All that worrying for nothing. Should the Cleveland Browns invest in a quarterback, Brady Quinn, or a lineman, Joe Thomas?
Hell, why not both?
Once Dallas was on the clock with the 22nd overall pick, the Browns pounced. They threw their second round pick and next year's first round pick at the 'Boys to trade up. Quinn, the Ohio native, was going to be a Brown after all.
I had a feeling Quinn was going to be snagged by the Browns and that they would have, to quote the grail knight in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade "have chosen ... poorly." Meanwhile, fellow BC Sports talking head Chris McVetta was staunchly advocating the selection of Quinn all along. (We cut his pay in half for disagreeing with me.) But it turns out, we were both half right. And at BC Magazine, we always round up, so we were both completely accurate.
The Browns third overall pick was used on the Thomas, the offensive lineman from Wisconsin whose tackle was used to catch trout rather than block large people on Saturday. The Buccaneers, Cardinals, Vikings, and the Falcons all (predictably) passed on Quinn.
Once the Miami Dolphins overlooked Quinn in the 9th overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft for speedy wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. (the Dolphins playbook subsequently has 28 new variants of the endaround), the freefall began for the Notre Dame quarterback. His experience of reading coverage, going through the progression, and playing in the big game were not useful when he needed advice on how best to handle losing millions of dollars as draft picks in the teens were used on defensive players.
Now for the Cowboys, they're loving this deal. The only hole they needed to fill was between Tony Romo's hands on field goal attempts. And maybe it's just me, but you don't need to waste a top draft pick on a holder. Next year they'll be able to rake in two first round talents.
And as of right now I'm feeling no foreseeable problems with the Browns' calculated draft risk. Quinn is indeed a first round draft pick, so the Browns just pipelined next year's chance at taking a Golden Boy up 12 months. The question now is how and when to use Quinn. The dude still needs to hold a clipboard for at least the majority of this season.
But if he does land the starting role in Week 1? Resume the Cleveland sports fan-patented Worry Mode.
Article comments
1 - Chris McVetta
Miami's blunder - and Brady's million dollar pay cut - is Cleveland's gain.
I'll take it! (Another orange barrel and all.)
Now if Quinn could just cut his girlfriend and TRADE UP for Suzy Kolber.
Hey, just like Indiana Jones and the Browns' draft: "I'm making this up as I go along..."
2 - Matt
The Browns with taking next years #1 and basically using Quinn on it this year had better hope he pans out. They could have Jonthan Ogden and Peyton Manning, or Robert Gallery and Ryan Leaf. Only time will tell.
3 - d alper
Matt-I'm with you, the only way to find out if Quinn is a keeper is TO DO IT! Draft the ND poster boy and hope he develops. The majority of failures at QB lies squarely with the coaching staff,imho. Ie, we all remember Joe Montana was a late round pick, but he had Bill Walsh and his expert coaching staff work and mold him into a Hall of Famer. My sense is Quinn was'nt passed on because of his innate abilities, I think Charlie Weiss never gave his unconditional blessing to the scouts who came calling. Maybe, as a conspiracy theorist that I am, Weiss was trying to wave off the interested parties in the hope that if he should jump to the pros next year he possibly could reunite with his former protege? Too much has been invested in Eli to date to imagine the Giants contemplating a QB change, but if they underachieve again we may see the second coming of Ryan Leaf and witness '08 draft day heroics by Jerry Reese strikingly similar to what the Browns just pulled off!
4 - Kevin Shugrue
I have to say that the Cleveland Browns had an AWESOME decision on getting Joe Thomas AND Brady Quinn. All I have to say is that Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach are going to protect Brady Quinn on the left side, LeCharles Bently in the middle, and leave the right side to Ryan Tucker. On offense it will be QB:Brady Quinn. RB:Jamal Lewis. FB:Alan Ricard. WR 1:Tim Carter. WR 2:Joe Jurevicius. TE:Kellen Winslow Jr. LT:Joe Thomas. LG:Eric Steinbach. C:LeCharles Bently. RG:Kevin Shaffer. RT:Ryan Tucker. I have to say that is one of the BEST offense I have ever seen! That's all I have to say.
5 - Kevin Shugrue
I have to say that the Cleveland Browns had an AWESOME decision on getting the Left Tackle: Joe Thomas, and the Quarter Back: Brady Quinn. If they don't have a winning season that will be a shocker! Their offense is amazing. QB: Brady Quinn. RB: Jamal Lewis. FB: Lawrence Vickers. WR 1: Joe Jurevicius. WR 2: Braylon Edwards. WR 3: Tim Carter. TE: Kellen Winslow Jr. LT: Joe Thomas. LG: Eric Steinbach. C: LeCharles Bentley. RG: Kevin Shaffer. RT: Ryan Tucker. Now you have to admitt that is one of the best offenses you have ever seen.
6 - Kevin Shugrue
Alright. This time I'm getting to buisness. WOW! What an off-season for the Cleveland Browns. They signed Shaun Rogers, Donte' Stallworth, Corey Williams, Kevin Kasper, Terry Cousin, Shantee Orr, and Rex Hadnot. With LeCharles Bentley coming back everything should go smoothly. This is going to be the Browns best season since coming back in 1999. Also Kellen Winslow (knee) might be fully coverd from his motorcycle accident, and Gary Baxter (knees) might be fully covered too. They should also give Brady Quinn a chance this season. So I think the lineup should be QB: Brady Quinn. RB: Jamal Lewis. FB: Lawrence Vickers. WR: Braylon Edwards. WR: Donte' Stallworth. TE: Kellen Winslow. LT: Joe Thomas. LG: Eric Steinbach. C: LeCharles Bentley. RG: Ryan Tucker. RT: Kevin Shaffer. LE: Corey Williams. RE: Robaire Smith. DT: Shaun Rogers. LOLB: Antwan Peek. ROLB: Kamerion Wimbley. MLB: Andra Davis. CB: Gary Baxter. CB: Eric Wright. FS: Brodney Pool. SS: Sean Jones. K: Phil Dawson. P: Dave Zastudil. KR: Josh Cribbs. PR: Josh Cribbs. That's how I think the lineup should be. If you have any problems with it than add a comment and say something otherwise. See-yah!
7 - Kevin Shugrue
About my last one. You could also put Terry Cousin with Gary Baxter instead of Eric Wright, or if Baxter's not quite healed put Terry Cousin with Eric Wright instead of Gary.