Can the Browns overthink the 2017 NFL Draft?
And is that your biggest concern with the draft now, depending on when you’re reading this, about 27 days away?
Yes.
And probably.
Certainly it is possible to overthink this. Are you kidding?
Any team can overthink anything, especially something as incredibly important as the draft, especially when a club has all the focus on it with having the No. 1 overall pick, and especially when franchises have been working almost solely on the draft for the last three months – and counting.
When any of us — even the smartest and clearest-thinking among us — stare at a blank white wall for days and days and day on end, we start to see things that aren’t there – shapes, numbers, dancing cartoon characters and the scariest and strangest thing of all, what appears to be the furrowed-brow face of Joe Banner.
You’ve got to shake your head and knock the cobwebs out, rub your eyes, catch up on what’s been happening in the news since the last time we had time to pay attention (You mean Obama’s not the president anymore?) and go for a walk. You realize there’s more to life than 40 times.
And when you do – when the Browns do – they’ll see what everyone in the outside world sees, and it is that Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett is, without absolutely any question at all, the player most deserving to be taken with that top choice.
Now, is he perfect? No.
Is he a can’t-miss prospect? There’s no such thing as that.
But, in both regards, Garrett’s the next-best thing. If he doesn’t pan out – perish the thought – then everybody was wrong. That would be no solace to the Browns or the fans, but it’s the truth.
The Browns need help on defense, particularly on the line and particularly in getting after the quarterback. Garrett checks all those boxes. On paper at least, if a card with his name is delivered to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when the Browns are on the clock – if the Browns play the overwhelming odds and sign off on him — he makes their defense – and the team overall – immeasurably better, instantly.
So, in being a tremendous player at a tremendous area of need for them, it should be the easiest move ever for the Browns to select Garrett.
But until they do – until it has happened, it is officially official and it is an undeniable fact — will you worry about a late April surprise?
