should not be someone who might see maybe 20 snaps a game and is valuable only from a depth standpoint. Unless he’s that good, he won’t take snaps from Sheldon Richardson, Larry Ogunjobi and Andrew Billings, who was wisely picked up as a free agent recently.

Bottom line: Berry punted the opportunity to get Baun, a likely starter at outside linebacker, and wound up with Elliott, who has no chance at starting.  Oooof.

It got worse nine picks later. With the likes of Ohio State inside linebacker Malik Harrison still waiting to be selected, Berry and his henchmen took Jacob Phillips, another inside linebacker.

The Baltimore Ravens obviously liked Harrison better than the Browns, grabbing him with the very next pick. The Ravens earlier picked up Buckeyes running back J. K. Dobbins. They love those Buckeyes.

Phillips, who led the national champion Tigers in tackles last season, has the size at 6-3. 230, but needs to be a lot stronger if the coaches want him to challenge at middle linebacker. He is special teams demon, though.

From the department of meaningless information, the addition of Phillips and Delpit swells the LSU alumni list on the Browns to five, including Williams and wide receivers Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr.

So a night that began so well in round two and looked so promising at the beginning of round three eventually turns into just another evening of “what in the world were they thinking?” at the draft.

Thursday night’s grade: B+ trending toward A-. Friday night’s grade: B- trending toward C+.