Nike Football signs Ezekiel Elliott ahead of the NFL Draft
April 27, 2016Over-rated and Under-rated 2016 NFL Draft players for each round
April 27, 2016With less that two days remaining until the 2016 NFL Draft, ESPN Cleveland analyst Tony Grossi has penned a well-reported story on former Browns head coach Mike Pettine and the weekend that would ultimately torpedo his career in Cleveland: The 2014 NFL Draft that saw then General Manager Ray Farmer select cornerback Justin Gilbert and quarterback Johnny Manziel in the first round.
“The two guys we felt good about were [Derek] Carr and [Jimmy] Garoppolo,” Pettine said Tuesday. “Just projecting the guys we thought would be there, we all thought [Teddy] Bridgewater would be gone.”
But in one of those epic draft-day surprises that changes the fortunes of a franchise, and alters the lives of so many others, the Browns wound up taking Johnny Manziel after a trade up from No. 26 to No. 22….
Regrets? He had a few: Asked to name other things he wish he could do over, Pettine quipped, “Where do I start?”
If he started at the beginning, it would not be the Manziel selection but the choice of cornerback Justin Gilbert with the team’s first draft pick in 2014, at No. 8 overall after a trade down, and then a trade up.
The Browns’ vetting process of Gilbert was remarkably lax — they did not meet with him at the NFL combine, invite him to a pre-draft visit or privately work him out — until a visit by Farmer in the last days before the draft. Gilbert’s development has suffered from what some have described as a lack of love and passion for the game of football.
“I think a lot would have been different had we taken somebody else there,” Pettine said.
The entire story is extremely well done, and is a great get for a reporter who is often defined by his warts. It discusses the additions of players like Dwayne Bowe—a group decision—as well as Farmer’s attempt to pass off the first round in 2014 as something that was beyond his control, and the former GM’s texts to various staff members occurring behind Pettine’s back after the head coach attempted to “nip it in the bud.”
It’s an intriguing look behind the scenes, but the theme is one that will carry beyond 2014 in that the regime, specifically the head coach, will be tied to whomever they select not just in the first round of the draft, but what quarterback they choose to lead the way. With the Browns, as currently led by Hue Jackson, needing help at nearly every position, hitting on this year’s draft will be just as important as it was for Pettine two years earlier.
37 Comments
Biggest Regret: how about taking the HC job w/ the Browns. Does he have a job now? He would probably be a top paid DC or have a shot at HC a franchise that is not a complete clusterf*k.
How about that the GM didn’t nut up and demand decisions/selections follow the months of evaluations preceding the draft?
All they had to do was stay put, draft SAMMY, then Teddy/Derek, buuuut nooooo…
His job is former HC of the Cleveland Browns. Great pay and benefits and you cannot beat the hours.
Only reason I’m excited for tomorrow is to see all of those OSU Buckeyes selected in round 1.
Grossi writes, “Manziel hit a new low on Tuesday when he was indicted by a Dallas grand jury . . . ”
It didn’t take long for Johnny to sink even lower, as he was spotted at the Bieber concert in Cleveland last night.
Is this now officially rock bottom?
He hasn’t dated a Kardashian, yet.
i was pretty hard on Pettine. Some of the stuff I was knocking him for, it turns out, maybe wasn’t on him. Hmm..I have always liked his honesty and I can see why guys really wanted to play for him. And the insight on Manziel is excellent. Just the fact that he went the extra sentence to make sure the reader understands that Johnny never just mailed it in speaks volumes.
I think this guy should get another DC job on a contending team, and then his HC prospects will bloom. He just wasn’t ready to be in THAT room with THOSE guys yet in his career. I mean, can you see the draft going the same way with Bill Parcells as the coach?
“cannot beat the hours”
AMEN.
https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m0QoSrgmY3vqqEsEOE-vfNTXrtg=/0x32:2930×1985/1310×873/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/19856431/98782695.0.jpg
Also found interesting his implication that roster decisions were made last year on the assumption that his job wasn’t at risk – playing youth in order to develop them, rather than perhaps making other decisions “for the moment.” I can appreciate that, but it certainly makes me wonder what was being conveyed to him as far as long-term planning – and what is being conveyed to Hue now.
driving home through downtown last night passed a long stream of identically dressed teenage girls. Only later did I hear that it was for a Bieber concert. That Manziel would be going to that is almost more depressing than his drinking issues.
that was facetious, btw
and knowing Jimmy’s itchy trigger with Chud, why he would make such assumptions. Maybe he thought 7 wins in year 1 gave him a cushion. Or maybe when you are cocooned in that type of intense public job it’s hard to entertain those thoughts unless the boss lays it out for you: better win now, pal.
Landing a Browns HC job (99-present);
Late 90’s tech IPO; or
Launching a new App (2005-present).
Best con job/easy money shakedown?
Tough to be cocooned though, with even the casual fan knowing the HC position was being avoided by to top candidates. Pettine knew he was not on their original short list. Hopefully, anyway.
because if you cannot trust ownership to see the vision in playing the younger players, then you are better off being paid for vacation before finding another DC job a year later.
Good job by Grossi, and Pettine still seems decent. Deferred many chances to throw Farmer under the bus.
And yet even without Pettine’s direct criticism, wow. Not personally working out Gilbert or sitting down with him until hour zero? Being told to bud out by the HC and then still texting suggestions to the OC? Interesting that Pettine and Shanahan were so distant that he didn’t know Farmer was pestering his own coordinator.
I tend to favor a structure with the owner removed by an executive from the real football people, to keep a rich dolt from falling in love with a green yes man with big aspirations (cough-Sashi). Farmer didn’t know what he didn’t know and sounds like, being inexperienced and insecure, tried to control areas beyond his limited expertise.
not getting to know the draft pick youre picking in the top ten (and then actuall trading up within the top 10 for) is beyond malfeasance and into the stupid+lazy category. combined with bypassing two QBs you like plus one you didnt expect to have a shot at on the word of your 30-something gnomish hick QB coach and i think we’ve actually found the worst browns draft ever and i say that in full recognition of all bad browns drafts.
Totally. The “methodology” used makes it a nightmare of foolishness, hubris, ignorance. What I can’t forget is Farmer’s pre-draft comments about not minding players with “some dirt under their fingernails,” as if he was still a back up linebacker who retained a field’s eye view of the real NFL deal, not like these pointy heads who crunched numbers or attended pro days.
By “dirt” I think he meant “cocaine.”
I remember seeing an int with Farmer and Dustin Fox pre draft where he clued us in on how he evaluates QBs. He watches them outside of the huddle and how they interact with the other players, and who gravitates towards them. So anyway…yada yada yada…that is the story of how we got our guy who was able to bro it up so well.
Heard the same thing before he was named GM, I think. It was a video interview where he was sitting in practice field bleachers. “Do teammates interact with him? Is he pumping them up?” That’s nice inside baseball, Ray, but let’s start with “Can he read a defense? See over the line? Will he sit and watch film? Has he ever shown a willingness to be coached?”
So yet again we get to hear how people on the inside really liked Carr, Bridgewater, and every other QB who turned out (so far) to be good, yet they still took Manziel for some unspecified reason (group think, apparently).
Sorry. Not buying it. He seems like an okay guy, but I’m not going to act like Pettine’s second year was anything but a complete cluster. Was it all his fault? Absolutely not. But he deserves a lot of the blame. I have no regrets that he is gone.
Ol’ Coach Pett, always protecting the homeless guy.
Caption This: “How much of my talent is credited to Brett Favre?”
and to top-it-off , jim o’neill has a job as a DC … though pettine may need some time to clear his head.
Heard the same interview and actually thought the “QB/Player interaction observation piece” was pretty smart. I had know idea it would be a leading indicator for Farmer. Maybe a tie-breaker/separator tool.
SMH.
think of how different it might have been had we been the ones to select khalil mack & derek carr in 2014 … instead the raiders are turning the corner.
good post NJ0 …
Well we liked Carr and Bridgewater but naw we’ll take Manziel.
I like Pettine as a guy but I think we’re going to see players that struggled under his lead start to play better under Hue. And I don’t think it will only be because Hue is a good coach. I really think Pettine was a bad coach.
I agree completely. It’s the opposite of surprising that interviewing one guy leads you to believe that it’s not that guys fault. It’s not “well reported” or a good get. It’s a fired dude spinning his last two years and Grossi getting the interview and repeating everything Pettine says because nobody who actually works with the Browns will talk to the hack. Read that whole article…it’s horrible.
If all of us could obviously tell he was screwed by the organization and circumstance and not his ability, other organizations could probably tell as well.
“my room mate Mary Is getting paid on the internet 98$/hr”..,……..!wc348ctwo days ago grey MacLaren P1 I bought after earning 18,512 DoIIars..it was my previous month’s payout..just a little over.17k DoIIars Last month..3-5 hours job a day…with weekly payouts..it’s realy the simplest. job I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months. ago. and now making over. hourly 87 DoIIars…Learn. More right Here !wc348:➽:➽:➽➽➽➽ http://GlobalSuperJobsReportsEmploymentsExpressGetPayHourly$98…. .❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦::::::!wc348………
In fairness, Chud sucks.
Ron Wolf on line 1…
“Farmer actually told me he was aiming for all of his receivers to be shorter than this… I was into it!”
excellent point.