10 biggest first round mistakes the Cleveland Browns have made since ’99

Why do these six not make the list?

So some names are going to be absent from the top-ten list of first-round busts and that’s for one of two reasons. Firstly, they may have done enough to not warrant the ‘bust’ label. Secondly, they may be a bust, but may not match the level of lows that others on this list have hit.

So let’s look at the first two first-round picks; Tim Couch and Courtney Brown. Couch is obviously not a bust, more of a disappointment. He didn’t live up to the lofty expectations but he has done something that only the likes of Brian Sipe, Bernie Kosar, and Vinny Testaverde have done; gotten the Browns to the NFL Playoffs. So yes, Couch is in rarified air, as each of those men were also Pro Bowl-caliber players.

Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren miss this list because, while disappointments, Brown played six seasons of respectable football and Warren played 11 years in the NFL. Sure, busts in the sense that top-three picks should be Hall of Famers, but compared to the rest of this list they’re simply average players.

As for Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow Jr, there is certainly a case to be made that both men were busts following a successful 2007 campaign. Neither man played that well ever again and both men ended up bouncing around from team to team in hopes of finding someplace that would or could use them. They never caught on but considering there are only seven players since 1999 that the Browns drafted in the first round who went to the Pro Bowl, we’ll go easy on them.

Lastly, there’s Kamerion Wimbley. Another player that didn’t live up to his first-round selection but an 11-sack rookie season, a nine-year career and starting 88% of the games he played in are pretty solid stats. Especially considering what’s about to be coming up next…