2015 NFL Draft: Cleveland Browns 1st Round Picks from 1999 to 2007

Oct 13, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns tackle Joe Thomas (73) before the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL Draft is always an exciting time. Young men get a chance to fulfill their dreams to join an NFL franchise. Team managers and coaches hope that the players they want will be available when they are on the clock. Last but not least, fans all over the the world cheer for their team to make a good pick as if it was a matter of life and death.

Well, it is a really important weekend that can completely change a franchise’s fate – in a good as well as a bad way. For fans of the Cleveland Browns, draft weekend has sure been an exciting time lately. However, in the end, their drafts have been more bad than good since returning to the NFL in 1999. It was often about which player was going to fail in Cleveland next.

As the Browns are one of the front-runners to trade up for Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner, it feels like that is just happening all over again. Some scouts expect Mariota to be a bust. We don’t know if Mariota is really one of the guys that will wear the brand-new Browns uniforms next season. Neither do we know who else will be picked come draft day. All we can do is speculate.

Today we kick off our draft coverage by taking a look back at the players the Browns have selected in the first round since 1999, players that fans and the team expected to change the fortunes of the franchise.

Next: 1999: QB Tim Couch