A granny and a whiff

Andrew Berry grabbed his bat twice Friday night in rounds two and three of the National Football League college draft with decidedly mixed results in his two swings.

The first swing in the second round was an absolute gem by the Browns' general manager. The second was the total opposite in round three. A big, fat, head-scratching whiff.

On the first, he hit a grand slam with his second-round selection of Notre Dame linebacker/safety Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. It was a move that, for all practical purposes, put a bow on the finishing touches of an almost complete revamping of the club's defense this season.

Berry brilliantly traded up from 59 to 52 with Carolina to grab one of the draft's best all-around talents on defense. He surrendered the first of his two third-round picks in exchange for an early fourth-rounder from the Panthers, ostensibly giving him three picks in that round Saturday.

The fact Owusu-Koramoah lasted as long as he did probably caused Berry to pounce and head off the possibility of Tennessee and Pittsburgh, lurking just ahead of the Browns before the swap, to make his move.

The newest Brown automatically adds speed, quickness, intelligence and toughness to the back seven. His versatility undoubtedly will challenge defensive coordinator Joe Woods' creativity.

He is flat out a playmaker no matter where he plays. He can rush the quarterback, play the slot corner, strong safety and any of the three linebacker positions. He's quick, fast and, most important, an excellent tackler. More than a few would call him the complete package.

Draft pundits wondered why he was still around in the second round. When the Browns picked him at 52, Charles Davis of the NFL Network exclaimed, "This is the pick I thought they'd make at 26 (in the first round)." Berry instead opted for cornerback Greg Newsome II. 

Daniel Jeremiah, sitting next to Davis on the network's set under the dome by the lakefront for the nationally televised  event, went one step further. In fact, he gushed.

"This Jeremiah is pretty fired up about that Jeremiah right there," said the former Browns scout, who is the network lead's draft expert. "Speed, toughness and instincts are what you want in a defensive player and this kid is dripping with all three."

Owusu-Koramoah, who checks in at a half inch higher than 6-1 and 221 pounds, is good enough to be a three-down regular, whether it's outside, on the edge, in the slot or in the run game. His versatility will enable him to play in just about any kind of package Woods devises.

Now the whiff.

It came late in the third round. The 91st overall pick to be exact. It was a palpable stunner. One that had to make most of Browns Nation bellow, "Huh??!!" Who is Anthony Schwartz? And why is he now a Cleveland Brown?

Well, first of all, he's a wide receiver. A fast wide receiver.  A really fast wide receiver. How fast? Olympic fast.  Runs a 4.25 40. No other receiver in the draft runs that fast.

The 6-0, 185-pound Schwartz, a former track standout at Auburn who decided he would rather play football, is more of a track specialist who plays football rather than a football player who occasionally runs track. Checking his college statistics provided all the evidence to advance that notion..

He caught only 117 passes at Auburn for 1,433 yards and six touchdowns in three seasons. He scored seven touchdowns running the football, most likely on reverses, sweeps and end-arounds. Can't imagine how head coach and Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will work him into an already strong offense.

Schwartz is an undisciplined route runner who sometimes has problems holding onto the football, deficiencies that are difficult to correct. He has been called a work in progress. 

Bottom line: You don't draft someone like him, someone who won't see the field that often, in the third round. Maybe the fifth or sixth round. Definitely not the third. For what it's worth, Ourlads Scouting Services projected Schwartz for the sixth round.

For  the record, among those still on the board at 91 was Quinn Meinerz, the portly center/guard from Wisconsin-Whitewater who rocketed up draft boards in the weeks leading up to the lottery. At 6-3 and 320 pounds, his most prominent feature is a rather prodigious belly. Fun to watch him running a 4.99 40, though. Seven picks later, Denver took him off the board.

But Meinerz is also a hell of a football player. Emphasis on football player. Besides, the Browns aren't getting any younger at center and left guard. 

If the Owusu-Koramoah selection is an A+++++, and it is, the Schwartz pick is an D----- because he would have been there well beyond his selection and better players were passed up.

TMI: The first round of the draft Thursday night was completed in a sluggish three hours and 48 minutes and ended a few minutes after midnight. Friday night's two rounds consumed four hours and 32 minutes and ended at 11;43 p.m.. . . Day 1 was viewed by a near-record 12.6 million viewers, second to last year's 15.3 million. . . . It was great to see NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was not booed. Probably the first time he has been greeted so warmly in this annual event. . . . It was also good to see the return of the Goodell hug with the dozen or so who made the trip to Cleveland and were selected. . . . The Browns own two of the first eight selections in the fourth round Saturday (picks 110 and 113). They also own pick No. 132.