A healthy appetite for debate
“I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.” – Margaret Thatcher
There has been some speculation – primarily from Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King and Yahoo Sports‘ Charles Robinson – that there was some debate within the Browns draft room over who to pick in the first round – Joe Haden or Kyle Wilson.
Browns fans everywhere should be thrilled that the team finally has a functional, knowledgeable front office in place that can rationally talk about the value of two players and reach a consensus.
We’ve been down the dictator road before with Butch Davis, who wanted his voice to be the only one in the room, which is how the Browns ended up with Gerrard Warren.
That doesn’t work.
Having Mike Holmgren working as, in his words “the tiebreaker,” is what this team needs. There is absolutely no downside if Eric Mangini wants one player, lays out his reasons why, and then Tom Heckert, who may want another player, does the same and then Holmgren makes the final decision.
Why would anyone not want the team to function this way?
As for the second-round pick, I have to admit I don’t really know anything about T.J. Ward. But the Browns need help at safety and he plays safety.
However, I also found that “Ward’s junior year, 2008, was his only full season as a starter. He was a backup as a freshman and sophomore, and his senior season was cut short by injury. In fact, Ward has a long history of knee and ankle injuries, which is why it’s a bit of a surprise that he went as high as he did.”
But according to Oregon Live: “Former Oregon safety T.J. Ward hits like a freight train and has enough speed and range to play either safety position in the NFL.
“The knock on him is his durability. Given how fearless he is, injuries are certain to come and they did during his career at Oregon.
“Ward’s stock has fluctuated during the draft process. One NFL scout said he saw Ward as a late-round pick. But Scout Inc. has Ward going in the third round to Dallas. NFLDraftScout.com has him rated as the No. 2 strong safety in the draft.”
Hmm, hits like a freight train sounds good – can we test that out on Hines Ward? Injuries are certain to come sounds bad. Let’s overlook that for now.
The only concern I have with the Browns passing on Colt McCoy or Jimmy Clausen in this spot is the overwhelming evidence that quarterbacks have a higher success rate if they can sit their first year or two in the league. With Delhomme set to start this season, getting a QB this year rather than next year and starting the learning process may have been a good idea.
We’ll see. There’s still the possibility the Browns can move up out of the third round to grab a QB.
Red Right 88 