NFL Draft 2015: Cleveland Browns 10 Best First-Round Picks
By Thomas Moore
10. Eric Metcalf (1989, Pick No. 13)
Eric Metcalf gained 9,108 all-purpose yards and scored 33 touchdowns in six years with the Browns after being drafted out of the University of Texas.
As dynamic as he was – especially in what is referred to today as open space – head coaches Bud Carson and Bill Belichick were never able to fully figure out how to utilize Metcalf’s ability. The 5-foot-10, 168-pound Metcalf was used so much between the tackles that “Metcalf up the Middle” earned a place in the vocabulary of Browns fans.
Metcalf had a flair for the dramatic, returning a kickoff 90-yards for a touchdown against Buffalo in a 1990 playoff game and, most memorably, returning a pair of punts for touchdowns in a 1993 home win over Pittsburgh.
As with everything under Belichick’s time in Cleveland, Metcalf’s tenure with the Browns ended badly. Belichick traded Metcalf, who had made the Pro Bowl in 1993 and 1994, along with the Browns first-round pick to Atlanta before the 1995 NFL Draft in exchange for Atlanta’s pick, No. 10 overall.
Belichick eventually turned that pick, through a trade with San Francisco, into the immortal Craig Powell.
Metcalf spent two years in Atlanta before closing out his 13-year NFL career with single-season stops in Arizona, Carolina, Green Bay, San Diego and Washington.
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