I’m sure the headline caught you by surprise and no this isn’t a joke. The Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49er’s absolutely killed it this weekend at the NFL Draft. Fans of the two worst teams have reason to be optimistic and its about time for Brown fans. The era of the brown bags over the heads is coming to an end. Now I’m not saying they’ll be great or even decent for that matter, but that they’re on their way up from rock bottom. As for the Niners, the future looks beyond bright for them post-Kaepernick era under new GM John Lynch. How the fuck did he honey dick the Bears so bad? The man knows football and is ready to bring them back to relevancy in the NFC West.
I’ll be honest the Browns caught my eye this offseason when they traded for Brock Osweiler as weird as that may sound. Sure he sucks as a quarterback but they got a second rounder out of it just for taking his contract. By far the lowest below the salary cap in the NFL so they basically stole this pick from Houston. I also loved the decision to hire Hue Jackson last year as their head coach, a quarterback guru. Who knows maybe he can make Brock into something decent short term for them, Brock was 23rd in QBR last year much better than you would have expected. He made Andy Dalton appear like a very good quarterback, which he’s certainly not.
But ah the NFL Draft. The debate over whether they would go Trubisky or Garrett, I know it seemed like an easy pick but the old Browns would’ve taken Mitch. The old Browns manage to fuck everything up like taking 29-year-old rookie QBs such as Brandon Weeden. Not taking Mitch meant a few things for them. First, they don’t have to put their hopes in dreams into another quarterback who just has 13 starts under his belt and has proven nothing in my eyes with an 8-5 record. Sure he has the tools, but who doesn’t in the first round? The pick also means that they’re going to rebuild the right way, through their defense and not trying to get it all back in one pick. Three, although a QB is as important as ever, it then makes getting to the QB just as important on defense, something the Browns were second to last at with just 26 sacks last season. Lastly, they took the best player available by far, and that is what you do when you are a team with as many holes as the Browns. That player my friends is Myles Garrett.
Let’s take a look at Garrett, at linebacker he’s a physical specimen in every way. A 41 inch vertical, 4.62 40-yard dash at 272 lbs and 33reps of the 225lb on the bench. Now you don’t have to be a personal trainer to know that’s fucking crazy. He’s a freak. He has questions of effort in regards to his motor by some top analysts like Jay Gruden. Although this is clear as we see from the tape its no cause for concern. We forget that he played injured for a good portion of the year and gutted it out. His coach gave him the option to sit out but he refused and gutted it out, so I’ll give him points for toughness before I take away from his lack of effort. He went to Texas A & M who also went there? Oh yeah, that boy Von Miller. Garrett is also just a great dude who is an intellect and has some cool hobbies like paleontology.
I love me some Myles Garrett but I also love the draft strategy throughout. With the 12th pick in the draft and their top QB choice off the board in Trubisky, as well as Pat Mahomes, they traded down with the Houston Texans to #25. A Belichick-move if I’ve ever seen one, and if he does it you know it’s a good idea. This pick gave them a 2018 first rounder, bravo. Knowing that a rebuild doesn’t happen like that it’s important you draft as such and see the big picture, even if that means two three years plus.
With the 25th pick, they took Michigan product Jabril Peppers. I say product because I have no idea what position he is. He says he will play safety but with only one interception in his collegiate career that is questionable. He lives behind the line of scrimmage, however, is most likely too small to play linebacker at just 5″11 213lbs. I like the pick though because he’s a football player, he can play special teams, defense and even get look on offense in the Wildcat formation. Also once again Peppers will be a PROJECT, but that is fine since they know they won’t get good overnight. He will make some plays this year but he won’t fully develop for another 2-3 years after solidifying a position and perfecting that craft. Lets all remember, everyone said the exact same thing about Tyron Matheiu when he was drafted without knowing for sure what position he’d play. That worked out just fine.
Then with the 29th pick in the draft, they took the second best tight end in David Njoku out of Miami. After realizing Gary Barnidge was a one year wonder and cutting him this was both great value and much needed. Any young QB needs know his tight end is his safety blanket. Njoku has good size at 6″4 245 and is extremely talented with 4.6 speed with great explosion. Great hands and the ability to block prove for him to be a future star at the position for years to come.
The next and perhaps most interesting pick by the Browns as quarterback Desean Kizer out of Notre Dame at #52. I didn’t know how I felt about this pick at first but now that I look deeper I like it. Kizer is a project but has supreme athleticism and one of the highest ceilings out this draft class if he can be developed by a good coach. DING DING DING! Bring in QB guru Hue Jackson, if anyone can get the best out of Kizer it’s Jackson. Once again this will take time and he will be PROJECT, but the Browns understand this. Brock can play for the meantime while Kizer develops. You see the patience the Browns are showing? Finally, the Browns are ready to start the process of competing. The Browns went on to draft two DT’s, CB, OT, K, and RB in addition to these picks. Spreading out the wealth and on the way to building a successful team for the future.
Now let’s get to the Niners and their ABSOLUTE honey dicking of the Chicago Bears. I think I speak for everyone when I said holy fucking shit what did the Bears just do when they took Trubisky. It was as if the world stopped moving and we were just in a dream. The trade seemed great from the start, the Niners drop one sport get two third rounders and a fourth. Trading down, always smart. We figured the Bears would take DL Solomon Thomas as their run d was horrendous at 30th in the league. But NOPE! Mitch Trubisky is the pick, and the Bears remind us why they are and will continue to be a joke. This isn’t even an exaggeration nor does it matter if Mitch goes on to be a great quarterback. Because they could have had him for nothing at 3.
This is where the genius of John Lynch the GM, safety, and mind-fucker comes in. A day or two before the draft there were rumors that the Niners were looking QB, specifically Trubisky. But I’ll tell you right now with a number of holes that team had there was no way they were taking him. No fucking shot. In fact, Kapernick didn’t play bad last year with a 16:4 TD:INT ratio, nonetheless the Niners need a lot. So what did Lynch do? Create some noise that they were going to take a QB to strike fear in the Bears and then use that fear as leverage in a trade. Yup, that’s exactly what they did and the Bears were dumb enough to fall for it because they’re the Bears. Not even da Bears, they don’t deserve that much credit.
Once they selected Mitch, Lynch immediately knew he struck gold. They took the fucking bait, in desperation mode like the aforementioned ol’ Browns would have done. They then, in turn, go their guy they would have any way at 2, DL Solomon Thomas, who is a stud pass rusher and run stopper. This was a less complex move taken out of Draft Day with Kevin Kostner, negotiating is all about leverage. Leverage is not always the reality of the situation but the perception of it from the opponent’s eyes compared to your birdseye view. If you get your opponent to believe what you have they absolutely NEED without showing your cards, well that my friends, that is how you become a well-refined deal maker. I give you the key to your future Niner fans, John Fucking Lynch.
But it didn’t stop there for Lynch, they would continue their dominance of this draft. Somehow, someway Reuben Foster of Alabama fell to them at #31 and Lynch didn’t flinch. Taking Foster immediately improved their defense. Foster was named the Butkus Award winner as the Nations best linebacker, out of Alabama. They have some good defensive players, don’t they? At 6″0 229lbs, Foster is a run stopper and all around great player, combining for 115 tackles, 13 for loss and five sacks showing he can get to the quarterback as well. In our mock draft, we had Foster going to the Colts at 15 who could have sure as hell used him. So the fact the Niners got him at 31st overall is an incredible value, this may have been the best pick in the first round, actually, it was.
Although the Niners didn’t have a second-round pick they got a second round talent and then some at 66th overall in Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado. Witherspoon led the FBS in pass breakups with 13 last season and has great length and athleticism at 6″3 with a 40.5 inch vertical and 4.45 speed. The Niners lost both their starting cornerbacks so Witherspoon should be an immediate starter and impact player for the Niners secondary for years to come.
In the fourth round, they got explosive RB Joe Williams out of Utah who ran for 1,407 yards and 10tds while averaging 6.7 ypc. At 5″10 210lbs, Williams has the size and the speed with at 4.41 40 time to be a very good NFL RB. Let’s not forget Kyle Shannahan is the guy in San Fran and is an offensive guru, he will find a good use for Williams as long as he is healthy in their offense.
Another pick I really liked by the Niners was TE George Kittle out of Iowa. Kittle was great value in the fifth round and has deceiving speed at 4.51 to go with decent size at 6″4 247lbs. What he does not have in size he makes up for his effort and should continue to put on muscle in the weight room. He is a more than willing blocker and highly experienced on the line being from Iowa and has great technique. Kittle just needs to work on his route running and he can be a very effective NFL tight end. This move looks even better as it appears Lynch is going to trade starting tight end, Vance McDonald.
The Niners had other good picks but these were the best value in our eyes. Bottom lines are the Browns and Niners have accepted the fact that they suck and are going in the right direction to get back relevancy. The Browns will be lead by Jackson and Garrett for the future and have a lot of good draft picks. The Niners will be lead by offensive guru Kyle Shannahan and led on d by Thomas and Foster for the future. These teams are nowhere near ready to be considered good or even decent for that matter but we like the direction in which they are heading. If they keep it up and either acquire or develop a quarterback these teams could find themselves in the playoffs in 2-3 years.
