BEREA, OH – With the 2012 NFL Draft two months away, the Cleveland Browns are in a prime position to re-shape and infuse some top level talent into the moribund franchise.

Thanks to a 4-12 season and a draft-day trade with the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland has two picks in the first round, the fourth overall pick—their own—and Atlanta’s pick at #22 and the Falcon’s fourth round pick at #117.

Cleveland has five picks in the first 100 draft selections, if there is any team that has no room for error, or the luxury of drafting best player available it is the Browns.

With multiple needs at quarterback, wide receiver, right tackle, defensive end, cornerback, offensive line, running back, guard, free safety, defensive tackle and kicker, the Browns cannot afford to miss on any of their nine picks in April.

Cleveland can choose to fill some of their team needs in free agency, but considering team president Mike Holmgren and team general manager Tom Heckert’s philosophy of building thru the draft, the likelihood of Cleveland being active—despite having $21 million dollars in salary cap space—is very remote.

During the regular season and in the current off-season, the talk in and around Northeast Ohio is whether or not the Browns are going to trade up to select Heisman Trophy quarterback Robert Griffin III, pursue free agent quarterback Matt Flynn of the Green Bay Packers or simply draft offense and surround current starting quarterback Colt McCoy with playmakers.

And there is always the current—and most recent—option of trading down.

The on-going draft day debate can be heard on local TV and radio stations to sports bars and taverns ranging from the West Side affluent conclaves of Bay Village and Westlake to the tough inner-city neighborhoods such as East Cleveland and Hough.

What cannot be debated is the fact that the Browns had issues getting to the quarterback and applying pressure in 2010-11.

With Cleveland in the same division with quarterbacks such as Andy Dalton of Cincinnati, Joe Flacco of Baltimore and Ben Roethlisberger, Cleveland would be wise to focus on getting TO them instead of drafting another quarterback and setting the organization back further.

With the NFL being a “passing league” the New York Giant’s recent victory in Super Bowl XLVI showed that with a quality defensive line that even a top-tier quarterback such as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady can be grounded, and that defense does win championships.

Cleveland is realistically three solid drafts away from building a quality contender, but two draft picks away from building a top notch defense in the same mold of the Houston Texans.

If there is one team that the Browns should take notes from on how to build a defense through the draft, it is the Texans who have would draft Mario Williams #1 overall out of North Carolina State and build around him with DeMeco Ryans, Amobi Okoye, Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin, Kareem Jackson and land defensive standouts in J.J. Watt and Brooks Reed last April.

While the temptation to draft Griffin III, Justin Blackmon or Trent Richardson may be great, the Browns would be better suited in following the Texans blueprint of building a defense through the draft first and holding out for USC’s Matt Barkley or Oklahoma’s Landry Jones next April.

 

As the best offense is a dominating defense.