With the NFL draft only 10 days away and the Browns holding the seventh selection in the first round with numerous holes to fill on defense, the brain trust is poised to select a defensive player – such as Eric Berry, Joe Haden or Earl Thomas.
Or are they?
The speculation wheel has now landed on the Browns taking Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant in the first round. Of course, this being Cleveland and the Browns, it’s never that simple. Bryant’s suspension last season for lying to the NCAA about a meeting he had with Deion Sanders has raised concerns among some about the dreaded “character issues.”
After the purging last year of Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow and, eventually, Jamal Lewis, it would seem unlikely that the Browns would be interested in taking a chance on Bryant.
Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King had this to say in his Monday Morning Quarterback column: “I think, for those Browns fans who yearn for a franchise receiver and ask, ‘Why don’t we trade down a bit in the round and get Dez Bryant?” here’s your answer: Eric Mangini’s spent a lot of energy trying to get his locker room right, and though Bryant appears to be on the right track and could well be a terrific NFL citizen for the next 10 years, they don’t sell insurance for this kind of thing, and the Browns would rather take guys without question marks on their resumes.”
Sounds plausible, although King does come up with this nightmare scenario involving potential Browns moves on draft day: “Unless something strange happens, it’s hard to envision anything standing in the way of Sam Bradford to the Rams with the top pick on April 22. The only strange thing I see is Cleveland paying a ransom to move up to pick Bradford – like the seventh and 38th picks this year, and the Browns’ first-rounder next year, plus something else.”
Maybe it’s best if we just move on.
On the flip side, Mel Kiper has proclaimed Bryant the pick, saying “I’ve talked to people around the league about Dez Bryant, and I can tell you the notion that there are concerns about Bryant’s character is blown out of proportion. Here the Browns get the best WR in the draft, a threat they really need, and a player that, in a football environment, is a workhorse and a producer.”
With Kiper’s track record that makes it seem more likely the Browns won’t take Bryant.
While Bryant’s talent would seem to fill a need for the Browns – the team’s wide receivers are the weakest part of the team thanks to Eric Mangini’s over-rating of Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie in last year’s draft – you have to wonder. Plus, much like quarterbacks from the Big 12, you have to question if the numbers put up by the wide receivers are inflated because defenses are, to be polite, limited in their abilities.
Character matters, just like how a player performs on their Pro Day, at the combine and on the field. It’s another piece of the puzzle and another tool to help guide a team in the right direction on draft day. Even though it appears likely that the punishment did not fit the crime, I don’t see the Browns picking someone with any kind of questions about them, especially at No. 7.
Of course, Bryant will probably fall in the draft and land in Pittsburgh and torment the Browns for the next 10 years. But that’s a discussion for another day.
For a compelling argument on why the Browns should consider Bryant, check out Cleveland Frowns’ Dez Bryant’s Bad Rap.
Red Right 88 