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Cleveland Browns: Avoid getting caught up in the Combine hype

By Steven Kubitza

Mar 1, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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It is easy to latch on to a player based on how he looks during the NFL Combine, but Cleveland Browns fans must not hold rash opinions after the event.

The NFL Combine is like Christmas Eve for Cleveland Browns fans, while the Draft is full-blown Christmas morning.

The anticipation over who the team should take builds in March, with the eventual reveal coming in April.

But while it is easy to get caught up in vertical jumps and 40-yard dash times, it is important to not treat the Combine results as the most telling evidence of a player’s abilities.

This is not to discount the importance of the NFL Combine. It allows NFL coaches and front office executives alike to see college players in person and meet with them, which may be the most important part of the event. But this one week should not outweigh actual game film compiled over a player’s career.

This time of year often sees stocks drastically rise and fall, based on simple things such as a shuttle drill or missing the target on a few throws. But fans should be smart enough by now to realize that one week of drills is not even to prove great value, or to lose it.

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So no matter what happens, Myles Garrett should still emerge as the top prospect for April’s draft. The Browns may choose to go a different route, but it should be based on scouting and meetings as opposed to how he performs in Indianapolis.

While fan emotions don’t factor into picks, the same must hold true for those making the picks. Sashi Brown and Hue Jackson seem smart enough to not allow Combine hype to drastically change their minds on a player, but it is important they don’t fall in love with a quarterback and take him No. 1 overall if he could be grabbed at No. 12.

It is easy for Jackson, a quarterback guru of sorts, to meet with a quarterback and want him on the team, but the No. 1 pick should be used on the most talented player. And if that is a defensive end, then it should be used on a defensive end.

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Rumors will continue to emerge from Indianapolis throughout the next week, and many of them will be about the Browns and that No. 1 overall pick. And all fans can do is hope that the team stays smart and drafts based upon overall talent, avoiding getting enamored with a player who may not be the most talented available.

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