As The Draft Draws Near...

it becomes clear that Phil Savage, Browns' GM, has hedged his bets and really, that might not be such a bad thing. After the list of the top ten worst #1 overall picks included two Browns it seems as though early draft picks just don't seem to be the Browns thing, especially considering they've drafted #1 overall just twice since 1954 (Courtney Brown and Tim Couch). While the Browns have improved their drafting under the guidance of Savage, their first round picks since returning to the NFL have been somewhat underwhelming.

The first three picks after the franchise returned, including two number ones and a number three: Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, and Gerard Warren. Yikes. They followed up these gems with William Green and Jeff Faine. Three of these picks are no longer in the league and the other two are no longer on the team. The lone successful pick between the restart of the franchise and the Phil Savage years was Kellen Winslow, and while he's been good, he's already been out for a couple years and likely shortened his remaining longevity. However, it's tough to argue against picking a pro-bowl tight end, and I won't.

Since then Savage has turned drafting around in Cleveland, especially in the first round. Picks of Braylon Edwards and Joe Thomas have already returned immediate dividends. Kamerion Wimbley had 11 sacks in his rookie season. That leaves just Brady Quinn who is a bit of an unknown.

Overall, that's some pretty strong drafting. However, this year Phil Savage decided to take the year off. Brady Quinn was acquired last year using this year's number one pick. Cory Williams Williams and Shaun Rogers were acquired for the second and third round picks meaning the Browns won't be drafting on the first day this year.

It's hard to to fault Savage. There's no way the Brown's could have drafted at 56 and 87 and got players the quality of Williams and Rogers. After the offseason Savage had last year, it's hard to argue with anything he does. He got Eric Steinbach to sure up the offense line before drafting Joe Thomas and making the line top flight. He got Jamal Lewis who many believed was washed up (went on to rush for over 1,300 yards). He turned the biggest question going in to the season, quarterback, in to a sixth round pick (Charlie Frye trade) and a pro-bowl selection (Derek Anderson) along with a top prospect (Quinn). It's hard to argue with an off-season like that. If the same success has been repeated this off-season on the other side of the ball, Browns fan can only be optimistic for 2008.

Savage has proved to be one of the best GM's in football lately. The moves he has made this off-season appear to be just what the doctor ordered for the Browns. However, it could just be that Savage wanted to spend one last day on the shore of Lake Erie like this: