With the NFL draft just around the corner, we take a look back at the five worst draft misses for the Cleveland Browns over the past five seasons.
The Cleveland Browns have objectively come a long way in the last five seasons. Now that growth, from a franchise perspective, has not been without its share of bumps in the road and the progression has not been exactly linear.
But for the first time since the franchise has returned to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have a capable front office in place that’s building a team that could and should contend for an AFC North title for the next several years.
The front office’s plan was, and is, to build a foundation through the NFL Draft, select young players, identify the talent they wish to retain and build around, and pay them early so they can stay ahead of escalating contracts at key positions. With a foundation and a core in place, it is easier to supplement areas of need through trades and free agency.
While these are not revolutionary ideas and practices, they definitely can be filed under the easier said than done category. What has separated this current front office from the iterations that have come and gone in Berea? They finally began to hit on their early draft picks and were able to retain the players to create a foundation.
But that is not why we are here today. Today we are going to highlight, or lowlight, the five worst draft selections that Browns have made over the past five seasons.
Cleveland Browns draft miss No. 5: Howard Wilson
Don’t be mad if you are finding yourself saying who is Howard Wilson? It is probably the most common thought after reading Wilson’s name on this list.
In the 2017 NFL draft, the Browns traded two fifth-round picks to the Denver Broncos in order to select Wilson with the 126th overall pick in the fourth round. Wilson, a 6-foot-1 185-pound cornerback out of the University of Houston, had the traits that even the current Browns front offices coveted. Wilson was a young corner with good length, solid measurables, and good production.
While at Houston, Wilson recorded nine interceptions and 10 pass breakups over the course of 27 games played. The cornerback was also a willing participant in run defense, registering 107 total tackles, and 77 of those were of the solo variety. On the surface, it seemed like a player that could have been worth trading up to get.
What happened to Wilson? In short, injuries derailed his career before he ever took a snap at the professional level. Wilson was placed on the physically unable to perform list in 2017, on the injured reserved in 2018, and was waived and then cut prior to the draft in 2019. Goodbye sweet prince, we hardly even knew you.
It should be stated that some of the players remaining on the board, when the Browns traded up for Wilson, included: running backs Jamaal Williams, Marlon Mack, Aaron Jones, and Chris Carson. Safeties: Desmond King, Chuck Clark, and Xavier Woods. And some tight end named George Kittle. A swing and miss for the Browns.
Cleveland Browns Draft miss No. 4: DeShone Kizer
While I am not convinced that DeShone Kizer was inherently a bad player, it is inarguable that Kizer will be remembered as a huge draft miss for the Browns. When Cleveland selected Kizer with the 52nd overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft, they made the Notre Dame signal-caller the fourth quarterback selected in the draft. Kizer went behind: Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, and some guy named Deshaun Watson.
In hindsight, Kizer never stood a chance in Cleveland. While the signal-caller had all the measurables, Kizer had next to nothing surrounding him on the field and even less help coming from the coaching staff.
Kizer’s supporting cast was basically Duke Johnson, Isaiah Crowell, and Ricardo Louis. The young man never stood a chance.
He was thrown into the fire and was left there to burn. His rookie season consisted of 15 losing starts where he compiled 11 touchdowns to 22 interceptions and completed just shy of 54 percent of his pass attempts. There was never a lifeline thrown to help save the rookie and he was left to just figure it out on the field.
Spoiler alert, Kizer was not able to figure it out and was shipped out of Cleveland the following offseason. In short, Kizer’s career as a Brown died so that the franchise may live.
Players that were still on the board when Kizer was selected: Alvin Kamara, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, Kareem Hunt, and JuJu Smith Schuster among others.
Cleveland Browns Draft miss No. 3: Austin Seibert
Austin Seibert was brought into the fold at an interesting time in Cleveland Browns football. The franchise had just transitioned away from an analytical approach and was solely in the hands of a ‘football guy’ in John Dorsey. It was Dorsey’s second draft in Cleveland, and the first without the aid of vice player of personnel and future general manager extraordinaire, Andrew Berry.
The Browns were in the market for a kicker, and Dorsey decided to make the move to acquire one in round five of the 2019 NFL draft. Seibert had an outstanding kicking career at the University of Oklahoma (somehow abbreviated to OU). Seibert made 309 of the 314 extra points he attempted (98.4%) and converted 63 of his 79 field goal attempts (79.7%) while in Norman.
But his kicking metrics were not the reason that Dorsey selected Seibert. In what may go down as the most ‘football guy’ thing of all time, Dorsey selected Seibert because of the way the ball sounded coming off of his foot. True story.
Seibert spent one full season as the Browns kicker, and from a statistical standpoint he performed how you would expect a rookie kicker to perform. Seibert made 25 of the 29 field goals he attempted. However, Seibert’s five missed extra points were a large point of contention heading into the 2020 offseason.
Then as fate would have it, Seibert missed his first extra-point attempt of 2020 and was subsequently relieved of his kicking duties and was cut just before the second game of the season.
In short, you probably shouldn’t draft a kicker unless you consider him a can’t miss type of prospect, and definitely don’t select one based on the thud the ball makes when they kick it.
Cleveland Browns Draft miss No. 2: Antonio Callaway
Antonio Callaway was an uber-talented wide receiver prospect of the University of Florida. But with that great talent also came great risk. For as much talent and potential as the young man demonstrated on the field, there were equally, or perhaps even more, as many red flags for Callaway off of the field.
Callaway was not an extreme volume receiver while in Gainesville, but he was electric when the ball was in his hands. He only hauled in 89 receptions during his two seasons as a Gator, but he did average 15.7 yards a catch and scored seven touchdowns. Callaway also scored as a rusher and even threw one touchdown.
But it was his ability to return punts and kicks that showcased what he was capable of from a yards after catch perspective, scoring on two punt returns as a freshman and one kick return as a sophomore. For reasons that we will not delve into here, Callaway was suspended for the entirety of his junior campaign and declared for the NFL draft.
John Dorsey and the Browns called Callaway’s name with the 105th selection of the 2018 NFL draft. Viewed as a fringe first-round talent, that many NFL general managers evaluated as undraftable due to his off-field concerns as well as a diluted urine sample at the NFL combine, Dorsey pulled the trigger. Just as he had done with players like Tyreek Hill, Dorsey saw the reward outweighing the inherent risk.
Both Callaway and his red flags showed up to Berea for his rookie training camp. Despite a rocky start, that included an infamous traffic stop documented by HBO’s Hard Knocks, Callaway turned in a decent rookie season. Callaway hauled in 43 receptions for 586 yards and five touchdowns.
Then the offseason happened, and Callaway was suspended four games for a substance-abuse violation. After a forgettable four-game return, the team waived Callaway right before he was being hit with another 10-game suspension for yet another substance-abuse violation. Callaway has since spent stints with Miami and Kansas City but has not been able to regain his footing as a professional.
Wide receivers that were still on the board when the Browns selected Callaway: Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Russell Gage, and Cedrick Wilson.
Cleveland Browns Draft miss No. 1: Chad Thomas
The Browns have been trying to find a young edge defender to pair with Myles Garrett since the day he was drafted. The first attempt came when the Browns drafted Chad Thomas, a defensive end out of the University of Miami.
Thomas looked the part at 6-foot-5 and 280-poundss, but the four-year player for the Hurricanes never put together the statistics that would indicate future success at the next level. He tested well enough at the NFL combine to be an intriguing prospect, but with his game tape not matching his metrics it left more questions than answers.
The Browns took a shot on Thomas with the 67th overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft. Thomas was never able to materialize any of his physical gifts into on-field success.
After only being active for four games as a rookie, Thomas was able to start eight games in 2019 due to a litany of injuries and suspensions forced him into action. Another swing and a giant miss for John Dorsey and the Browns front office.
The aspiring musician appeared in 20 games for the Browns before being cut and never resurfacing for another NFL franchise. Taken just ahead of eventual defensive standouts like: Justin Reid, B.J. Hill, Fred Warner, and Harrison Phillips it is hard to not view Thomas’ selection as an outright evaluation failure.