And The Brett Ratcliff Era Begins

"They say the hood looking for ya, time to bounce back. Gotta feed the streets, Young, it's in your contract." -Young Jeezy


"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."
— Sir Winston Churchill


I just wanted to give my quick spin to what the Browns did Saturday and Sunday. Like I said last night, I think the brain trust was solid in their approach. Stock piling picks and improving the back end of the roster is straight out of the book that Eric Mangini learned from and still subscribes to today. It's a very systematic approach. It requires a rock solid belief in your philosophy, a trust in your personnel evaluation, and the ability to completely not give a fuck about what anyone else thinks. Mangini and Kokinis share those beliefs.

But here's my take. Let's look at this. We trade outta 5 to the Jets. They send us back the 17th pick, Kenyon Coleman, Abram Elam, Brett Ratliff, an inconsequential player and 2nd round pick. Unfrickkin believable right? So we trade back again and stock another pick. Then we trade down again for another pick. We finally take Alex Mack at 21. SO, our Round 1 is complete. At the conclusion of Round 1, we have the best center in the draft. But we also have the best safety in the draft. And we also have the best defensive end in the draft. We are one round into the draft and we have added 3 starters. And this isn't even counting Brett Ratliff, who we will get to later. Now let me qualify a couple points here. There was no safety in this draft that had a first round grade. So in effect, when we add Elam, we are adding the number one safety. And it is even more valuable because he is a proven commodity in the league. We tried to sign this last off-season but Mangini matched the tender offer when he was with the Jets. We add Kenyon Coleman, who I just called the best defensive end in the draft. Now that I would doesn't carry a ton of weight so let me explain. Is he better than Tyson Jackson? I dunno tough to say, probably not. Jackson is an upside speed rusher who kinda came outta nowhere in the last 72 and sky rocketed up the board to 3 from 16 where he was kinda slotted for the last couple months. Nice move for the young man. Probably made himself about $15 million more in guarantees. So we'll see on him. What about Ryan Ayers. Tough sell for me. I think Ayers is a monster. I was watching his Sr. Week tape and he was just insane. A man among boys. Is Coleman better than him? Maybe. My point is that we got a proven commodity in Coleman. A guy who started 12 games last season before getting hurt. He's played a high level in the NFL. The other two guys haven't. Maybin, English, Everette Brown; those guys have the potential to be better than Coleman, but at least we have some evidence that Coleman is a guy who can contribute to an NFL team. So after Round 1, Mangini had to have been gloating a little been in his own mind. He had just traded for 2 proven guys, got the best graded center in the draft, got a quarterback he thinks has potential and picked up 5 picks. Not too shabby.

On the clock at 36; here is where I think we veer off into a retarded direction for the first time all day. Brian Robiskie. Good player. Solid kid. 4 year player at Ohio State. Unguardable when he had a quarterback and a couple other threats around him. I mean, think back to that year with Troy Smith. Robiskie was running free everywhere. You couldn't stop him. He was productive the last two years. He played hurt. He blocked. He really never complained. He grew up around the NFL. He's learned how to be a pro. So he is a good pick. I just don't think you take him there. You gotta take Rey Maluagua here. And I realize why they didn't. He only plays two downs. He struggles in space. That stuff is obvious. How good a player are you if they have to take you out and put in another guy on third down (usually Clay Matthews Jr.) in college? Point taken. That's why he fell to where he fell. But you gotta take him. You take him because everyone knows who he is. Everyone knows he has the crazy hair and plays middle linebacker. The team you coach hasn't had a linebacker worth a shit in forever. Rey Maluagua is a hungry guy who you could develop into a good player. He is coachable and probably improved tremendously at his time with Pete Carroll. His upside is still there. You take him at 36 to get your fans excited about a big name, big hitting, Polamalu like personality thats gonna be running sideline to sideline and trying to get to the quarterback. I think Robiskie would have still been there when you grabbed Massaquoi. And if you didn't think he was gonna be there, and you coveted him, you could have traded back into Round 2 and taken him, while sacrificing a 5 or a 6 or whatever it would have taken. It was an opportunity that I think they fucked up.

Or what about this. What if you would have stayed at 19? You could have taken Jeremy Maclin. I think he is gonna be a stud. And then you take Max Unger from Oregon at 36, the third ranked center in the draft. Mack was the top graded guy, but Eric Wood and Max Unger both had grades very close to that of Mack. That was another thing I thought about after the fact.

Massaquoi was an upside pick. Mangini, when he throws, prefers to throw deep down the field to big athletic receivers and make them make a play. I understand that pick. He'll get better. He's not great right now. But he's improved quickly. Dave Veikune from Hawaii is a speed rusher who can maybe come off the edge for us. Kaluka from USC is in the same mold as those other USC backers. Guys that are big and skilled and getting better at a rapid pace. Mel really liked this guy.

And last but not least, let's talk about our future starting quarterback, Brett Ratliff. This is a guy who Mangini loves. I'm telling you, DO NOT count this guy out in being a significant candidate to be the Browns starting quarterback this season. He would not have been part of the deal if he wasn't. I am anxious to see how good this guy is. I have never seen him play. I look forward to watching him as the season comes closer.

That's all I have really have time for tonight. I will be back this week to talk about the NBA playoffs, Star Trek and the best of what's going on in pop culture. Maholo.