Would the Browns still select Myles Garrett if they could redo the 2017 draft?
The Browns’ place in history was forever altered by the 2017 NFL Draft.
In any case, the very class that got them Myles Garrett likewise delivered Patrick Mahomes.
If they could do it over again, what would they change? Evaluation of a trade and progress with injuries If the Browns could rerun the 2017 draft, would they still select Myles Garrett? The Browns’ place in history was forever altered by the 2017 NFL Draft.
Yet, the very class that got them Myles Garrett additionally delivered New off of a paramount 2023 mission that saw the Browns make a season finisher appearance for the second time in four years, most would agree lead trainer Kevin Stefanski and head supervisor Andrew Berry have introduced another period of football in Cleveland.
Before the Browns arrived in 2020, they were best known for making losing an art form. In 2017, they did this so well that they had only the second 0-16 NFL season.
With the current administration in charge, those days appear to be behind the franchise, but in some ways, those years of misery are to blame for getting it to where it is today.
Take, for instance, the NFL Draft in 2017. The Browns were ranked No. 1 as a result of their one-win 2016 campaign.
one of the first overall picks that spring, in addition to two additional first-round picks from trades.
The franchise had a real chance to build a foundation of talent for the future with that selection pool provided by then-GM Sashi Brown.
That’s exactly what they tried to do by selecting Myles Garrett with the first pick, which was a no-brainer.
Two picks after the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to select eventual star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Cleveland was back in the clock 11 picks later.
Brown had fostered a standing of exchanging down to secure more picks and did exactly that at 12, permitting the Texans – unexpectedly enough – to go up and choose Deshaun Watson.
The No. 25th overall selection, a first-round pick in 2018, and the 29th overall selection.
They would select Garrett, safety Jabrill Peppers, and tight end David Njoku on night one of the draft.
Clearly two of those three have turned into the foundation players the establishment had trusted, in any event, getting through two additional training changes to assist with carrying the establishment to where it is today.
The impact that the 2017 draft had on the franchise’s future cannot be denied. However, as Mahomes gets ready to play in his sixth consecutive AFC Championship game since becoming the Chiefs’ starter in 2018, minf is confronted with a curious question.
Given what we now know about Mahomes, would Browns decision-makers have done things differently back then? The ultimate prize for any team is almost certainly a star quarterback.
That and more has been Mahomes’ forte.The query is truly fascinating. On one hand, drafting Garrett has been the absolute best choice this establishment has made pre-Stefanski.
In less than two weeks, he could win his first Defensive Player of the Year award, which would be an absolute slam dunk.
Having an elite pass rusher, on the other hand, is only second to having an elite quarterback.
Mahomes would have solved that problem for the once-rudderless team that gave up three first-round picks for Watson two years ago and was still looking for a quarterback.
Since Watson’s top-10 QB form has not yet materialized in Cleveland, they are still, to be honest.
The fact that the Browns were able to select their current quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick clearly carries a significant amount of irony.
12 pick back in 2017, just to surrender a bundle of picks to gain him five years sometime later.
If they had ended up with Garrett and Watson at the time, they might have been able to have their cake and eat it too.
Strangely, he was not even regarded as the best quarterback in the class at the time. That honor had a place with UNC item Mitch Trubisky, who went straightforwardly after Garrett to the Bears.
It is safe to assume that Mahomes would be the first signal caller to leave the board in a hypothetical re-draft.
If the Browns had known what Mahomes was going to become, would they have selected Garrett instead of making the move?