Cleveland Browns: Greatest 15 first-round NFL Draft picks of all time
13. Chip Banks, LB
Chip Banks was the No. 3 pick of the 1982 NFL Draft and rewarded the franchise by winning the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He was a Pro Bowler in four of his first five seasons with the Browns.
And he seemed to be getting better every year.
Of Banks 46 career sacks, 11 were recorded in 1985.
But Banks had a contentious relationship with Marty Schotenheimer in Cleveland. The two even reportedly had a screaming match because the coach didn’t think his linebacker was enough of a “headhunter.”
Somewhere in Browns lore, there’s the story of the organization trying to move him to Buffalo when Cleveland was trying to finagle a way to get the first-round pick in the 1985 supplemental draft. Legend has it that the Bills passed on Banks because they weren’t willing to take a flier on a player who may have been disgruntled.
Even though he got a brief reprieve, Banks would eventually be moved.
Banks was traded to the Chargers for draft picks following the 1986 season. Cleveland used one of those draft picks, the fifth overall pick in 1987, on Mike Junkin, a player regarded as one of the biggest busts in Browns draft history.