At all, but with the Lynchburg/Salem trip planned for months and the schedule not falling as favorably, after all, I reluctantly missed the final day of the draft.
Which is why I have been writing trip recaps rather than the final picks of the Cleveland Browns, so I wanted to add the day three thoughts before other things start piling up and I forget.
I'll be doing this in two posts with this one covering the three players selected in the fourth and fifth rounds and the followup detailing the players tabbed in the sixth and seventh round, along with a review of the total draft.
In the fourth round for the Browns, the selection was Sheldrick Redwine, a defensive back from Miami.
Redwine played both on the corner and at safety for the Hurricanes, starting last season as a safety.
The versatility to play both will help Redwine see the field this season, but he's reported to be a bit of a thumper from the safety position and it's not out of the question that this pick isn't as much for 2019, where Redwine will more than likely use his hitting and athleticism on special teams for the most part.
The selection of Redwine could be a hint that the Browns may not pay Demerious Randall what he could ask for following the 2019 season when Randall will be eligible for free agency, which perhaps could give Redwine the first chance to take the open free safety spot for 2020.
I had been pretty vocal about Alabama's Mack Wilson, who I rated as the third-best linebacker (non-edge rusher) in this draft and stated in our persons of interest, that the Browns would likely have to take him in the second round as I didn't think he would slide much farther.
I had hoped that the Browns would take Wilson in the third when he was still available and was disappointed that Cleveland took another player at the same position in Brigham Young linebacker Sione Takitaki.
Nothing against Takitaki, who may turn out to be a fine player, but I preferred Wilson and hoped the Browns could take him on the third day when you consider the Browns depth problems at linebacker.
All of that considered, I thought someone was going to get a day three steal and when the Browns took Sheldrick Redwine (drafted while we were on the road to the D-Day Memorial) in the fourth, I figured that the chance to add Wilson had disappeared.
Imagine my happiness (I believe a happy exclamation was uttered and a high five with Fred Landucci) at the World Famous Stadium Inn, when the draft ticker rolled across with the name Mack Wilson to Cleveland.
Wilson is a fast linebacker that isn't strictly a speed linebacker that lacks the strength to take the man with the ball down once they arrive there-Wilson is more than strong enough to knock ball carriers back.
Wilson looks to me to be a three-down linebacker that you don't have to situationally substitute for and considering that both Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey missed multiple games last season due to injuries along with John Dorsey may very well choose not to pay Kirksey twenty million between 2020 and 2021 when he has Wilson and/or Takitaki in their place at a far cheaper rate.
So why could Wilson have fallen this far?
Some draft observers think that for all of the physical skills that Wilson doesn't have a freelance 'feel' for the position, preferring to stay home and not to take chances.
I'm not saying that may or may not be true, but how many times do scouts give minuses to a player that freelances too much for overrunning the play?
Wilson also only played full time for one season and that may have worked against him as well.
A real case can be made that Wilson should have returned to Alabama and had Wilson done that and performed well that he could have been a top 20 pick in next season's draft.
Whatever the reasons were for Wilson's plummet if Wilson cannot be motivated by the drop in rounds and the money that comes with that, then few are going to get anything out of him.
I think he's going to at least be an eventual starter, likely by 2020 and is going to be a steal.
The Browns had two fifth rounders (they did have three, but traded one to the Colts to move up to take Greedy Williams) and they seemed to reach a little in selecting Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert.
Now, I would have no problem taking a challenger for Greg Joseph in the draft and I still wouldn't be against signing a veteran free agent to fight for the kicking job even now, but the fifth round seems a bit early for Siebert.
Siebert was the third-rated kicker in the draft but was the first booter taken off the board and when you consider the Browns investment of a fifth rounder in him, you would have to think that the position is Siebert's to lose even if the team hasn't come out and stated that.
Siebert kicked 63 field goals in 79 attempts at Oklahoma and had a career long of 51 yards, but that was one of only two career field goals over 45 yards.
I'm sure the Browns have seen his workouts and don't question his leg, but workouts aren't game conditions.
Siebert also served as the Oklahoma punter but was not mentioned as a challenger for the punting position held by Britton Colquitt.
Siebert has an above average chance to start the season as the Browns kicker, however, I believe the Browns could have still gotten him in the seventh round.
I hope to finish up the Browns draft series tomorrow or over the weekend.
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