Cleveland Browns: Revisiting the 2013 NFL Draft selections
By Shane Carter
This article is the first of three revisiting the past three NFL Drafts and trying to come up with better selections for the Cleveland Browns.
With 2017 NFL Draft right around the corner, teams are setting up their draft boards, meeting with players and planning for their future. However, some teams have had little to no success in the past, and as a result, their draft boards seem all too familiar.
The purpose of this and the next two related articles is to show all the players the Cleveland Browns have selected in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 drafts, and who they could have had instead. The results will make any Browns fan sick to their stomach at what their team could have looked like today.
Here’s how this will work: I didn’t undo any trades that were done in the draft, I simply took the draft positions and drafted accordingly. I did not pick any players picked before Cleveland, only picked players available at their pick and before their next. With all that in mind, let’s get started with the 2013 NFL Draft.
Round 1
Player Selected: OLB Barkevious Mingo
Other Options: DL Sheldon Richardson, S Eric Reid, CB Desmond Trufant, TE Tyler Eifert, WR DeAndre Hopkins, C Travis Frederick, RB Le’Veon Bell
New Pick: DeAndre Hopkins
With Brandon Weeden being the quarterback and a soon-to-be discovered Josh Gordon selected in the supplemental draft, another stud wide receiver helps stretch the field and gives the offense a major boost that it desperately needs.
Le’Veon Bell also could have done the same but at the time the team still had Trent Richardson so another first-round pick on a running back wouldn’t be likely.
Round 2: No Selection
Round 3
Player selected: CB Leon McFadden
Other Options: S Tyrann Mathieu, TE Jordan Reed, OT David Bakhtiari
New Pick: Jordan Reed
Popular opinion may say that Mathieu not only fills a need but is the better player. However, I remind you that Mathieu’s drug use and his dismissal from the LSU football team led to him going from a potential top-5 overall pick to a third-rounder.
Related: Jake Butt draft profile
Jordan Reed is a match-up nightmare and becomes one of the league’s new star tight ends and gives the Browns a new direction on offense.
Round 4: No Selection
Round 5: No Selection
Round 6
Player Selected: S Jamoris Slaughter
Other Options: RB Latavius Murray, RB Andre Ellington, S Bacarri Rambo
New Pick: RB Latavius Murray
Bacarri Rambo is the better safety and fills the need but there’s something about a 6-foot-3, 230- pound back who can run a 4.38 40-yard-dash that’s just too enticing. Murray gives the team great depth at running back even though Richardson is still the lead dog… for now.
Round 7
Players Selected: DE Armonty Bryant, G Garrett Gilkey
Other Options: S Tony Jefferson, OT Ryan Schraeder, RB C.J. Anderson, CB A.J. Bouye
New Pick: Tony Jefferson, Ryan Schraeder
Tony Jefferson may not start right away but he becomes the better option at strong safety and gives the team an upgrade in the secondary. Ryan Shraeder, like Jefferson, doesn’t start right away but becomes the offensive tackle opposite Joe Thomas.
Imagine that for a second: the Cleveland Browns with two All-Pro tackles. Defensive ends would never see the quarterback again.
Next: Deshaun Watson draft profile
This ends part 1 and after looking back at what could have been, ask yourself; Do you feel sick? If so, you might want to reconsider part 2 because you’ll have a heart attack.