2012 NFL Draft: Cleveland Browns Need to Consider Trading Up for Robert Griffin III
And now, a counterpoint to Steve DiMatteo’s article explaining why the Browns trading up two spots this year for the right to draft Robert Griffin III would be a bad idea:
Those extra picks mean zip without a franchise quarterback, so who cares how many the Browns have?
Sure, we saw great defenses succeed in the playoffs this year, but the no-doubt franchise quarterback gets you to the playoffs year-in and year-out.
Regardless of what you think of Colt McCoy, the Browns are drafting fourth overall for a reason, and need to bring in a game-changer like the one Robert Griffin III could become.
Now this could be a disastrous move, and if that’s the case the Browns will be a bad football team, just like they are now. Nothing will have changed.
This is not to say the fans’ cries against trading up aren’t justified – they are. The front office painted everyone into a corner by effectively punting on last year’s draft, and season, to secure two drafts picks this high. Browns fans want that payoff, they’ve earned it. We want the crappy football we watched last year to mean something. Jumping up just two spots in the draft hardly seems to justify the brutality of the 2011 season.
But what that really boils down to is this: the fans just want the Browns to get better as soon as possible. The fact is, Robert Griffin III’s potential at No. 2 overall makes the Browns a better team faster, and for longer, than the No. 4 overall and No. 22 overall picks combined. That’s the game.
You’re always gambling in the draft, and the Browns will still have tons of holes to fill in the many drafts to come. But since they’re gambling anyway, if this is their best shot to grab the NFL playmaker, then why not take it?
The Browns could also draft Justin Blackmon an Kendall Wright with those hard-earned first-round draft picks and conceivably not get better. If the Browns need a dramatic makeover (and they do), that kind of impact can only come from the quarterback position.
Robert Griffin III is probably the top player taken in any other draft not containing Andrew Luck. And didn’t we spend a whole season complaining that we didn’t even care if the Browns won, we just wanted them to be fun to watch? Think of how fun Robert Griffin III would be to watch.
Imagine a season where you are looking at the players on the field and not ahead to the draft. To that, the Browns aren’t truly rebuilding until they get their quarterback in there to build around anyway.
If the Browns have to move up for RG3 and don’t do it, they’ll be punting again, leaving the fans to look ahead to another draft. Their chance is now, so why wait?
Sure, the price seems steeper than it was four months ago, but just imagine if the trade-up happens, and it works out. Wouldn’t you trade the No. 22 overall pick in the draft for ten years of quality football?