In the discussion of the greatest Cleveland Browns players of all time is offensive tackle Joe Thomas. We are not here to argue just where he is on that list but his impact on the team was far greater than the team’s record indicated when he played for them.
Looking back to the 2007 NFL draft, when Thomas took a fishing trip instead of intending the event, it is easy to forget that the Wisconsin lineman wasn’t the most popular pick. Some wanted the team to take quarterback Brady Quinn with the third pick while others wanted running back Adrian Peterson.
Quinn, as Browns fans remember, ended up in Cleveland when the team traded back into the first round to select the Notre Dame product with the 22nd pick. Peterson went on to have a Hall of Fame career with Minnesota and was one of the few players left from that draft still playing in 2020.
Pro Football Focus added another look back article today. Michael Renner took a look back at all drafted players since 2006 to figure out who was the “best value” draft pick for their team. Generally, value is the combination of production and cost. Many of the players on PFF’s list were drafted after the 100th pick in their given draft.
With his immense talent, and the team’s abject failure in the draft, Thomas took home the Browns honors:
Thomas will be in the Hall of Fame shortly and finished his career with five straight 90.0-plus pass-blocking grades. He also didn’t miss a single snap over his first 10 years in the league.
Taking a quick look back at all of those Browns drafts is quite sad. A few names jump out as “values” but not because of their high level of production, just compared to the others drafted by the team.
Looking at picks in the fourth round or beyond, Buster Skrine had a couple of good seasons with the Browns, same with Travis Benjamin. Rashard Higgins has an interesting career since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft. Joe Schobert had some good play before leaving in free agency after four seasons.
In the first three rounds, very few “value” players stand out. Joel Bitonio and Duke Johnson, before being traded to Houston, got second contracts from the Browns. Christian Kirksey, drafted the same year as Bitonio, also received a second contract but was released two seasons later.
Looking through the Browns draft history since 2006 confirmed the terrible nature of their drafting as well as Renner’s selection of Thomas as a value pick. In a few seasons, perhaps a player like Donovan Peoples-Jones will take the top spot but, for now, it belongs to Thomas.