I Still Can’t Fathom How Brandon Weeden Got Drafted
I was in my thoughts the other day. It’s a god damn shame I’m not a general manager for a professional sports team. Odds are I’ll never get that opportunity. Mostly because we still live in a world where the same idiots are being hired. We live in a world where a general manager decided to not only draft Brandon Weeden, but also picked him IN THE FIRST ROUND. How did we forget that this ever happened?
The Brandon Weeden story is maybe the dumbest story in NFL history. It took next level of incompetence for it to happen. Of course, the Browns are always dysfunctional but drafting Weeden in the first round isn’t talked about enough. I won’t forget about it.
Mike Holmgren will go down in the history books as a great head coach. He’s also the dumbass that led a front office decision to draft the former old Oklahoma State quarterback… Holmgren and former general manager Tom Hecker drafted Weeden with the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
On that day, Weeden became the oldest player ever picked in the first round at 28 years old. He didn’t make his first start with the Browns until age 29. David DeCastro, Dont’a Hightower, Harrison Smith, and Doug Martin all became Pro Bowlers who were picked after Weeden in the first round.
The funniest part of the Weeden pick is that it was actually a really good quarterback draft. Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Ryan Tannehill were all picked in the top 10. It was also the year Russell Wilson got drafted in the third round.
I’m not going to sit here and blame teams for passing on Russell Wilson. I thought he was really good in college but he wasn’t a sure thing. We were all concerned he might be too short and left NC State because of Mike Glennon. Now, Wilson was a legit prospect but also a late bloomer and nobody really knew what they were getting.
What I can do is blame the Browns for taking the wrong gamble. Remember, Nick Foles was also in that draft. Brock Osweiler didn’t make it either but at least he had a good arm. Kirk Cousins was also in that draft. Later round quarterbacks are always a bit of a gamble.
What the Browns did was take a flier on a 29-year-old failed baseball prospect who put up okay numbers in the Big 12 and thought that guy was their savior. It borders on levels of insanity that I can’t even fathom and that’s saying something because I’m crazy.
That’s just one of those decisions that you don’t come back from. No punishment is too much for the idiot that drafted Weeden. If I had drafted Weeden in the first round, I don’t think I’d ever be able to look myself in the mirror again. I’d feel like an inferior human. That’s how dumb it was. Weeden was drafted before I started writing but let me personally promise you that I had him as undraftable. Because drafting a 29-year-old rookie quarterback should have always been a deal breaker before we even do the smallest bit of research.
Of course, Weeden sucked in the NFL. Weeden posted a 31-30 TD to INT ratio in his career with a completion percentage of 58%. The guy couldn’t play. Never could.
It’s one of the greatest mysteries in NFL history. How did Brandon Weeden con a team into drafting him? Is drafting Weeden the most Browns move of all-time? All great questions and something we should never forget about.
