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00:00I thought about this yesterday, and I went, holy potatoes.
00:03So I'm going to say this, and I think people are not going to like hearing it
00:08because I think that people are coming around a little bit
00:11because of this draft, you are.
00:14But I got to explain this.
00:17Where do most pundits have the Browns draft ranked?
00:22Number one.
00:23Number one.
00:24A plus.
00:24A plus.
00:25Number one, pro football talk, pro football focus,
00:28everybody that got Browns number one.
00:30If you fire Andrew Barry, do you get that type of draft?
00:36Hear me out.
00:37You want to hear me out?
00:38Okay, go ahead.
00:40When you fire general managers willy-nilly, okay,
00:45you would have a lot of punting on drafts.
00:47You would have a situation like when Joe Banner first came in
00:51and he picked a guy out of a magazine,
00:52and him and Mike Lombardi basically traded away that draft in 2013
00:58for 2014 and beyond.
01:00They just got out of it, right?
01:02It was like their first time out there.
01:03They didn't really know what was going on.
01:05You make these switches in January,
01:06and then you have to take really three years of work with some of these guys,
01:11even more now because guys are transferring all over the place
01:14and everything like that.
01:15You're taking three years of work and condensing it into three months.
01:19And especially when you're really starting to draw profiles on it,
01:22we're talking 13 months in the past.
01:24Like the guys who are coming out in 27, they already started that work back then.
01:28We don't realize that.
01:30They have already started that work.
01:32They got done with their process for the draft this year.
01:34They went through some of the other things and getting ready for the draft.
01:37But those scouts are working on 2027 and beyond already,
01:40and they've been doing it for well over a month now.
01:43If you fired Andrew Barry, I don't think there's any chance you get the quality
01:49you get out of this draft because he and his staff are ready.
01:53And that might be a good thing.
01:54You're just thinking, hey, if you end up starting to turn in some good drafts,
01:57I can't fire you for starting to turn in good drafts.
02:00The only way the team can get good is your good drafts.
02:03I'm not happy about the first five drafts.
02:05Now, there's obviously some good players in there.
02:07You can't take all bad players and still keep your job.
02:09But the first five drafts, yeah, there's some duds in there.
02:12Certainly some duds.
02:13But if you started to get the job done and started to work your way through it,
02:17that's fine.
02:17And this is one of the things that I think that the Haslams try to learn from
02:21is they do.
02:22They pay attention to their history really, really closely.
02:25And some of the mistakes that they've made,
02:27and the only criticism that I would have is at times they try to overcorrect
02:30some of the mistakes that they've made.
02:32But they do try to learn from the mistakes.
02:35And that's why whoever they take, if it's Shador ends up being a good quarterback
02:39or they end up taking a quarterback in 2027,
02:41we are going to go through the gamut with that fella.
02:44They are going to try to squeeze every single inch before they ever move on
02:47from that guy if he ends up not being a good quarterback.
02:50Hopefully we don't got to worry about any of that stuff, right?
02:52Right.
02:53But if you have a brand-new GM going into this year with a draft that seemed
03:00to have landmines all over the place, and we're coming out of it going,
03:02man, we got – I mean, there were four guys here that were taken
03:06in the first few rounds that we have that ended up being arguably first-round
03:10picks by a lot of people.
03:11You can make an argument for four first-round guys there.
03:14I just don't think you get that unless you get so insanely lucky.
03:18I don't think you get that with any first-year general manager in this draft.
03:22Well, they would have been using the scouts from this team
03:25because they don't fire the scouts before the draft.
03:27They keep the scouts, but then is a new GM listening to those scouts?
03:31Exactly.
03:31Probably not, right?
03:32Because your scouts are giving you some of the information.
03:34You probably don't necessarily trust those scouts.
03:36That's what I meant.
03:37Yes, yeah.
03:38Are you taking it all at face value or whatever?
03:41So I think it's a good point.
03:42Of course, had they have fired Andrew Barry a year ago,
03:44I think a new GM would have immediately traded Miles Garrett.
03:47You'd have more picks.
03:47If they fired him a year ago.
03:48If they fired him a year ago, you'd have more picks,
03:50but you'd have more picks for this draft.
03:52And if it would have been for this draft, like we were saying,
03:55what was the point of us trading down?
03:56Other than Travis Hunter might still end up being a good player,
03:59but clearly I think we got something that's going to be very good for us for a while.
04:02Any Miles trade needed to include a 2027 first-round pick, too,
04:07because you wouldn't just have it all stacked up into one draft anyway.
04:11So I think it's a legitimate point that you're making.
04:13But still you ended up getting what arguably is four first-round picks anyway,
04:16and you only had two technically.
04:18And I know that that's playing loose with the truth here.
04:21His movement in the last two drafts, like this year, yeah,
04:24they didn't get as much value as previous drafts with a first-round trade down.
04:28But still to get any value whatsoever and get the guy you always wanted,
04:31I think that is important.
04:33That is showing where he's really good.
04:36And I've said that before.
04:37In all the bad things I've said about Andrew Barry, the one good thing,
04:40I think they're just flat-out better at some of that strategy stuff.
04:43And when we talk about asset management, I think he's pretty good at it.
04:48I mean, when you read this Yahoo article that we started earlier in the show about,
04:53how they have a proprietary, and every team has their own setup, okay?
04:57But the Browns' setup is that of Wall Street analytics.
05:02And so for all the people who want to make fun of that because it hasn't led to wins,
05:05I can tell you where it helps.
05:07It's on draft day.
05:08And after every draft pick, the way they're describing it,
05:10it's almost an Xtend technology setup where they have their big screens.
05:15And after every pick, it populates their database with all the different examples
05:20of trade down and trade up targets.
05:23Yes.
05:24It's an incredibly sophisticated system.
05:27And look, I'm sure they're not the only ones that have something like this,
05:31but you know damn well the Pittsburgh Steelers don't have anything.
05:35They are dealing in the stone ages.
05:37And what the Browns are doing is just so much further along.
05:41And I think that's important to note.
05:42And ask Pittsburgh fans how they feel about their drafts recently,
05:46and they feel about their football team.
05:48They're hanging on by a thread.
05:49If ever there's a team that should have maybe tore down and started over,
05:53probably should have been that Pittsburgh team.
05:54This Cleveland team is supposed to be on its way up,
05:57and these are the things I think they do have an advantage of over other teams in the NFL.
06:02I'm feeling very good about things,
06:04and I understand they haven't kicked off a damn thing yet,
06:06but I just looked at this draft and go, man, this is really remarkable.
06:10I've never been in a situation where they've been –
06:13like I've had to defend their drafts before.
06:15I felt I needed to defend their drafts before.
06:18I'm a gullible person when it comes to our team.
06:21So, yeah, you know, I'm going to hope that these guys end up being good,
06:23and there's a lot of times where the Browns have been throttled for their drafts in the past.
06:27And what's the reason for it?
06:28Well, they've got new guys coming in who don't have a lot of experience coming into this.
06:32And I know that they've tried to do it where, you know, you bump up Ray Farmer,
06:35you bump up a couple other guys.
06:36I know that that's happened before.
06:38But you've had guys that have not had a lot of experience.
06:41And if I can find in this draft, if this is a comparable draft to 2013
06:46or arguably one of the worst drafts ever when it comes to top-end talent,
06:49and I find four guys, possibly five with Parker Brailsford,
06:53where I find five guys that are quality starters.
06:57I'm not talking about don't have to be perennial all pro,
07:00quality starters for this team, making my wide receiver room couldn't have been any worse.
07:05So I've made my wide receiver room better.
07:07If I can find an anchor there on my offensive line with Spencer Fano,
07:11I mean, I'm sorry, guys.
07:12I'm laughing.
07:12Out of this draft?
07:13Spencer, you brought up something earlier, and I think it's important.
07:17You said, hey, if you're drafting well, we know that's the lifeblood of NFL teams.
07:24You don't build teams for free agency, and there's only so much you can do via trade.
07:28It has to be the drafts.
07:29If anybody ever wondered why we've been bad since 1999,
07:33obviously quarterback is front and center.
07:35But overall, just drafting.
07:38You know, the only reason they had a shot and the Baker thing, you know,
07:41had us feeling optimistic is because, you know,
07:46all of a sudden they had pieced together with those bad seasons.
07:49They had pieced together some draft capital and used it.
07:52And I remember, I'll never forget Daniel Jeremiah,
07:54when he was making his way up and becoming the giant that he is today.
07:57I'll never forget he was doing a podcast.
08:00Maybe it was an interview on the station.
08:02And someone was like, can you believe the Browns actually have good players?
08:05And this is like, you know, 2018, 2019.
08:07He goes, yes, because they've been bad for so long and they've had so many draft picks.
08:12This is what you're supposed to be.
08:13Finally.
08:14And that's how I feel about this team now.
08:15Like, it's about time.
08:16You transitioned out of one team that you missed your window.
08:21And now it's time to start the build.
08:24And they've done that.
08:24It started last year.
08:26They're starting it now.
08:27It does look like Andrew Barry is finding some firmer fitting.
08:31But we all know without a quarterback, it still is going to be null and void.
08:35And I look to Minnesota.
08:37They haven't had good drafts.
08:39But yet somehow they've won double-digit games the amount of times that they have.
08:44And what did they do?
08:44They fired their GM.
08:47So why?
08:48Because they didn't get the quarterback right.
08:49Nope.
08:50And so that's a team that's been to the playoffs.
08:52That's a team that wins double-digit games.
08:54They just won 12 a few years ago.
08:56I got to tell you guys, man.
08:57They fired their GM.
08:57You can have all these great drafts you want.
08:59In the end, it's completely a moot point if they don't get a quarterback.
09:04I know what we've said about Andrew before and spearheading the whole thing when it comes to you-know-who.
09:09But if these guys end up being ballplayers for you and you end up winning a decent amount of football
09:13games this year,
09:15I know this is a strong thing to say.
09:17Maybe you do trust them more to go after that biggest position again and scout that up and find those
09:22guys.
09:23But then, of course, I don't know if I'm ready to say that because I got to go by what
09:27I'm going to see out there in the football field.
09:28But I want to have hope at the end of it because I don't like firing guys.
09:32I don't like it.
09:32I didn't like firing Kevin.
09:34Honestly, I didn't like having to fire Hugh Jackson, which none of you people believe.
09:37But I didn't like firing it because it means what you've done has failed.
09:41What you've done has failed.
09:43And sometimes there's guys who have been around so long that maybe their course just runs – maybe everything just
09:47runs its course.
09:48But these guys, it means that they failed.
09:50I don't want to fire a guy I like in Andrew Barry.
09:52I don't want to have to fire a guy that I like someday in Todd Munkin.
09:56I don't want that.
09:57I want them to be successful.
09:59I may be critical, but I want them to be successful.
10:02And these type of things, this type of draft makes me think, hey, maybe there's light at the end of
10:07the tunnel.
10:07Maybe we can make it through this and this doesn't have to be an out-and-out disaster
10:10and just some lame duck situation for everybody involved.
10:14But you uncovered a Jory Epstein Yahoo Sports article that we've been discussing here this morning.
10:20See, I was team Carnell Tate at number six.
10:23And it seemed that this whole room was all like, hey, we'll take Carnell Tate at number six.
10:27Carnell Tate wasn't available at number six.
10:30And when I read the article from Jory Epstein from Yahoo Report, and it says that where she had inside
10:37access,
10:38and the owner and the general manager, J.W. had asked Andrew Barry, that helps us, right?
10:47Once Tate got taken by the Titans.
10:49Yes, once Carnell Tate got taken by the Titans, that helps us.
10:53And Andrew Barry said yes.
10:54Yes, so you wouldn't say that if that was the guy you wanted.
10:56You would never say that.
10:57We asked Daniel Iofusi about it.
10:59He agreed.
11:00If that's the guy you wanted, you're not sitting there saying that helps us.
11:04And it made me think, oh, God, they really helped us.
11:07As a fan, as a radio guy, because to me, it turns into an offensive player.
11:13Like, Phil Taylor's career was shortened.
11:15Phil Taylor was not a bust.
11:17He was just a defensive tackle.
11:18And he wasn't a wide receiver.
11:20He wasn't Julio Jones.
11:21I mean, Julio Jones is a Hall of Fame class wide receiver, for crying out loud.
11:26Phil Taylor was a good player.
11:27He just had his career shortened by injury.
11:31I didn't want Spencer Fano to become the offensive version of, because I thought as we got closer
11:38to the draft, you know, I'm hearing about Caden Proctor and Monroe Freeling.
11:43There was a little bit about Spencer Fano, especially day of, like afternoon before the
11:46draft, there was more Spencer Fano getting brought up.
11:49And I didn't want Carnell Tate to be the Julio Jones to whoever they took.
11:52Like, I started to think that they were just not going to take Carnell Tate at number six,
11:56even though I wanted him to take it at number six.
11:59And I still worried about the pitfalls of not taking a guy who I feel that's going to
12:04still be a surefire, solid wide receiver for you, and then maybe taking a guy who could
12:09be a project.
12:10Like, to me, Caden Proctor at number six would have been a total crazy project, that even
12:14though I like his athleticism, I think he could be a very good player at number six.
12:18It just seemed to be ridiculous to me.
12:19After what Nick Saban said about him, can you imagine that being thrown?
12:22Yes, it seemed to be wild.
12:24But you have this guy that now Spencer Fano at number nine, I ain't got to worry about
12:30anything.
12:30The orange dot you brought up in the story, I don't, I just don't think, like, he may
12:35not be Anthony Munoz.
12:36It's hard to be.
12:37I mean, he might not be Joe.
12:38It's hard to be.
12:39Even though there's no doubt in the way they talk about him that they feel like he has a
12:43way higher ceiling than even the analysts at all like to pick.
12:47The one rap was, hey, high floor, but low ceiling.
12:51Not the way that they looked at him.
12:53I got the best of both worlds here.
12:55I got a fine young man who I think is going to be a solid player for me for hopefully
13:00the
13:00next decade, unless something bad happens.
13:03How awesome would that be?
13:03I don't think there's any chance this guy has to be in a bust.
13:06I think he's going to work too hard.
13:07Again, he may not be a Hall of Famer, but he may, he's definitely going to raise the
13:11floor.
13:11And I think he's going to be a good football player for you.
13:13He's going to be a good football player for a long time.
13:15And I don't have to have these crazy discussions, watching the box scores and watching Tennessee
13:19Titans games and watching Carnell Tate and everybody arguing about what could have been.
13:24It's like, hey, because there were like Jordan Tyson, I could sit there and go, hey, there
13:28was, there was injury questions.
13:29There were, there were questions about what's he going to be sturdy enough out of the combine.
13:33Like I can explain Jordan Tyson, Carnell Tate, Carnell Tate was, would have been right
13:39there, except he wasn't.
13:40He was taken at number four.
13:41And I'm like, man, this is perfect, this is perfect.
13:43I get this great player.
13:44He's going to be a solid, good player for me for a long time.
13:47And I don't have to have any of these conversations about Carnell Tate.
13:50And I don't have to sit there and watch wistfully about Carnell Tate either.
13:53I can wish him luck.
13:54I hope that we play the Titans in the playoffs someday.
13:57Then I don't want to wish him luck.
13:58But until then I can wish him luck, wish him the best and say, hopefully you have a good
14:03career down there in Tennessee.
14:04And I ain't got to worry about any of it.
14:06And then we came away with Casey Concepcion, which yes, does have a couple of, of,
14:10of red checks next to him just because of questions about hands and things like that,
14:15which a lot of people have good explanations why it might look that way.
14:18Dave, or David Boston, Denzel Boston, same thing.
14:22Good, solid receiver, bigger body, six foot four.
14:25Like I came away with a good draft out of this.
14:27And I'm happy because of how it fell for us.
14:29Look, we don't get to say this often.
14:30And even when I've tried to say it, I've then been proven incorrect, like not that far
14:35after, but isn't it nice to have everybody dumping on the Pittsburgh Steelers and having
14:39their humiliation broadcast for the world to see while the Browns universally lauded.
14:45And I get it.
14:46It's the draft.
14:47Maybe the Browns, you know, maybe everybody was wrong and the Browns don't get it right.
14:52And then Steeler fans can come back and laugh and laugh and laugh.
14:54I just don't feel like that's going to be the case this time.
14:57And come on, Kenny, this is, this isn't you talking.
14:59This is me talking.
15:00This is like this, this had to be particularly embarrassing for the Steelers to broadcast
15:06for the world to see that the guy they wanted, they didn't end up getting, and they had to
15:11go to the backup option.
15:12It's quite different.
15:13And the Browns didn't.
15:14And the Browns actually got more value and got to go with the guy they wanted all along.
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