The Cleveland Browns got zero Day One starters out of two tries in last year's first round. Did they get two in this one?
They hope so. They think so, of course, because everybody loves their draft picks the night they're made. And whether or not last year's misses had anything to do with this year's strategy, the Browns came out of the first round with safe, solid and very large additions.
No trades, no fireworks. They started with Washington nose tackle Danny Shelton at No. 12 and then took Florida State offensive lineman Cameron Erving seven picks later.
You have to like a guy who was dubbed "Feast Mode," right? Shelton is listed at 339 pounds and figures to immediately help a Browns run defense that ranked last in the NFL last season.
Scoring points and keeping the defense off the field is a good way to help the run defense, too, but the Browns know their personnel and their situation and stayed in the trenches Thursday. The ongoing search for a quarterback will continue, and the search for a big, young receiver will apparently resume Friday night when the draft resumes, but it's hard to hate what the Browns did in trying to fortify in the meantime.
"I know these aren't the sexiest picks," Browns coach Mike Pettine said.
Erving was the center for Jameis Winston at Florida State. The Browns have a center -- Alex Mack is coming off injury and can opt out of his contract after this season -- so Erving figures to play right guard or right tackle.
The Browns have a whole bunch invested in the offensive line, both in terms of picks and dollars. Their latest try at climbing out of the AFC North basement will start in the trenches, and it had better start soon.
Joe Thomas is 30. Mack and Phil Taylor are entering contract years. The Browns in the last 14 months have invested heavily in Karlos Dansby (33), Randy Starks (31), Tramon Williams (32) and Donte Whitner (29).
In a way, it's nice to see a Browns administration confident it can plan for the future. Heck, it's nice to see the Browns have players good enough to hang around and produce for a few years, period.
We may never get the truth about how much the Browns really pursued Marcus Mariota, or if any other out-of-left-field situations arose during the first round of the draft. We know they stayed where they were when it started, went solid over splashy and presumably chose meat and potatoes over something trendy.
They still have to score touchdowns to win. Maybe they're thinking the defense will really come around and be good enough to fuel a postseason run.
