Post-draft musings

After perusing the final grades for the Browns by numerous well-regarded draft analysts around the National Football League landscape, I felt quite curmudgeonly and obviously out of touch.

The lowest grade they have received thus far is a straight B. Pro Football Focus, the well-respected Web site devoted to analytical football, awarded them an A+. In other words, perfect. Really?

The guys at PFF are either the easiest graders on the planet when it comes do evaluating the efforts of teams on draft day or the Browns used PFF material as a guide to make decisions, thus drawing the perfecto.

I, by comparison, am a relatively awful, clueless and much tougher grader after having the temerity to assign the Browns a C+ overall, That includes a C- on the final day after General Manager Andrew Berry selected three offensive players for a team that seriously needs help on defense.

I was, and still am, of the belief that in the grand scheme of things, the Browns drafted only two players (offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and safety Grant Delpit) who will start and make significant contributions this season and beyond.

Most of the other five members of this class will I believe be nothing more than role players. There is not a starter among them, or at least someone who will earn a more than just a low percentage of snaps.

It’s easy to get excited about Wills and Delpit. It’s much, much more difficult to work up any excitement for Jordan Elliott, Jacob Phillips, Harrison Taylor, Nick Harris and Donovan Peoples-Jones.

That quintet might have been starters in college, but there is no guarantee their talents will enable them to successfully make the tough transition to the professional ranks.

Wills and Delpit are NFL ready. They were NFL ready a year ago. Maybe their classmates are seen as fitting well into the team concept Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski envision where everyone contributes to the cause.

Elliott steps into a situation at defensive tackle where the Browns are probably strongest on that side of the football. He won’t see many snaps. And Taylor most likely won’t get many snaps at tight end unless Stefanski utilizes a lot of three tight-end sets.

As for linebackers, consider this: Of the eight candidates to play the position this season, only rookie Mack Wilson played more than 50% of the snaps last season. That’s it. New middle linebacker B.J. Godson didn’t bank that many last season.

Phillips played middle linebacker at LSU, but the Browns reportedly believe he will make a better weak side backer in the NFL and has an outside shot at starting in his battle with Sione Takitaki, who played sparsely and inconsistently as a rookie last season.

Wilson, a middle linebacker at Alabama, played strong side last season, but is better suited to return inside and replace the departed Joe Schobert. He's much better as an on-the-ball defender than off the ball. Question is whether the coaches will see it that way.

Harris, meanwhile, has no shot at starting along the offensive line. I maintain he is too short – an eighth of an inch shy of 6-1 – to be successful in an NFL snot pit. He is tough, he is quick and he is not tall enough. If he were two inches taller, he would not have been there at pick 160 in the fifth round.

Peoples-Jones probably has the best opportunity at seeing playing time as the third receiver. But he has to hike his game to the level that enabled him to become a five-star recruit at Michigan. He never fulfilled that promise and there is little evidence to believe he will be any better in the NFL.

Berry overall came up short in two areas, both on defense. The linebackers room is full of woefully mediocre talent as a unit, arguably the weakest on that side of the football.

The GM also made no move to improve the pass rush. Right now, Myles Garrett is the pass rush. Olivier Vernon can’t stay healthy. Adam Clayborn is well on the downside of his career. And Chad Thomas has yet to live up to his third-round selection in the 2018 draft.

After Garrett was excused for the final six games of the season after reacquainting Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph with his helmet, the Cleveland pass rush decked opposing quarterbacks only three times in the final five games.

Unless Berry has a trick or two up his sleeve between now and the start of training camp (assuming there is one), what you see now is what you’ll get come early September for the defense. And it’s not pretty.

Guess where his draft crosshairs will be next year.

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The virtual draft was so well done and well received, too bad it will be only a one-time event. Props to ESPN for pulling it off with very few hitches and glitches and no hacks. Special props to Trey Wingo, who pulled the whole thing together under trying conditions.

They positioned cameras in most of the top picks’ homes and had archival footage it seemed of everyone who was taken regardless of the round. The only clip missing was one of a Marshall University placekicker selected by New England.

The three-day event also drew TV ratings that probably will never be beaten, probably because it was the only live offering during a time when the sports landscape is barren thanks to the pandemic that brought the country to its knees.

The telecast also took fans into the private world of the men who run and own 32 teams and allowed them to see how uncomfortable Commissioner Roger Goodell looked while conducting the lottery from the basement of his Westchester County home the first two nights.

Goodell, who earns $40 million a year, labored through the first three rounds, looking absolutely whipped toward the end of round three Friday night and wound up announcing picks while sitting in an easy chair wearing a sweater.

Each pick gave viewers a glimpse of those making the command decisions ranging from Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians relaxing just inside his patio to Kansas City coach Andy Reid’s colorful Tommy Bahama shirts to Dallas owner Jerry Jones making picks from his quarter of a billion dollar yacht to Arizona coach Kliff Kingsbury relaxing in his spacious pad with a cool view of Camelback Mountain in the distance.

New England coach Bill Belichick was more Spartan with a plain table, a couple of monitors, a laptop and a companion, his Alaskan husky Nike. At one point, with Belichick out of the room, ESPN dropped in to find Nike perched in Belichick’s chair with a Belichick identifier on the lower part of the screen. Best laugh of the night.

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Berry and Stefanski, as expected, were effusive about the fruits of their three days’ labor. “Most importantly,” said Berry, “we feel good about adding a number of individuals who embody the tough, smart, accountable culture we are trying to build.” He cited his coach’s  “insight, calmness and intelligence.”

Stefanski believes the Browns “got better on both sides of the ball. We added some guys we look forward to developing. We don’t think any of the guys we’ve added are finished products.”

Of course they aren’t. They are rookies who have no idea what lies ahead and what it will take to become the finished product Berry and Stefanski envision. “We thought our plan was sound,” said the coach. “We wanted to get younger and bring in competition at some of the positions.

“At the same time, you never know how the (draft) board is going to turn out and you may take a guy you never thought would be there. At the end of the day, if you trust your board, you’re usually right. I don’t know if it’s some mystery, but Andrew and I see this thing similarly.” It never hurts to be in lockstep in such matters.

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The addition of Bryant to the tight ends room prompted some – okay, me – to wonder how much longer David Njoku will be in the mix. “We still have a ton of belief in David,” said Berry. “. . . David has always been and continues to be in our plans . . . He is part of our long-term plans.”

He backed that up Monday by exercising the fifth-year option in Njoku’s contract. The young veteran missed 10 games last season with injuries and a reported spat with coach Freddie Kitchens. He was a healthy scratch in several games down the stretch.

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Finally . . . Garrett’s fifth-year option was also picked up by the club with long-term extensions looming in the near future for both men. . . . The roster after the draft and 15 undrafted free-agent signings over the weekend currently stands at 90. Eight of the 15 play on the offensive side of the ball. . . . The main 75-man roster consists of three quarterbacks, six running backs, five tight ends, nine wide receivers and 13 linemen on offense and 15 linemen, eight linebackers, eight cornerbacks and five safeties on defense, two kickers and a long snapper.