The NFL Draft is like grocery shopping.
Just like when we take our list and money into the store and walk up and down the aisles looking for items to stock the shelves of our pantry and refrigerator, teams also have their list of needs and try to fill as many of them as they can with the number of picks they have available.
Of course, it’s more complicated than that, but essentially, that’s what happens. And it will begin happening again when the first round of the 2017 draft is held in about 2½ weeks.
What happens, though, when what we really want – what we set out to get more than any other product when we walked through the store entrance – just isn’t there?
For instance, say we go to the supermarket needing, among other things, a gallon of one-percent milk. Stores tend to stock plenty of whole, two-percent and now even one-half-percent milk, but finding one-percent can sometimes be difficult. Why one-percent is left out of the milk mix is anyone’s guess, but it is what it is.
When that happens, do we just settle for one of the other varieties of milk? Or do we pay for the other items we did find – soup, broccoli, chicken, flour, etc. — and then go out later for the one-percent milk we want, making do in the meantime with the milk we already have?
We know that the one-percent milk is the foundation ingredient for the food we need, so sooner or later, whether it’s today, tomorrow or next week, we’ve got to find it. Nothing really works as it should in our kitchen without the right kind of milk.
It’s where the Browns may well find themselves when the draft is held April 27-29. In fact, it’s likely they already know they’ll be there.
The Browns, of course, need a franchise quarterback. The quarterbacks they have right now, namely Cody Kessler and Brock Osweiler, probably can’t be the guy. They simply don’t have the right ingredients. They’re not what the team wants – or needs — for the long haul.
The problem is that, according to most experts, the draft is bereft of franchise quarterbacks.
So what should the Browns do?
Do the Browns use those top picks to fill some of the other many needs they have?
And in doing that, then, do they use a lower-profile pick to get a lesser-rated quarterback, and then wait until later – such as in next year’s draft – before circling back to get their franchise guy? Can they make do until then with the guys they already have, or with another bridge-type of quarterback they would bring in?
The Browns know, though, that they will never, ever, get to where they want to go without a franchise quarterback. It just won’t happen.
Those are all the questions the Browns are trying to answer as they continue to prepare for the draft. Making the right decisions – or not — will determine what kind of lasting taste – sweet or sour — is left in their mouths and that of their fans.
