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Browns flex their muscles in the draft

By Carlos "Big C" Holmes
Cox News Service
05/04/2006

Like Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the day, the Cleveland Browns organization got all pumped up on draft day, exercising their ability to masterfully come away with top-notch talent in each round of the draft.

In round one, after making a one-position swap with division rival Baltimore, the Browns wasted no time addressing their most glaring need, pass rusher, when they selected Florida State DE/OLB Kamerion Wimbley with the 13th overall pick.

Wimbley is a disruptive pass rusher with outstanding speed and quickness coming off the edge. He has a non-stop motor and is very intelligent; a trait a player must possess to be successful in Head Coach Romeo Crennel's defense.

At 6-3, 245-pounds Wimbley is considered undersized for a defensive end. There are those who view him as nothing more than a situational pass rusher, but Crennel believes otherwise. "I think he can play in either defense. If he had been drafted by a 4-3 team, he would have fit very well. He would have been able to rush every down. In our scheme, we don't rush on every down. We'll rush primarily on third down and on first and second down he may or may not rush. We wanted to find out if he could drop. When he showed us that he could at the pro day, that kind of helped solidify him as the choice," Crennel said.

The organization continued to address the defense, snagging Maryland LB D'Qwell Jackson, who was considered by many the best inside backer entering the draft in round two. Simply put, Jackson is a tackling machine. He led the Terps in tackles in each of the last two seasons and posted 447 tackles for his career while playing at Maryland. He is a well-rounded linebacker with decent speed, power and instincts. Jackson is very athletic, does a great job dropping back into coverage, and has the ability to rush the quarterback. He also has a knack for forcing turnovers. In other words, he's a playmaker.

In the third round, the Browns were able to land a big, fast, physical, sure-handed receiver in Travis Wilson, who could turn out to be a pretty good possession guy.

Skipping to the fifth round on day two, the Browns may have struck gold with the selections of Washington State RB Jerome Harrison, who was the second leading rusher in the nation with 1,900 yards, and Georgia CB DeMario Minter. The club was looking for a change-of-pace back to give their workhorse, RB Reuben Droughns a breather, and Harrison will have the opportunity to compete to be that man. He is quick, elusive and a solid receiver coming out of the backfield. Minter, on the other hand, is a nice size corner with good overall fundamentals and technique. Some put him in the mold of CB Ty Law.

Overall, I think the Browns had one of the best drafts of any team and my grade for the club is a B+