If you want insight to what the Browns will do under Savage, take a look at what Baltimore has done. The Ravens have a blueprint for franchise-building and I’m willing to bet Savage will follow it pretty closely for at least the first few years.The draft policy is to take the best player available, with absolutely no regard for position. I think Savage will look very hard at CB Rolle with the #3 pick, as Marvin Lewis frequently pointed to the acquisition of McAlister as the key to making the Ravens a dominant defensive unit. Savage will trade down only if he believes there’s no player who grades out high enough to make him worthy of the #3 pick.Also, Savage will not draft an O lineman very high. In their 9-year draft history, the Ravens have picked one O Lineman in the first round (Ogden) and only one other as high as the third. Their philosophy is that to build a team in the salary cap era, you have to save your cap dollars somewhere, and that the position you can stock up on with cheap players and get away with it is the interior of the offensive line. That’s why the Ravens have undrafted free agents Mike Flynn and Bennie Anderson at C and RG and fourth-rounder Ed Mulitalo at LG. He will sift through a bunch of cheap trash to stock the interior OL. And if there isn’t a sure-fire All-Pro available at Tackle in the draft, he will look for a “right-price” veteran (since 2000, the Ravens’ Right Tackles have been Harry Swayne, Kipp Vickers, Ethan Brooks and Orlando Brown). The only time Baltimore paid big money for a veteran Tackle, it turned into Leon Searcy missing the entire season without playing a down. Doubt he’ll go that route again.Finally, there are certain positions where Savage is great at identifying talent. He can sniff out NFL-caliber RBs, TEs, LBs and Safetys in his sleep. The Ravens were very high on William Green in the draft, and were actually a little disappointed when they had to end up “settling” for Ed Reed after Green and Napoleon Harris were taken before their pick. So I’m sure he’ll get a long look, and Savage will also be able to assess whether Suggs is good enough. The other interesting fringe benefit from stocking your team with so many quality RBs, TEs, LBs and Safetys is that those are the positions that provide you with lots of special teams guys, so I look for that area to be much improved.Finally, there are a couple of areas where Savage hasn’t been so good at picking players. Obviously WR and, to a lesser extent, also QB and OL. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him hang onto the Cleveland WRs who are already proven NFL caliber, since he’s not so great at picking them (I’m looking at you, Travis Taylor in the first round, and you, Patrick Johnson, in the second).Bottom line, Browns will draft an All-Star in the first round, every down starters in the second and third, and will have much better depth across the board before they hit the field for training camp. But don’t look for a lot of high-priced help along the O Line.
Again, this bumalready coached the Browns defense in 2000 and it was horrible. Butch Davis took the same players and in 2001 showed much improvement. I credit his success in New England to Belichick, not this guy! And Savage wants HIM?! ARGH!
2 tight in a single back set, maybe, but 2TE-FB only leaves 1 WR on the field
