The Browns had 2 picks in the 2012 NFL Draft: #4 & #22. Let's see how they did.
Pick #3 (traded from Minnesota): Trent Richardson
Obviously this is a great pickup and the one that everyone thought Cleveland would take. Best RB in the draft, 1 of 3 players who can make an immediate impact on offense. Which is great news for the Browns.
So the only question is whether it was worth it to move from #4 to #3 by giving up 3 draft picks. Seems like a high price. It's rumored that Jacksonville & Tampa Bay had interest in moving up to grab Richardson. It's also rumored that the Vikings made that up in order to get 3 draft picks from the Browns.
Even if the Vikings did pull one over on Cleveland, it was worth it to guarentee that they'd get the Alabama RB. The next 2 picks would not have helped the Browns the way that Richardson can, so 3 late round draft picks taking away that risk is well worth it.
Pick #22: Brandon Weeden
The first round could've been a home run had they not picked Weeden. I actually think Weeden will be a better QB than McCoy, but for the past 6 years or so Cleveland has had 2 things happening at the same time: bad quarterbacks and quarterback controversy. By drafting Weeden, we've guarenteed both for at least another season. Had we drafted a WR, we could have at least avoided the drama of who should be the started. I guess we didn't learn from the Jets mistake.
There was still the possibility of drafting Weeden at #37. Not a lot of teams were looking at Weeden after #22. Hopefully the Browns fill their hole at WR and RT before the 5th round. It was just too early to take the Oklahoma State QB. Another 'almost great' job by the Browns. Great.
