Round One in the Books, Holmgren Still Team President

I'd like a show of hands from people who thought that the Browns would bungle their first round draft pick. Shame on all of you! Mike Holmgren is in charge now! There is no way anything like the last decade of "drafting" would take place again. Ok, ok, I admit it. I was sweating bullets too. Up until the long "o" sound that came after the "j" sound, I thought the Browns would be the biggest blunder of the draft by taking Jimmy Clausen. Instead, the Browns shored up their defensive secondary a bit by taking Joe Haden from Florida. As for Clausen, Round 1 came and went and he stayed in the "Available" column. Wow.

Even more surprising was the fact that Tim Tebow, who some predicted as a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick, was taken by the Denver Broncos after they traded UP to get him! All in all the first round went pretty much according to plan. That is, until the Oakland Raiders went on the clock. JaMarcus Russel has been a complete bust for the Silver and Black ever since his holdout ended his rookie year. So we're all sitting there, waiting for the Jimmy Clausen pick to be made, but remember, I said he's still available. The Raiders seem to be moving towards an "11" defense where they use 11 Linebackers, no D-Lineman, no Secondary, just Linebackers. Granted, the Raiders are more than just one player away from contending again, but Linebackers rarely touch the ball. They can't effect the outcome of a game the same way a Quarterback can. I texted my friend the following after that pick: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Al Davis! I think he just makes picks to try to be that one Funny Guy Owner who is always like 'Hey ya'll, watch this pick! It's gonna be hilarious!'" and every other owner is thankful that Davis will never give up control because he will always make their pick look a little less dumb.

Sam Bradford went to the Rams as expected, Ndamakong Suh went second as expected and Gerald McCoy went third as expected. After that, it was pretty clear which players would be chosen it just wasn't very clear as to which order they would go in. Of course, ESPN ruined all the drama of the pick being read by Commissioner Roger Goodell by showing the player about to be picked either crying, on the phone, jumping up and down, hugging his family members or any combination of the four. Please, ESPN, lose about three cameras, move the draft start back to Saturday afternoon and keep it a 2-day affair.

In day two, I look for the Browns to find a Quarterback, and I'm hoping it's Dan LeFevour from Central Michigan. I think with with tutelage of Jake Delhomme, LeFevour can eventually take over the reigns a la Aaron Rodgers, minus the Hall of Fame waffler he's replacing. I also think the Browns will try to grab another couple guys on the defensive side of the ball and maybe a long shot offensive play maker. Whatever the case, Mike Holmgren will make sure Cleveland doesn't take Al Davis' title anytime soon.