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
1999: QB Tim Couch (1st overall)
Who would have guessed – the first draft pick since the reinstatement of the Cleveland Browns was a quarterback. Timothy Scott Couch was drafted out of the University of Kentucky and went on to spend five seasons with the Browns.
During that time, he threw for 11,131 yards, recording 64 touchdowns and 67 interceptions. His 64 touchdowns included some very important moments for the Browns. In 1999, Couch led his team to their first win with a last-second Hail Mary TD-pass against the New Orleans Saints. He added another Hail Mary TD-pass against Jacksonville in 2002. To this day, he is the only player in NFL history to ever throw two game-winning passes of more than 50 yards with no time left on the clock.
Couch is the Browns’ all-time leader in pass completion percentage at (a pitiful) 59.8 percent. But yet, he is considered a draft bust by many fans and experts, as he never quite lived up to the hype of being the No. 1 overall pick. His career was plagued by injuries before the Browns released him in 2004. Couch attempted a comeback and tried out for several teams, but would never play a regular or postseason game again.
Next: 2000: DE Courtney Brown
2000: DE Courtney Brown (1st overall)
The Cleveland Browns’ first round pick in 2000 was defensive end Courtney Brown from Penn State University. He went on to play for the Browns for five seasons.
Brown recorded 170 total tackles and 17 sacks in his time with the team. Out of these numbers, 69 tackles and 4.5 sacks were achieved in his rookie season. No season after that would be as successful. He won several awards in his last season of college football, including Big Ten Lineman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Outback Bowl MVP. However, his pro career was plagued by injuries.
After his time in Cleveland, Brown moved on to Denver to play one final season in 2005.
Next: 2001: DT Gerard Warren
2001: DT Gerard Warren (3rd overall)
Gerard Warren was the Browns’ first selection in the opening round that was not a first overall pick. The defensive tackle spent his college career at the University of Florida and played for the Cleveland Browns from 2001 to 2004.
Warren’s career started out similar to Courtney Brown’s, as Warren’s rookie season in 2001 was his career best. Warren started 15 games that season and recorded 61 tackles and five sacks. He continued to start the majority of his games in each season with the Browns, but never got close to his rookie numbers again. Between 2002 and 2004, his high in tackles was 39. However, he did set a career high in sacks in 2013 with 5.5.
In 2005, Warren was traded to the Denver Broncos for a fourth-round pick. After his two seasons in Denver, he moved on to play for the Oakland Raiders and end his career with the Patriots in New England.
Next: 2002: RB William Green
2002: RB William Green (16th overall)
William Green was the Cleveland Browns’ first-round selection in 2002. He played college football for Boston College and spent his entire four-season career with the Browns.
Green was one of the most talented players heading into the draft. However, two college suspensions for the use of marijuana hurt his draft stock. The Browns took a chance on him and, well, it did not pay off. After a strong rookie season in which Green played in all 16 regular season games and gained 887 yards for six touchdowns, he got arrested for DUI and marijuana possession in 2003. That earned him a four-game suspension, which was extended to the rest of the season after a domestic dispute in which Green got stabbed in the back by his fiance.
The running back came back for the 2004 season, but gained only 559 yards on 142 carries. Green played his final season in 2005, appearing in only eight games due to injury, before reaching an injury settlement and being released by the Browns.
Next: 2003: C Jeff Fayne
2003: C Jeff Faine (21st overall)
The Cleveland Browns’ first-round pick in 2003 was center Jeff Faine. He spent his college football career at Notre Dame and went on to play in the NFL for 10 seasons, including three with the Browns.
In his rookie season, Faine appeared in nine games, all of which were starts. The next two seasons, he appeared in 13 and 14 games, respectively, before being traded to the New Orleans Saints.
Faine stayed with the Saints for two seasons, then moved on to Tampa Bay, and finished his career with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012.
Next: 2004: TE Kellen Winslow II
2004: TE Kellen Winslow II (6th overall)
After two years of absence from the top-10 in the draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Kellen Winslow II sixth overall in 2004. He played college football at the University of Miami and spent five seasons with the Browns.
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Winslow had a rough start into his pro career. In the second game of his rookie season Winslow suffered a broken fibula, which ended the season for him very early. After two surgeries, he was able to fully recover from his injury. However, in May 2005, Winslow had a motorcycle accident in which he injured his right knee. The Browns placed him on the “Physically Unable-To-Perform” list for the 2005 season.
Therefore, Winslow’s career really just started two years after the draft. In the 2006 season, he started all 16 games for the Browns, making 89 receptions for 875 yards and three touchdowns. The following season, Winslow appeared in all 16 games again, 14 of which were starts. He was able to record a career-high 1,106 receiving yards that season. It was the only time he was able to break the 1,000-yard-mark.
After another season with the Browns, Winslow was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he broke several franchise records. He spent three seasons in Tampa Bay, before finishing his career with single-season stops with the Patriots and Jets.
Next: 2005: WR Baylon Edwards
2005: WR Baylon Edwards (3rd overall)
Braylon Edwards was the Cleveland Browns’ third overall pick in the 2005 draft. He was drafted out of the University of Michigan and went on to play for the Browns for four full seasons.
After missing the first few weeks of his rookie season with a staph infection, Edwards started his first games mid-season. He made 32 receptions for 512 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games, before suffering a season-ending knee injury. His career-high in receiving yards and touchdowns came two years later, in 2007. Edwards broke the 1,000-yard-mark for the first and only time in his career, as he started every game and recorded 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns. He went on to have a decent 2008 campain, but was placed on waivers after four games in the 2009 campaign.
The New York Jets claimed him off waivers. He played there for two seasons, before moving on to San Francisco, back to the Jets, and to a last stop in Seattle in 2012.
Next: 2006: LB Kamerion Wimbley
2006: LB Kamerion Wimbley (13th overall)
Kamerion Wimbley was the Browns’ first round pick in 2006. He was drafted out of Florida State University and spent four seasons with the Browns.
Wimbley, a defensive end that was moved to the linebacker position, made an immediate impact on the Browns’ defense. He led the team and all AFC rookies with 11 sacks in his first season. He also recorded 62 tackles that year, starting in all 16 games for the Browns. He never reached those numbers again, but came close in his last season with the Browns in 2009, as he recorded 69 tackles and 6.5 sacks.
In 2010, Wimbley was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a third round pick in the 2010 draft. The pick turned out to be quarterback Colt McCoy.
After playing for the Raiders for two seasons, Wimbley has spent the past three years with Tennessee.
Next: 2007: OT Joe Thomas
2007: OT Joe Thomas (3rd overall)
Sep 22, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas (73) blocks against Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen (97) in the third quarter at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Browns win 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Browns’ 2007 third overall selection was offensive tackle Joe Thomas. He played college football at Wisconsin and has spent his entire career with the Browns.
Since his rookie season, Thomas has started every single game for the Browns. He made the Pro Bowl every season, and is only one of 11 players to have achieved that. Thomas is one of the few Browns draftees that has had an immediate impact and a great career with the Browns. He is a key player in the offensive line to this day.
Next: 2007: OB Brady Quinn
2007: QB Brady Quinn (22nd overall)
Quarterback Brady Quinn was selected in the same draft with pick No. 22. He was drafted out of Notre Dame and spent a disappointing three years with the Browns.
Quinn is one of the quarterbacks that the Browns had high hopes for, but one who never lived up to the expectations. He played only two games in his rookie-season, three the next season, and 10 in his last season with the Browns in 2009. During that time, he completed only 184 passes.
After that short time with the Browns, Quinn went on to be a member of the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and St. Louis Rams.
Coming tomorrow: The Browns’ No. 1 Picks from 2008 to 2014
What memories do you have of these draft picks? At the time, did you think they were the right picks?