Tuesday

I concede, the Browns stand little chance at winning consistently in the AFC North. With the Steelers and Ravens in the division, how could they? The Rooneys have cornered the market on organizational consistency and tough, intelligent coaches. Their physical brand of in-your-face football has been the mainstay in the division for the last 10 years.

Then there's the Ravens. Want to know how they are able to rebound so quickly from a down year? Simple. Look at their draft history.

1996 - 1 - 4 - Jonathan Ogden, T - UCLA
1997 - 1 - 4 - Peter Boulware, DE - Florida State
1998 - 1 - 10 - Duane Starks, DB - Miami (FL)
1999 - 1 - 10 - Chris McAlister, DB - Arizona
2000 - 1 - 5 - Jamal Lewis, RB - Tennessee
2001 - 1 - 31 - Todd Heap, TE - Arizona State
2002 - 1 - 24 - Ed Reed, DB - Miami (FL)
2003 - 1 - 10 Terrell Suggs, DE - Arizona State
2004 - 2 - 51 Dwan Edwards, DT - Oregon State
2005 - 1 - 22 Mark Clayton, WR - Oklahoma
2006 - 1 - 12 Haloti Ngata, DT - Oregon
2007 - 1 - 29 Ben Grubbs, G - Auburn
2008 - 1 - 18 Joe Flacco, QB - Delaware

Ozzie Newsome truly is a wizard. Every one of their first round picks, save Boller and Dwan Edwards have been in the very productive to all-star status. It's mind boggling. Lerner should give Ozzie the keys and the title and let him drive.

Cleveland? Oh yeah. Well, we've got Joe Thomas!

Actually, it's not that bad. The Browns proved they have the personnel to hang with the big boys by crushing the Giants on Monday night last year. It shows how important emotion is to football. Top-down, the organization wanted that game. Coaches and players were focused and executed from start to finish. It was a thing of beauty.

But that was the past. Mangini and Co. need to find the nucleus and add to it, some by subtraction. Edwards will be in a contract year so you can count him in for major production. Question is, will the production come in Cleveland or with another team like say, Arizona or Seattle?

The bottom line is talent on the field. We need more of it. This is a very important draft for the Browns. Let's hope they get it right so we can close the gap.