Savage's biggest mistake
Posted November 10th, 2008 by Dan
Nor, it wasn't signing Donte Stallworth or shipping Jeff Faine to New Orleans. Nor was it hiring Romeo Crennel (that was mostly done by Randy Lerner and John Collins). Or trading three draft picks from the latest draft.
Watching the Ravens game yesterday, it was clear. Phil Savage's biggest mistake was one of his first. It was when he swapped draft positions with Baltimore so the Ravens could pick up defensive lineman Haloti Ngata.
He can do it all — rush the passer, stop the run, clog lanes, everything. Instead, the Browns got Kamerion Wimbley, who can't really do anything.
Revisionist history is a beautiful thing in sports. Just think about this one. If the Browns had Ngata, who plays end in Baltimore, they would have had to trade a second-round pick for Corey Williams. Then, the Browns could have used that second rounder this year on a cornerback so Brandon McDonald wouldn't be starting. There could be a ton of these sort of scenarios, obviously.
Think Savage has made a worse decision? Try to beat this one.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Ngata's an amazing talent and would have been a top notch left end for the Browns. He had question marks at Oregon, but the rumors about his laziness have hardly surfaced in the NFL.
The trade Savage made was 100% contingent on Baba Oshinowo developing into a potential top backup or starting nose tackle, yet he barely was able to stick on the roster. Playing NT for a college 3-4 (in the Pac 10 none the less) is much different than the NFL.
Savage was trying to pry a fourth round pick out of Baltimore and they balked, smartly. The Browns ploy of calling Ngata and pretending like they were going to draft him was not fooling Ozzie.
Given your example, and the Browns don't have to shell big money and a second round pick for Corey Williams we could have come away with one of these guys:
Kendall Langford, DE, Dolphins – Starting at left end, would have been a key backup.
Charles Godfrey, DB, Panthers – Now a staring FS for Carolina, and easily could have pushed for Nickel-back duties in Cleveland.
Chevis Jackson, CB, Falcons – A solid press man corner.
Jamaal Charles, RB, Chiefs – Could have been a eventual replacement for Jamal Lewis.
I could go on and on, but like you said it's become a huge burden. Also because of Wimbley's big rookie season, he was able to guarantee certain bonuses in his contract. We saw what can happen in that scenario (Tim Couch).
November 14th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
The biggest mistake Savage made was taking Joe Thomas over Adrian Peterson. Thomas is and will be a solid OT and while I am a big offensive line advocate, Peterson is a once in a lifetime talent.
November 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
No, the real mistake was drafting Wimbley and not drafting DeMeco Ryans out of Alabama, who went one pick ahead of D'Qwell Jackson in the second round. Ryans was defensive rookie of the year on a bad Texans team. Combine any two of our LB's and they wouldn't be as good as Ryans.