The 2001 Browns Draft

I was reading an article on Cleveland.com about the Browns cutting Michael Jameson after he finished up his four week suspension for the league's substance abuse policies. Here is the key quote.

In a season when some of the 2001 draftees should be in their prime, Jameson was the last hope to salvage something from that draft. The others were Gerard Warren (now with Denver), Quincy Morgan (now with Pittsburgh), James Jackson (out of football), Anthony Henry (now with Dallas), Jeremiah Pharms (out of football), Paul Zukauskas (out of football) and Andre King (out of football).

You want to talk about a real failure in terms of a draft, this is one for the ages. Jeremiah Pharms was brought up on charges and never saw a single day of practice.

Pharms, who played linebacker for the University of Washington, was arrested and jailed in Sacramento, Calif., for an alleged role in a shooting and armed robbery near the university on March 14, 2000. According to KING-TV of Seattle, more than one victim suffered serious injuries.

How hilarious is that? I mean, how do you draft a guy that you know so little about? How could you know so little about a player that he ends up being brought up on charges for armed robbery after you draft him?

This is why we aren't sorry that Butch Davis is gone.

Just so you know what the Browns missed out on in that draft, here are some of the draft picks in the first round who would have been better than Gerard Warren with the third pick.

LaDainian Tomlinson (5)
Richard Seymour (6)
Dan Morgan (11)
Santana Moss (16)
Deuce McCallister (23)
Reggie Wayne (30)
Todd Heap (31)

In the second round, the Browns took Quincy Morgan with the 33rd pick. Here is who they missed out on.

Alge Crumpler (35)
Chad Johnson (36)
Kendrell Bell (39)
Fred Smoot (45)
Gary Baxter (62)

Not that you are going to get every pick right, but the Butch Davis Browns picks were mostly awful. In fairness, they did take Anthony Henry in the third round and he proved that he was at least an above average player, but overall, Butch's average is horrible.

Out of all those players, you would like to see at least two doing something with the team today, and as the article points out, not a single one will have the chance as they are all playing with other teams or out of football.