The Browns have set about to undo all the mistakes the last two years of former – thankfully so — General Manager Ray Farmer, who wrote the book on what not to do in terms of player procurement.

That effort continued in a big way Thursday night when, after trading down a second time in eight days, they took Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman with the No. 15 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Farmer absolutely refused to take a wide receiver – and boastfully was proud of it — when he ran the draft the last two years. Farmer existed in a world that hadn’t existed in 40 years. He didn’t understand that this is now, and has been ever since Brian Sipe was on the taxi squad, an offensive league first and foremost, and to compete in it, you need dynamic skill-position players, particularly on the edge.

The Browns had the worst set of wide receivers in the NFL last season, and the worst in their history, and as such desperately – and obviously — needed to upgrade themselves there in a major way. Coleman helps them do just that. Yes, he’s unpolished and needs to learn how to run pro-style pass routes, but he has a tremendous amount of raw talent and playmaking ability. He can run downfield and make receptions, and he can catch short passes and turn them into long-gainers.

With a head coach in Hue Jackson who really understands offense, and a veteran, knowledgeable offensive staff working under him, the Browns are confident they can teach Coleman what he needs to learn so as to help a horrible offense, especially in terms of the passing game, get better.
Coleman will get to work with a Baylor product in quarterback Robert Griffiin III and, if the stars all align themselves in just the right way, another Baylor player in wide receiver Josh Gordon.

The Browns, who, while on the clock Thursday, traded with Tennessee Titans to move down seven spots from No. 8, after having moved down six spots from No. 2 in a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles last week, fell a total of 13 places in a veritable blink of an eye. That’s numbing at first blush. They went from the top of the draft order to the middle, but by doing so, they picked up a slew of extra picks. They got two more in Thursday’s trade.

Making those trades is the easy part. Now comes the difficulty for the Browns in being able to maximize those bonanza of extra selections, which now numbers seven in the top 100 in this draft.

We’ll see how they do. But if their first choice Thursday is an any indication, then they’re definitely on the right track.

And they’ll be on even a better track if they get that franchise quarterback sooner rather than later in this draft.