A former member of the Browns personnel department -- who argued for running back Adrian Peterson before the 2007 draft -- said Friday that the Browns ''screwed up'' by not drafting the Vikings running back with the No. 3 overall pick. Instead, they selected left tackle Joe Thomas, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, and the Vikings -- who visit Sunday for the opener -- took two-time Pro Bowler Peterson at No. 7. "In my mind, it was a no-brainer,'' the personnel man said. "Adrian Peterson was the best running back in high school football, the best running back in college football and now he's the best running back in the NFL. He was Rookie of the Year and led the NFL in rushing last season. We had a chance to draft the best player in the NFL outside of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and we blew it.'' Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
In 1983 the Chiefs drafted Todd Blackledge in lieu of Dan Marino. Every team has a "we should have" pick.
The point is "we should have" picks are for taking a bust and missing out on a great player. Joe Thomas is also a great player, and that's a slap in the face .
Yep. I would have been pissed if we took Peterson when we had a chance to get a franchise left tackle. Peterson probably would have gotten hurt by week 3 in Cleveland. Gerard Warren instead of LT is a should have pick. Anybody instead of William Green is another one.
AP is not the best running back. A running back has to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield and pick up blitzing and throw blocks. AP is the best pure runner in football. And Joe Thomas is a stable on the line for the next 10-15 years. I would rather have that than have a position that gets lost in 8-12 years. Solid runningbacks are everywhere, but elite lights out LT's are very rare.
I've got a baseball one. Well, sort of. The Orioles in the final series of 2000 (the 3rd of their 12 straight losing seasons), played the A's in a completely meaningless series. The O's swept them, while the Rangers got swept, and the O's had the 7th pick of the draft instead of the 5th, which went to the Rangers. And who did they select in the '01 draft? Mark Texeira. For football, I'd have to say trading for Kyle Boller instead of taking whoever the hell was there.
AD would have gotten hurt in 2 games at most and nearly died of a staph infection behind that line that wouldn't have had joe thomas. They made the right choice at the time, it was bad choices in previous seasons that didn't allow them to draft AD when he was available.
