Playing the 'What if?' game ...

Of course things always look better in retrospect.

Still, I was interested when I took a look back at recent NFL Drafts and thought about where the Browns could be.

1999 - Tim Couch (QB) Kentucky - 1st round, 1st overall
Before the '99 draft, the big question was 'Tim Couch or Akili Smith?' General Manager Dwight Clark and the Browns chose Couch, who spent five tumultuous seasons with the organization. Smith, who was picked third overall by the Bengals, was no better as he lasted just four years in the NFL before heading off into irrelevance.

Sandwiched between the selections of Couch and Smith was the Eagles chose Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb. McNabb's name never came up before the draft, as the only other named discussed was Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams.

Knowing what we know now, McNabb's name should have been the one being tossed around.
McNabb has been a Pro Bowler five times in his career, and led the Eagles to an NFC Championship in the 2004-05 season before falling to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Couch had his career cut short because he took a beating behind a weak offensive line. McNabb would have made perfect sense with his scrambling ability to escape pressure.

Adding insult to injury: Aside from McNabb, another All-Pro QB in Daunte Culpepper was chosen in the first round (11th overall).

2000 - Courtney Brown (DE) Penn State - 1st round, 1st overall
After a horrible first season, all eyes turned toward the NFL Draft where the Browns again held the number one pick. Most believe it came down to a pair of Nittany Lions: DE Courtney Brown or LB LaVar Arrington. Of course, the Browns went with Brown and Arrington slipped to the Washington Redskins who owned the next two picks.

In all fairness, Brown did leave Happy Valley as the NCAA all-time leader in career sacks (33) so there was reason to think his skills could translate to the NFL game. It looked like they may have, as Brown had 9 sacks in his first 21 NFL games. The problem was that those 21 games covered two NFL seasons, meaning he missed 11 games. The injury bug riddled Brown his entire career, which lasted seven seasons. In his five seasons with the Browns, twice he played in less than five games.

Adding insult to injury: After Brown was taken number one overall, ten of the next 15 selections went on to reach at least one Pro Bowl, including perennial Pro Bowlers like Arrington, Brian Urlacher and Julian Peterson.

2001 - Gerard Warren (DT) Florida - 1st round, 3rd overall
This was the first draft for the Butch Davis regime, and probably a draft ol' Butch wishes he could have back. Davis wanted a big man for the middle of his defensive line, someone to take up space and take away attention from Courtney Brown. Luckily for Davis, this draft was full of those guys.Too bad he passed on all of them, thinking that Gerard Warren was the guy for that role.

After Warren went third overall, FIVE defensive tackles who made it to at least one Pro Bowl were selected in the next two rounds. Warren came to Cleveland and was here until 2004, which was way more than enough time. The production from "Big Money" decreased every season over his four seasons on the Lakefront.

Defense Stats
YEAR	TEAM	G	TOT	SOLO	AST	PD	SACK	FF	REC	INT	YDS	TD
2001	CLE	15	61	48	13	3	5.0	0	0	0	0	0
2002	CLE	16	39	29	10	2	2.0	2	0	0	0	0
2003	CLE	16	32	24	8	1	5.5	0	0	0	0	0
2004	CLE	13	18	12	6	0	4.0	2	0	0	0	0

Adding insult to injury: The careers of Richard Seymour (6th overall), Marcus Stroud (13th overall), Casey Hampton (19th overall), Kris Jenkins (44th overall) and Shaun Rogers (61st overall).

If that wasn't bad enough, many in NFL circles thought the Browns may take a certain running back from Texas Christian University. According to this article, the Browns made at least one smart move when they passed on David Terrell.

2002 - William Green (RB) Boston College - 1st round, 16th overall
William Green led the NCAA in rushing during his junior season in Chestnut Hill, totaling 1,559 yards to go along with 17 touchdowns. He then declared early for the 2002 Draft and was gobbled up by the Browns with the 16th pick. When the NCAA leader in rushing yards is available at that point, you can't really question the pick. The other name tossed around as a possibility at pick 16 was T.J. Duckett who, if nothing else, has outlasted Green floating around the league.

Adding insult to injury: One thing about Butch that proved to be true was he loved drafting guys from the University of Miami (i.e. Kellen Winslow, James Jackson, Joaquin Gonzalez and Andre King). He just passed on the wrong 'Canes; Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed was selected eight picks after Green. Davis could have selected Reed at 16th overall, and waited until the second round to try and grab a running back, maybe someone like, I don't know, his running back at Miami: Clinton Portis.

2003 - Jeff Faine (C) Notre Dame - 1st round, 19th overall
After a solid rookie year from Green in 2002-03, Davis wanted to build his offensive line and selected Notre Dame center Jeff Faine. What Davis walked away with from this draft was a Pro Bowl center ... kind of. Davis' selection long snapper Ryan Pontbriand in the sixth round turned out to benefit the franchise in the long term as Pontbriand was selected to the 2007-08 Pro Bowl. Faine was traded to the New Orleans Saints before the 2006 season when the Browns signed Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley.

Adding insult to injury: After the selection of Faine, Davis came back in the second round and selected ... Chaun Thompson. In the four picks after Thompson, Pro Bowlers Anquan Boldin and Osi Umenyiora were selected.

2004 - Kellen Winslow (TE) Miami - 1st round, 6th overall
Davis wanted Winslow so bad that he traded his first round pick (7th overall) and second round pick (37th overall) to move up and get him. Winslow played two games in his rookie year, then sat out the entire next year after a motorcycle accident. In his 2.5 years back after the injury, Winslow has shined, causing many to wonder what could have been.
After getting rid of his second round pick, Davis bundled some draft picks to move back into the second round to select safety Sean Jones, who sat out his rookie season with an ACL injury.


Adding insult to injury: The injuries. Winslow and Jones combined for two games in their first season. After the disappointing 2003 season and not a lot of improvement in the off season, the 2004 season would be Davis' left. Perhaps if Winslow and Jones were healthy, the Browns would have had a better record and Davis would've kept his job.

2005 - Braylon Edwards (WR) Michigan - 1st round, 3rd overall
With his first pick as GM of the Browns, Phil Savage selected Michigan WR Braylon Edwards. Edwards has hit the peaks of the mountains and the lows of the valleys in his 3+ seasons with the Browns. Just when it looked like he was finding a groove in his rookie season, his season abruptly ended due to a leg injury. He had a Pro Bowl season in 2007-08 as he caught 16 touchdowns, but has come back in 2008 and dropped more passes than anyone else in the NFL.

Adding insult to injury: Let's keep it positive for this year. Aside from Edwards, Savage got steady safety Brodney Pool from Oklahoma and some nice special teamers in David McMillan and undrafted pickup Simon Fraser. Oh year, he also took a flier on an undrafted kid from Kent State, Josh Cribbs, who has blossomed into one of the best special teams players in the game.

In the sixth round of the 2005 Draft, Baltimore selected quarterback Derek Anderson from Oregon State but waived him before he played in a game. Savage signed Anderson to the Browns practice squad. In 2007-08, Anderson was named to the Pro Bowl after leading the Browns to a ten-win season.

2006 - Kamerion Wimbley (LB) Florida State - 1st round, 13th overall
After Kamerion Wimbley had a fantastic rookie season, he has disappointed over the last season and a half. He had 11.0 sacks during his first season, but has just 7.0 sacks in the 25 games since then.

Adding insult to injury: The Browns originally had the 12th overall pick, but traded with division rival Baltimore. The Browns dropped back one slot to 13th overall and picked up a seventh round pick in exchange for the 12th pick. Baltimore selected Haloti Ngata who is developing into one of the NFL's best defensive tackles.

2007 - Joe Thomas (OT) Wisconsin - 1st round, 3rd overall & Brady Quinn (QB) Notre Dame - 1st round, 22nd overall
It's WAY too early to tell, but the early results suggest the Browns did a nice job with this draft. Joe Thomas anchored the offensive line as a rookie and was named to the Pro Bowl for his efforts. Brady Quinn has started one NFL game and played well. However, in a perfect world Quinn would be sitting on the bench and learning from Tim Couch, getting ready to take over the reigns from the '99 #1 overall pick.
Savage also drafted defensive backs Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald, both of whom have made plays but struggled at times.

2008 - No first round pick.
The Browns included their '08 first pick to move up into the first round back in 2007 to draft Brady Quinn. With the Browns pick, the Dallas Cowboys drafted Arkansas RB Felix Jones. The Browns then traded their second round pick to Green Bay for Corey Williams, and included their third round pick as well as Leigh Bodden to acquire Shaun Rogers.
After seeing how most of the Browns draft picks have turned out, it may have been wise to trade potential for guys that have already proven they can do it at the NFL level.

When it's all said and done, it's much easier to second guess knowing what we know now. Plus, if the Browns hit on some of those early draft picks, they're picking later in the draft and those stars aren't available. A lot of the guys I mentioned were second round picks, so the Browns were one of 32 teams to pass over the player at least once. The point is, the organization is 3-6 so far this season because of decisions like these.

At 3-6, there isn't a lot to look forward to except the 2009 NFL Draft. This time, let's hope the Browns get it right.