Cleveland Browns: Leonard Fournette is nothing compared to Trent Richardson

The Jaguars may have missed on Leonard Fournette but that doesn’t compare to the debacle the Cleveland Browns turned Trent Richardson into.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have opted to cut Leonard Fournette, their 4th overall pick from the 2017 NFL Draft. As bad as a draft move as that was, the selection of Fournette doesn’t hold a candle to the Cleveland Browns selection of Trent Richardson five years prior at the 3rd overall spot in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Richardson, much like Fournette could probably still be in the NFL. Across his tenure in the AAF, he showed remarkable ability to still get in the endzone, and with his size and strength, the idea of him being a blocking back does exist in a smaller, faster offense. The problem with Richardson, however, is that he’ll always bee the guy who bombed with the Browns and Indianapolis Colts. It’s a huge stigma to overcome and one of the big reasons why the former 3rd overall pick isn’t in the NFL anymore.

That and his field vision isn’t great.

The failure of Fournette in Jacksonville really can’t compare to the failure of Richardson though. While Richardson could still make a team as a squad’s third or fourth back, Fournette is still a starter. On top of that, while Jacksonville may have cut him instead of trading him, the Browns traded Richardson and somehow made things worse.

Not only did the Browns miss on Matt Kalil, Luke Kuechly, Ryan Tannehill, Dontari Poe, and Melvin Ingram, but the Browns somehow traded Richardson away for a 2014 first-round draft pick. That pick became Johnny Manziel. That means that not only did the Browns miss once on Richardson, but they ended up missing out all over again. Letting guys like Dee Ford, Jason Verrett, Demarcus Lawerence, Teddy Bridgewater, and even guys like Derek Carr slip their fingers once again.

The Browns, essentially, had two chances to turn that No. 3 pick into a player worth having and twice they missed out on it. So fret not Jaguars, at least you only took one loss with the Fournette pick. The Browns, because of course they did, found a way to let the Richardson pick wreck two full drafts.

That’s Cleveland for ya.