Factory Of Sadness
FanSided

The Best Player in each Cleveland Browns NFL Draft Class since 1999

By Chad Porto

17 Sep 2000: Kevin Johnson #85 of the Cleveland Browns carries the ball up the field during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Steelers 23-20.Mandatory Credit: Harry How /Allsport
17 Sep 2000: Kevin Johnson #85 of the Cleveland Browns carries the ball up the field during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Steelers 23-20.Mandatory Credit: Harry How /Allsport /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – DECEMBER 08: Offensive lineman Joe Thomas #73 of the Cleveland Browns blocks against linebacker James Harrison #92 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during a game at Heinz Field on December 8, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Browns 14-3. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – DECEMBER 08: Offensive lineman Joe Thomas #73 of the Cleveland Browns blocks against linebacker James Harrison #92 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during a game at Heinz Field on December 8, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Browns 14-3. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /

2007 – OT Joe Thomas (Round 1: 3rd overall)

There will probably be no one better than Joe Thomas. He was a Pro Bowler every year he was in the league, except his last one which he would’ve been had he not gotten hurt. Opting to retire young in order to preserve his health, Thomas is a no-doubt Hall of Famer and might be the greatest offensive tackle in the history fo the NFL. There can’t be any doubt about that, even if he never did get to the playoffs. It wasn’t because he didn’t do everything he physically could do. He kept those quarterbacks upright. Not his fault they were all trash.

Not a great class around him, so not only was it really easy to go with Thomas, it was a barren wasteland of awful behind him. From a REAL bust of a quarterback, Brady Quinn, to the streaky Eric Wright and then Brandon McDonald being even worse than Wright. The Browns did acquire two aptly named players however in Melila Purcell and Syndric Steptoe. You couldn’t make up better names than that. Purcell sounds like a rogue Starfleet officer and Steptoe could be the real Last Jedi.

Though neither were any good on a football field.

The Browns also traded up to get Quinn by giving up their 2008 first-round draft pick and picked the most jacked, least talented quarterback in some time. Trading up wasn’t a bad idea. Joe Staley was on the board, and the Browns needed more than one tackle. There was also Greg Olsen, himself a potential Hall of Famer, and probably my favorite player in Penn State history, Paul Posluszny.

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