In 1987, the Browns traded good but grumpy linebacker Chip Banks and the 24th pick to move up to the fifth pick and select Duke linebacker Mike Junkin.
Take a long, deep breath before labeling NFL draft's mutts
Only time will sort out over-the-top draft assessments.
April 29, 2019 at 12:14PM
While explaining the selection that stunned the media, the league and his own scouting department — which wanted Shane Conlan — coach Marty Schottenheimer unleashed not one but two infamous last words.
First, he compared Junkin to Lawrence Taylor. Then, he told a story about how Browns scout Dom Anile had come to him and said Junkin plays "like a mad dog in a meat market."
It would come out later that Marty left out the part about Dom having a second-round grade on Junkin.
Too late. The "mad dog" quote lives in infamy long after the mutt's three-year career ended with seven starts.
Long story short, maybe wait a bit before falling madly in love with a pick you are convinced will be great. Or perhaps watch a guy play some before your raging hatred of him makes you want to punch the GM in the snout.
Looking back on this year's draft, here are some moves that will be fun to watch as they unfold in the years to come:
• We have to start in Arizona. General Manager Steve Keim had better pray that Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray revolutionize the sport. Right now, in giving Josh Rosen away to the Dolphins, Keim has turned the 15th, 79th and 152nd picks of last year's draft — not to mention Rosen's $11 million signing bonus — into UMass receiver Andy Isabella. Let that one sink in.
• In Pittsburgh, the return on the Antonio Brown trade is Toledo receiver Diontae Johnson in the third round and Michigan tight end Zach Gentry in the fifth round. Let the cleansing begin.
• A forgotten part of the Khalil Mack trade was Chicago's sixth-round pick (196) this year. Here's how that sixth-rounder is connected to the Raiders landing Clemson's Trayvon Mullen, a corner, and Hunter Renfrow, a receiver, in the second and fifth rounds. Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock traded that 196th overall pick and guard Kelechi Osemele for the Jets' fifth-round pick (140). Then he traded that pick, a second-rounder (35) and a seventh-rounder (235) for Jacksonville's second- (38) and fourth-rounders (109). Then he traded the 38th overall pick for Buffalo's 40th overall and the fifth-round pick (158) that Oakland had given the Bills in last year's A.J. McCarron trade. Mayock then selected Mullen 40th overall but traded the 158th overall pick and a seventh-rounder (218) for Dallas' 149th pick. Then he selected Renfrow. Whew.
• Funny how "reaches" and "steals" are declared as if there is one magic mock draft that all 32 teams follow. Remember all the mock drafts said Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen would be gone by the time Jacksonville made the seventh pick? Remember when Florida offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor was the Jaguars' no-brainer pick at seven? Well, the Jags took Allen seventh, went to bed, came back the next day and took Taylor 35th.
• Yours truly once paid a lot of money for a puppy. But the puppy turned out to be a bad fit for the family. So we gave the puppy away. That memory comes to mind when thinking about how the Dolphins have to pay Rosen — a 22-year-old quarterback picked 10th overall last year — only $6.2 million over the next three years.
• Good running backs tend to spring from every round of the draft and via rookie free agency. With that in mind, it will be fun to watch the careers of the Raiders' Josh Jacobs and Chicago's David Montgomery.
The Raiders used a first-round pick from the Mack trade to take Jacobs. The Bears used their first pick of the draft, in Round 3, on Montgomery.
• You make the call: Odell Beckham Jr. or a nose tackle at 17th overall?
• The Frank Clark trade will be fun to watch unfold. Seattle took the 29th pick from Kansas City and grabbed TCU's L.J. Collier, an edge rusher earmarked to replace Clark. Then they used the Chiefs' third-rounder to move up with the Vikings and take Utah linebacker Cody Barton. And they get a second-rounder next year.
• Locally, the Vikings appear to have landed three players — Garrett Bradbury, Irv Smith Jr. and Alexander Mattison — who will start or contribute immediately on offense.
Of course, this time of year, can anyone really tell the difference between a mad dog and a mutt?
Mark Craig is an NFL and Vikings Insider. Twitter: @markcraigNFL. E-mail: mcraig@startribune.com
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
