Phil Savage fiddles as Romeo burns

[PonyExpress]

When Romeo went to the Browns, I was ready to adopt the team as a football step-child, root for the revival of a once great franchise in a sports town that has gone through more than its share of heartbreak. We all knew Romeo intended to build through defense, and in 2005 he was blessed with the #3 pick in the draft as mortar to lay his foundation. At the time I was very high on Merriman, thought he was the best defensive player in the draft and would be a great fit for Romeo. But silly Savage went out and drafted Braylon "David Terrell" Edwards. The second he did that I knew storm clouds were on the horizon and that Savage was a fool. It was an inexcusable waste of a top 5 pick for a struggling franchise, and reaffirmed that Ozzie was the Oz behind the Ravens' draft curtain, not Savage, as many had begun foolishly whispering at the time. That poor decision was compounded by more idiocy in the 2006 draft. Romeo can't lie to save his life, he's too decent a man; when an NFL Network announcer at the 2006 COmbine asked Romeo whom he liked in the draft, he said Haloti Ngata and Aj Hawk, adding that players of their quality had no chance of dropping to #12, where the Browns were slotted.

Of course, Savage dissed Romeo again: Come draft day, with Ngata still on the board, he traded down one spot and handed the Hulk to the Ravens, then drafted Wimbley, a flashy pass rusher notoriously inept against the run. He invited Dan Pompei of TSN into the Browns' War Room, being the media whore he is, to chronicle his draft day brilliance for posterity. Pompei wrote about how agitated Savage became that some team in the top 10 might snag his targeted prize, Wimbley. With far superior players still on the board, Savage's paranoia illustrated just how poorly he understood the dynamics of the draft. In the end he handed his chief division rival the one player who could instantly revive their declining defense, and ensured that his own team would be a laughingstock against the run all season. I wonder if he pondered his disastrous decision while watching Willie Parker shred the Browns for 230 yards, and Haloti Ngata transform the overrated Ravens LBing corps (save for AD) into the 86 Giants.

Now, Savage is about to completely torpedo Romeo's last chance at headcoaching success. Due to a giddy fascination with Jamarcus Russell dating back to JR's attendance at Savage's Alabama youth football camp 7 years ago, Savage may be on the verge of trading up for this bust-to-be, setting back the Browns' franchise another 3 years, ensuring that Romeo will be fired at year's end no matter the outcome, and ignoring the opportunity to draft a true difference maker like Branch or Quinn. I feel sorry for Romeo that at his age he is saddled with a clueless choir boy as GM, further disgracing the legacy of one of the great franchises in football history.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Well spoken.

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

All right, but how do you really feel?

 

[dryheat44]

Braylon Edwards really doesn't deserve to be thrown in with the likes of David Terrell. Merriman was my favorite player in the draft, but no way should he have gone #3 (without hindsight. He'd probably go #1 if we had a time machine). There were some highly regarded RBs and CBs, and it was a strong draft for 3-4 LBs (Johnson, Ware, Pollack). The right move at the time was probably Antrell Rolle.

I thought Kam Wimbley had a great rookie year, although I agree Ngata was the correct choice.

In short, I see no reason to vilify Phil Savage because his top two choices haven't been Pro Bowlers in their first two seasons. He did also draft Brodney Pool and D'Qwell Jackson, who look like they could be excellent players in time.

Let's beat up on Belichick because he drafted Mankins, who has never been to a Pro-Bowl, instead of Lofa Tatupu or Frank Gore. He also made the bonehead mistake of drafting Laurence Maroney, who couldn't even rush for 1000 yards, and Chad Jackson, who was unproductive, when he could've had Santonio Holmes, Joseph Addai, Nick Mangold in the first, or Daneal Manning, Marcus McNeil, or Maurice Jones-Drew in the second.