April Fools Day extends to the Draft for the Browns.

Brownie Down

Note: On NNR Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports & I reviewed the Browns offense after their free agent deals. The podcast is on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

The recent history of the Browns drafts makes me think there was an April Fools Day hangover. Here are just a few of the jokes that have been forced on Browns fans.

The 22nd overall pick has been a cruel joke on the fans waiting for a quality QB.

2014 Johnny “football” Manziel – The team reportedly spent 100K to decide which QB in the draft had the best chance of success based on metrics. The result was that Teddy Bridgewater had the best chance of success. So with Teddy on the board the Browns traded up to the 22nd pick to take—Johnny Football. His season spent under the watchful eye of the coaching staff didn’t mean much when in his first start he laid a dinosaur egg against the Bengals. He spent a lot more time with blowup swans than his playbook. We all hope he can overcome his demons in rehab. While some say he deserves another chance, in my opinion he should at least have some competition before being anointed the starter.

2012 Brandon Weeden – The best thing I can say about Weeden is that at least he did not get traded at halftime of his 1st start like Charlie Frye did. In his first season Brandon completed 57% of his throws and tossed more picks than TD’s. He regressed in his 2nd year with Cleveland completing only 52.8% of his throws. By his 3rd season he was in Dallas backing up Tony Romo.

2007 The curse of the 22nd pick started with the team’s selection of Brady Quinn. Brady played in just 1 game in his rookie year. But his 37.5 percent completion rate was a sign of things to come. In 08 he started 3 games but completed just over half of his throws. That should have been enough for management but he was allowed to start 9 games in 2009. Both his completion percentage and passer rating were in the 50’s. He has now been on 5 teams in his last 5 years in the league.

Fortunately the Browns do not have the 22nd pick this year. They need a QB unless they are planning to “Crash for Cardale” Jones from Ohio State. My fear is with either Josh McCown or Manziel starting is this: “With the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select…”

That is what I think. Tell us what you think by commenting here or tweeting me @NNRonDSN.

NOTE: News, Notes and Rumors podcast are BACK. Check out our thoughts on Fridays about the games coming up and Monday on the results of the weekend. My co-host is Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports. Podcasts can be heard on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. Thanks for your support.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

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