Mike Holmgren “Pulled Rank” to Draft QB Colt McCoy

If it wasn’t for Kentucky defensive tackle Corey Peters being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round, only two picks before the Browns selected quarterback Colt McCoy, there’s a good chance the team’s current quarterback of the future would not be in a Browns uniform. GM Tom Heckert and the rest of the draft room were looking to address the needs of the defensive and offensive lines, and Peters was going to be the Browns’ original choice with the 85th pick.

Holmgren says that he “…kept saying, ‘What about the quarterback?'” and I don’t blame him. McCoy fell to the Browns when no one originally thought he would make it out of the second round. It would have been insane for the Browns to pass him once again just to draft a defensive tackle that they liked. I understand not taking McCoy in the second round, but when he fell that late in the third round, he became a great value pick that a team like the Browns couldn’t pass up.

I’m assuming that Holmgren let Heckert manage the draft for the most part, as he said he would, but this was one time I’m glad he exercised that power as president and made the pick.