1. Trust your eyes. When I watch USC linebacker Rey Maualuga play, the thing that crosses my mind is this: There's one guy I know who can make the Browns better. Intimidator. Hitter. Tackler. He's got the qualities that nobody on the Browns defense has. This knock that he wouldn't play on third downs makes me laugh. I know he'll be on the field on goal-line plays.
2. Not a match. A (Michael) Crabtree and a branch of the Belichick tree could not co-exist. Even before the Texas Tech receiver reportedly turned off the Browns with his me-first attitude, no coach schooled by Bill Belichick would take a receiver with the No. 5 pick in the draft. Now, if you can swindle Randy Moss in a trade for a fourth-round pick (as Belichick did three years ago), that's perfectly acceptable.
3. Orakpo or bust? The early betting line had the Browns selecting Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo with the fifth overall pick. The logic was this: Browns need a pass rusher, Orakpo's a pass rusher, Browns choose Orakpo. But the smart teams don't take quot;projectionsquot; that high. The bottom line is, nobody knows whether Orakpo can make the conversion to outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense. If Orakpo slid to No. 36, I'd consider taking him.
4. Trades galore. The general consensus is that there's not much difference in talent level after the top 10 or so picks up to about 40. So there's a group of 30 players in the second wave that can be ranked No. 11 by one team and No. 35 by another.
But there's a great disparity in the amount of guaranteed money required to pay the No. 11 pick vs. the No. 35 pick. This situation could lead to a flurry of trades with teams on the clock. The time limit between picks in the first round was shaved last year from 15 minutes to 10 minutes and in the second round from 10 minutes to seven minutes. Still, an unusually high 30 trades were made in last year's draft, proving that a deadline is a great motivator.
