Getting that sunken feeling

Someone, preferably someone up fairly high in the organization, needs to whisper in Andrew Berry’s ear that he needs to address the Browns’ defense in a major way.

After completing his seven-player journey through the National Football League draft Saturday, the scorecard reads four selections for the offense and a very disappointing three for the defense.

Granted Berry’s head coach comes from the offensive side of the football. But he also has to realize that side of the ball was far more dangerous and explosive to begin with. Right now, the new general manager has a marginal defense at best.

He has been around long enough to know you won’t win many games if you cannot stop opposing offenses. The Browns are nowhere near putting a defense on the field capable of accomplishing that.

He nevertheless picked three offensive players – all of them marginal at best – in rounds four, five and six Saturday to end a three-day trek that has not made his club any better defensively than when he started.

You won’t hear anything like that when Berry, coach Kevin Stefanski and club owner Jimmy Haslam III take front and center to present their case to the media – and public – in the next day or two. There is at least one person who won’t buy it.

They will proclaim this is, indeed, a much better team with the newcomers on board. Count on it. That comes with the territory they own. They are not going to put forth anything that smacks of negativity.

And while it is true no one can accurately predict for at least three years how a draft turns out, this one, with a couple of notable exceptions, will not be ranked anywhere near some of the best in club history. Not even close.

It is also unfair to grade it. But that, too, comes with the territory draft analysts and media members trod on and that’s what I’ll do later on.

Berry got off a marvelous start, grabbing Alabama offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and Louisiana State free safety Grant Delpit in the first two rounds. Both will be starters in their rookie seasons.

Then the draft train went off the rails for the next four rounds – they did not own a seventh-round selection – as Berry managed to address the depth, mostly on offense with not one choice having a chance to become a major contributor.

It began innocently in round three when he thought getting a third-round pick next year in a trade with New Orleans at pick 74 was worth dropping 14 spots to 88 than taking Wisconsin linebacker Zack Baun, a Joe Schobert clone. The Saints then grabbed Baun.

After taking Missouri defensive tackle Jordan Elliott at 88 and LSU inside linebacker Jacob Phillips later in round three, Berry concluded day three with three offensive selections – Florida Atlantic tight end Harrison Bryant, Washington center Nick Harris and Michigan wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones.

Taking a tight end comes as no surprise. Stefanski, it seems, can’t have enough of them on his roster. He loves to run a lot of two tight-end sets in his button-down offense. He now has five from whom to choose.

Pencil in Austin Hooper and David Njoku (unless he is traded) for the starting lineup. Bryant will battle Stephen Carlson and Pharaoh Brown for the remaining probable two spots and win.

The Harris pick is a puzzler. Why in the world do the Browns need another center, this one a football midget (I know politically incorrect) who plays a position that requires more height than being able to look his starting quarterback squarely in the eye?

Harris is a pinky fingernail shy of 6-1 and although he checks in at 305 pounds, that height will not work in the NFL against much bigger defensive linemen. His biggest asset is versatility. He can play guard. That does not make him taller.

He won’t unseat JC Tretter. And he’s not a special teamer. It will be interesting to see how Berry spins this pick.  (Sarcasm alert) Maybe Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta can explain. (End sarcasm alert)

It was a wasted pick.

Peoples-Jones, on the other hand, becomes the ninth wide receiver on a team that will not throw the football nearly as much as they have the last few seasons.  Not with Stefanski calling the shots.

Outside of Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr., no one really sticks out as a strong candidate for work in a multi-receiver set unless Rashard Higgins, who has found the free-agent market a bit chilly, chooses return.

People-Jones was a five-star recruit who excelled more in the classroom than on the football field. He has disappointed after a promising freshman season with the Wolverines, hampered somewhat the last two seasons by mediocre play from his quarterbacks.

The only positive statistic – and this is stretching it – that might have caught the Browns’ attention and swayed this pick was the14 touchdowns he scored on 81 receptions over the last two seasons.

Other than that, the only reason he was picked was because he was the best player on the board at the time. Difficult to reason it any other way. This was definitely not a need selection.

Another wasted pick.

So the scorecard reads thusly: Two very good moves with the first two picks and then a major swerve in a direction that turned sour in a slow-motion hurry that leaves me puzzled and trying to figure out what the hell happened.

It leaves this franchise stronger on offense, woefully below average on defense and produces at least two or three, maybe four, solid special teamers, but only two starters.

Berry began his maiden voyage through the murky waters of the draft smoothly before encountering turbulence as he progressed. The mark of a good general manager is being able to find those hidden gems in the later rounds on a consistent basis.

He clearly has to pick up his game in the latter stages of day two and all of day three. He was a major fail this time. Hopefully, he learned a lesson.

Grade for day three: C-

Overall grade: C+ (and that’s being generous)