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

9. DT Phil Taylor (2011 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 21)

In the totality of Browns’ busts, Taylor isn’t often mentioned. Which is interesting, because he was bad. Not bad like in the ’80s, where bad was good. Not even bad in the conventional sense, where it means less-than-average. I mean, Taylor was so bad that he redefined ineptitude for a defensive lineman.

Not only was Taylor always hurt, but he was also a terrible tackler. Which is even worse than say a cornerback not being able to tackle, because a cornerback is 170 pounds soaking wet. Taylor was over 330 pounds. He could grab a guy and fall on him and be a good enough tackler. He only had 69 solo tackles in four years and only 109 combined tackles over the same stretch. All that made worse by the fact that he had a decent rookie year. He had 59 total tackles and four sacks.

If you add up his stats over the next three years, however, they fall short of totaling his rookie season. That’s how big of a drop off he had. You can’t just blame injury issues either, as he was healthy for all but one game in the 2013 season.

Yet, when the biggest busts in Browns’ history are discussed, Taylor’s name is often omitted. Is it because he’s a defensive tackle? No, because Gerard Warren is often mentioned. Is it because he was a late-round pick, going number 21 overall? No, because that hasn’t stopped people from slamming Brandon Weedon or Johnny Manziel. If they’re busts, he’s a bust.

Honestly, it could be because the team was absolute trash during his tenure. He arrived at the end of the Peyton Hillis era, where Hillis started quitting on the team. Then he survived the Brandon Weedon era, which saw Weedon fail to make any noise and Trent Richardson get drafted and traded all at once. Then in 2013, the offense was so historically bad how could anyone pay attention to anything else? Then finally in 2014 excitement came in the way of Johnny Manziel, who dominated the Cleveland news cycle until he was released. The off-season after that year, where Taylor’s deal was not picked up, saw Manziel partying all the time drawing focus from Taylor.

So it’s not that surprising that Taylor often gets overlooked by fans when they talk about the biggest first-round busts in Browns’ history.

Don’t worry Taylor, I still noticed you were a bust.