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Cleveland traded up
in the opening round of the NFL draft Thursday to get Trent Richardson.
Richardson said he was shocked by the Browns move. Photo by yahoo sports
Browns do well
in draft
yahoo sports
NEW YORK- Notice to the rest of the AFC North: This is not the Browns’
old nine yards and send in the punt team offense any more.After making
a bold trade with the Vikings about 45 minutes before the draft opened,
the Browns moved up one slot, shut out any other team that might have
wanted him, and took muscular running back Trent Richardson with the
third pick in the draft.They followed that by using their 22nd pick on
28-year-old Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden. The pick was
acquired from the Falcons on the first day of the 2011 draft.Richardson
scored 21 rushing touchdowns and three through the air for the Crimson
Tide in 2011. The Browns totaled 20 offensive touchdowns last season
and finished with 218 points, the third fewest in the league.
This is bigger than winning the national championship,” the former
Alabama star said in a conference call from New York. “I’m on Cloud
Nine right now.”The Browns started the trade ball rolling Thursday when
they dealt the fourth pick and a fourth (118), fifth (139) and
seventh-round choice (211) to the Vikings to move from fourth to third.
All along General Manager Tom Heckert said it was unlikely the Browns
would trade up one spot, but they made the deal to make sure Tampa Bay
or another team did not trade with the Vikings instead.“We knew as we
went through the process he was our guy,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “We
had pretty good knowledge there were teams behind us that wanted him as
well, so we gave up a couple picks to make sure we got him.“We’re
thrilled. He’s passionate, he’s productive, he’s durable and he’s the
kind if runner we feel will help us put an offense together to score
the points we need to win the games we’re going to win. He’s a terrific
player. He’s going to be a fine addition to the Cleveland Browns.”A key
to the trade was the Browns retained picks 22, 37, 67 and pick 100.The
Browns locked in on Richardson before they let Peyton Hillis leave in
free agency. Hillis signed a one-year, $2.6 million contract with the
Chiefs.
“We decided to go in a different direction,” Heckert said before the
draft. Richardson makes the offense instantly better. He is the best
back since they returned to the NFL in 1999. If he stays healthy this
will be remembered as a very good trade for both teams. The Vikings
still got offensive tackle Matt Kalil plus three more draft
choices.Richardson said he wasn’t sure the Browns would draft him
because he heard from numerous teams saying they wanted him. He had
little reaction to a radio interview in which former Browns great Jim
Brown said he would be only “ordinary” in the NFL.“If you say ordinary,
I’m an ordinary human,” Richardson said. “As a back, I’m going to be a
special guy. I’m just going to try to make the team better. I can’t
predict the future, but that’s going to be my team. I’m going to do all
I can to get everybody to buy into their program.”Richardson ran for
109 yards and scored two touchdowns when Alabama beat Texas, 37-21, for
the national championship in January, 2010. Colt McCoy was the
Longhorns’ quarterback and was injured early.Now Richardson and McCoy
are teammates. Shurmur said a legitimate running threat like the Browns
now have can make McCoy or any quarterback better.“Being on that team,
Colt can help me, too,” Richardson said. “I still have a lot to prove.
I have to earn everybody’s respect. We’re going to get on the same
page. I can’t wait to meet him face to face and get to work with
him.Third is the highest pick the Browns ever used on a running back.
Prior to selecting Richardson the highest running back picked was Jim
Brown with the sixth overall pick in 1957.This is the fourth time in 14
years the Browns had the third pick. In 2001 they took defensive tackle
Gerard Warren, in 2005 they took wide receiver Braylon Edwards and in
2007 they took offensive tackle Joe Thomas. Prior to their rebirth in
1999 they picked quarterback Mike Phipps third in 1970 and Chip Banks
third in 1982.
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