You are taught as a reporter not to prejudge a storyline.

That is, you are supposed to let the story come to you instead of getting an idea in your head of how it’s going to play out and then keep trying to write the story to fit that.

Indeed, the story is what it is, and you must tell it, whatever it is.

And so it was with the Browns on this third and last day of the NFL Draft on Saturday. I was all set to dislike just about everything they did. I was expecting it and had already planned how I would do the story. And that was hours before the draft even started at noontime.

But it wasn’t that way at all. Instead of disliking it, I liked it. In fact, I liked it a whole lot. There wasn’t really anything they did that with which I had a problem.

They went out and attacked areas of need on the offensive line, they got help at cornerback and they also got a developmental quarterback.

I said going into the draft that their biggest need was at linebacker, but they really didn’t address that at all. So, I guess defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is OK with it, because if he wasn’t, then the Browns would’ve addressed it.

I trust him, so if he’s not concerned about it, then I shouldn’t be concerned about it and neither should any of you. I don’t exactly know how he’s going to do it with the weak linebacker group he has, but I’m going to reserve judgment until I see it play out.

All in all, then, it was a good day Saturday, and considering that they didn’t have a pick until the third round, the draft overall went pretty well, too, for the Browns.

Now they must piece it all together and begin getting ready for the season. You can never start too early to do that.

Steve King