Browns trade Ogbah to Chiefs for Eric Murray

John Dorsey still isn't finished retooling the Cleveland Browns before the draft as he released three more draftees from the Sashi Brown tenure and traded another to a familiar site for a familiar face to Dorsey.

The trade is the biggest news as Dorsey sent Emmanuel Ogbah to the Kansas City Chiefs in return for safety Eric Murray.

Ogbah was the first pick in the second round in the 2016 draft, and in 2016, he showed occasional bursts of breaking out as a pass rusher.
Ogbah was expected to flourish playing the opposite defensive end from Myles Garrett, but he missed six games in 2017 and two more in 2018 and combined for only seven sacks in those games.

Ogbah was expected to provide the needed non-Garrett pass rush entering last season and was pointed to by Dorsey, Garrett, and then defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as one of the reasons the Browns passed on Bradley Chubb with the fourth pick in favor of cornerback Denzel Ward.

While few are groaning about the selection of Ward, Chubb's success only helped to magnify the disappointment from Ogbah's performance and when John Dorsey was able to add Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon, it was pretty clear that Ogbah was going to be a rotational player at best and would have to make a shift inside to earn any significant playing time.

As for Eric Murray, I don't claim to know a lot about the 2016 4th round pick as a pro, although I do remember him from his college days as a Minnesota Golden Gopher, where he was a good player on an average team.

Murray made 43 solo tackles with an interception last season as an occasional starter, but reading the responses of Chiefs fans, they don't seem to think he is a big loss and think they won this trade by a mile.
His one interception made highlights all season for plays of the year, but still, it was his only interception of the campaign, so it's not like he was a huge playmaker.
Murray will get a chance to play for the Browns with their sudden need at safety after their pre-draft moves, but he is far from a sure thing.


The Browns were expected to give Derrick Kindred the chance to grab the safety spot vacated by the traded Jabrill Peppers, but either John Dorsey wanted his former draftee in Murray, likes another veteran free agent (Eric Berry or Morgan Burnett could be possibilities) or will be using a draft pick or two on a safety because Kindred along with two other Sashi Brown draftees (Ricardo Louis and Howard Wilson) were released.
Add those three with Emmanuel Ogbah, and the Browns purged four "Brown picks" in one day.

Kindred was the Browns' fourth-round pick in 2016 from TCU and started 17 games in the three years that he spent in Cleveland.
Kindred didn't play as well last season as in his first two, but was expected to return and was the surprise release of the day.
Again, safety will have to be addressed now in some form, even if just for depth.

Ricardo Louis was also a 4th rounder in 2016 from Auburn and played every game for his first two seasons, finishing with 45 catches for over 500 yards.

Scott Dryden once referred to Louis as "Having everything it takes to be a top wide receiver except for hands and route running ability".

Since both of those factors are a large part of the success for any wide receiver, it's easy to see why Louis didn't work out.
Louis suffered a neck injury and missed all of the 2018 season, so he was unlikely to make the team.

Howard Wilson was a cornerback from Houston that I liked in 2017, and the Browns traded up to take him in the fourth round.
I had seen a lot of Wilson as a Cougar, and even though I preferred Iowa's Desmond King (King was an All-Pro last year and was still on the board), I thought Wilson was a solid selection, and he might have been.
IF Wilson hadn't broken his kneecap on his second day of mini-camp!
AND if Wilson didn't have a patella tendon surgery last June that didn't heal correctly from the kneecap surgery, he might have been a good cornerback.
We'll have to find out about Wilson from his next stop, as the Browns waived him with a career total of one and a half practices in two seasons in Cleveland.

I still think John Dorsey isn't finished before the draft.
Safety could still use a veteran, and suddenly there is an issue with Duke Johnson, so who knows where that will take the Browns with a little over three weeks to go before the draft.

Cleveland Browns Draft Recap

Time for the look back at the Browns draft and finally wrap things up for the 2017 draft.
I hope to have Scott Dryden on the podcast soon for his thoughts on the draft.

Some of these thoughts may come as redundant after my in-draft posts,but others will be new as picks have time to sink in a bit.

Many people disagreed with me before the draft about my take on the quarterback position (more on that below),which was not forcing an early round quarterback because you needed one because it "was so important".
It is very important and clearly the most important on any football team,but the Browns had so many needs that I felt that the team needed players that could make an larger and faster impact than a quarterback that was questionable,just to say that you tried.
That's why I loved the Browns sticking with Myles Garrett as the best player in the draft.
Garrett gives the Browns an elite pass rusher that they have lacked for years and his speed and talent should bring even more production out of Emmanuel Ogbah.
Kudos to the Browns for picking the best player and not reaching for a quarterback,especially when (at least looking at it from a year out) there are three legitimate players that could be top level quarterbacks (Josh Allen of Wyoming,Sam D'Arnold of USC and Josh Rosen of UCLA) available for a team that even with a good draft will be unlikely to be drafting outside the top 10,and maybe not even the top 5.

I was less than thrilled with the Browns trade down with Houston from 12 to 25.
Mainly because the Browns had a chance to choose a huge playmaker at safety in Malik Hooker of Ohio State and passed to get a first rounder in 2018.
Now,to be very fair,that pick may help the Browns maneuver to move up,if needed,to get the quarterback of their choice next season,so it could prove helpful,but this so smacks of the old Browns-trading for a following years number one,passing on an impact player and watching that pick rest in the lower third of the first round.

I was even less thrilled with the pick of Jabril Peppers at 25.
Peppers is touted as a playmaker that didn't make many big plays on defense (unlike Hooker) and as a player that you can do many things with the ball in his hands,except on defense,he doesn't see the ball that much.
Peppers strikes me as too small to play linebacker,lacking instincts at safety,but that doesn't mean he won't have his uses as a returner and gimmick offensive plays.
In other words,a Devin Hester type-except those types usually aren't first rounders.

I do like the talent of the third first rounder-tight end David Njoku of Miami.
Big,agile and talented,Njoku is still learning this game,but has the physical talent to be a difference maker at tight end.
Njoku's blocking needs work,but he's not being picked to block,he's being brought in to be seam breaker and receiver..

The Browns did attempt to address the quarterback position in round two with Notre Dame's Deshone Kizer.
Kizer was thought to be a possible high pick entering the draft,but slipped some.
Kizer has some questions (accuracy,field vision and decision making),but has a strong arm and by picking him here,the Browns won't feel "all in" on him and should the team have the chance to pick one of those three passers next season,it won't be a setback to do so..

The defensive line was addressed in rounds three and six as the Browns took two players roughly rated the same,but off the field reasons made the difference.
Third rounder Larry Ogunjobi of Charlotte needs to get stronger,but should plug into the rotation as an all around defensive tackle,while sixth rounder Florida's Caleb Brantley needs to get legal issues solved or he'll never make camp as a Brown.
If Brantley actually plays,he brings a pass rushing element to the defensive tackle rotation that the Browns currently lack.
Ogunjobi was one of a bunch of players that I would have been fine with in the third round on the line,although I did like Chris Wormley of michigan a little better,while Brantley is a second round talent when motivated and without his off the field issues.
I was fine with gambling on Brantley in the sixth,with the caveat that the Browns release him if his legal case proves wrong doing.
The Browns claim to want to build things the "right way",here is a chance to show the other teams in the division that talent doesn't always come first.

I really liked the tradeup into round four for cornerback Howard Wilson of Houston.
I also liked Desmond King of Iowa,but I saw a lot of Houston games last season and I think Wilson should see plenty of action as a third or fourth corner.
I like the ball skills that Wilson brings to the table and I can see Wilson having the potential to eventually start..

Offensive tackle Roderick Johnson is athletically talented,but needs lots of strength work and technique work as well.
Johnson's size and athleticism made him a worthwhile project in the fifth round and he does have big time experience from his time at Florida State...

I also liked both seventh round picks.
Arizona State kicker Zane Gonzalez holds NCAA records and won the Lou Groza award last season.
Gonzalez has a big leg and will make a move to unseat Cody Parkey as the Browns kicker.
No matter how good your kicker is,I'm of the mindset that your kicker needs to be challenged in camp every year,even if you don't spend a draft pick on a challenger.

I remember seeing Matthew Dayes,the N.C.State running back against Clemson this year and being impressed.
He's a little small at 5'8,but catches the ball very well and I can see him possibly sticking as a third round back.

I give the Browns a high grade for this draft.
I'm always hesitant for grading because you just don't know,but just for fun,let's go A-,missing an A only because the questions that I have with Jabril Peppers and the dislike for trading down from 12.
Pretty good work for the most part-I have to say I'm mildly surprised and reasonably pleased..

2017 Draft:Cleveland Browns Day Three

Remember I told you about having plenty to do on the blog?
Well, after two posts yesterday, I went to the Frederick Keys-Carolina Mudcats and surprisingly had my whole family with me!
Great time and a really good pizza, which surprises here in Maryland whenever that happens.
I also wrote that I had plenty to still write about and I'll start with the final day of the Browns draft.
I'll make further notes on posts to come at the bottom of the page.

The Cleveland Browns traded up twice on the final day of the NFL draft, made some interesting decisions, and just might have wound up with their best draft class in years.
I'll have a total recap with grades later in the week, but for now, let's stick to day three!

Cleveland did not have a fourth-round pick after trading it to Green Bay in the trade to land David Njoku but swung a deal to trade two of their three picks in round five to obtain Houston corner, Howard Wilson.
I loved Iowa's Desmond King here as well, but I watched quite a bit of Wilson last year as I watched a lot of Houston games and was impressed.
Wilson is six foot (nice size for a CB) and has great ball skills (5 picks,15 knockdowns).
I preferred Desmond King of Iowa, but I'm high on Howard Wilson, he needs to work on his tackling a bit, but I think he is going to push for playing time.


The Browns traded up again in round five to corral Roderick Johnson, an athletic offensive tackle from Florida State.
The good news-Johnson won the last two ACC O-lineman of the year awards and his nearly 6'7 frame with long arms shows that he has the potential to develop into a fine player.
The bad news is-his technique needs a lot of work and he needs to spend lots of time getting stronger or he never would have lasted into round five.
Johnson is a project, but one worth working with at this stage of the draft.


Cleveland took a risk in their only selection of round six with the choice of defensive tackle Caleb Brantley of Florida.
Brantley was expected to be a day two pick before an alleged battery incident two weeks before the draft.
If Brantley is cleared of these charges and actually shows up in Cleveland (Sashi Brown says if Brantley is not cleared, the team will release him), he brings a similar-sized player to third-round pick Larry Ogunjobi with a pass-rushing ability more than a run-stuffing type.
This was a risky selection, but I'm ok with it as long as the Browns have some teeth behind their commitment for a team that won't tolerate off-field issues...


The Browns had two seventh-rounders and used the first on the best kicker in the draft in Zane Gonzalez of Arizona State.
Gonzalez was the Lou Groza award winner, hit a long of 59 yards in his career, holds the all-time record for field goals made (96), and hit 82 percent of his attempts. My friend Joe Plum watches a lot of Arizona State games and he thinks the Browns have a good one here.
Gonzalez will challenge Cody Parkey for the kicking job.


Cleveland finished their draft with the next to last pick and grabbed Matthew Dayes, a running back from N.C.State.
Dayes rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and is an excellent pass-catcher out of the backfield.
A bit undersized at 5'8, Dayes has a chance to stick as a scatback and pass catcher.


I still have to do a full grade of the draft, my trip to West Virginia, Inbox cleaning-lots to do!!