Dawgbeat 05/02/2007
Savage understands
by Eric Brown
Monday April 30th, 2007
On Friday night most die-hard Browns fans contemplated on what it might be like to have Adrian Peterson putting on the Orange and Brown and crippling defenses with his speed and power, others envisioned Brady Quinn in his orange helmet fist pumping after another Cleveland Browns touchdown, and still others wanted to see Joe Thomas, a massive left tackle stabilizing the offensive line for the next ten years. So much excitement taking us over that some of us probably couldn't sleep. These are our Cleveland Browns and we haven’t had a whole lot to root for in the past eight seasons. We all are familiar with the inept drafting of Dwight Clark, and Chris Palmer being in over his head as an expansion team head coach. We saw the blundering on draft day with Butch Davis at the helm, and his eventual breakdown before the Cincinnati Bengal game in 2004. Some reprieve has been given in recent drafts with Braylon Edwards in 2005 and Kamerion Wimbley and others in 2006. Still, in 2006 two solid drafts and a solid free agency class netted just four wins. Four wins though, and a coin flip, put us in position to get a player that could quite possibly become the face of the franchise.
Now it’s Saturday morning. I have my Browns gear on, the fridge is full of Miller Lite, the pizza is on the way and the wings have been picked up. It’s a huge day for all Browns fans and we can’t wait to see what Mr.Savage will do this year to make this team better. Will he play it safe and take Thomas, will he draft the bruising running back from Oklahoma, or will it be the franchise type QB that many felt this team needed. I for one backed off Peterson when I heard about his injury possibly being worse than first reported. For me it had to be Thomas or, if Savage believed him to be the real deal Brady Quinn. Now, don’t get me wrong I love Charlie Frye's toughness and team first attitude but he just didn’t seem to be able to read a defense or get rid of the ball quick enough to succeed in long stretches. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last season due to the offensive line being a disaster. But wait a minute, Derek Anderson came in, in the late stages of the season and the offensive line seemed to look much better with a quarterback that made quicker decisions and read defenses a bit better, but Mr. Anderson didn’t seem to have the accuracy needed to succeed.
So down goes Russell to Oakland, and then Johnson to Detroit and it’s our turn to pick. Most media outlets were reporting that the Browns decided on Joe Thomas. I have to admit I was a little let down by the reports even though I knew it was probably best for the franchise. The Browns then made their selection and indeed it is Joe Thomas. The fanfare at the draft seemed to dislike the pick and I started to feel like maybe just maybe we made a mistake, but I sat in my chair and believed that Phil savage knows what he is doing.
So now we have our franchise left tackle and I wonder what will we do in the second round, perhaps Savage likes Trent Edwards or John Beck or Drew Stanton, but wait its now pick number nine and Miami has just picked Ted Ginn Jr. What????? Are you kidding me Brady Quinn is still on the board? As picks continue to pass and teams are drafting that have no interest in quarterbacks, I think to myself, would savage try and pull back into the first round to get Quinn....Nahhhh, he must have some other quarterbacks rated higher than Quinn or he would have taken him at #3. Then just then the report comes across the television that Cleveland is one team that has been on the phone trying to move up to get Quinn. I shudder to think of what it might cost the team to get back into the first round but realize it’s obviously a future first round pick or maybe more. But what might it be like to have Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn. I think about Savage past drafting practices and realize that there is no way that this will happen. Just then the Red Light goes on and a trade is announced, THE CLEVELAND BROWNS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE 22ND PICK IN THE DRAFT, ONCE HELD BY THE DALLAS COWBOYS. It is then that I realized that Phil really does get it. He understands that this franchise needs a leader, and now we have that leader, and even better our leader has a bodyguard. Brady Quinn may not turn out to be a Hall of Famer or Even an all Pro quarterback, but the potential is there. Savage saw the 2008 draft with no overwhelming quarterback prospect there and realized this the Cleveland Browns time to make their move and they did. God Bless Phil Savage and Thank You very much, the turnaround is about to be put into full swing. I could have never envisioned getting two of the top five players in this draft but somehow we got lucky and got bold and now, let the winning begin!