Why the Cleveland Browns Would Regret Taking Ryan Tannehill with No. 4 Pick

Not since the days of Webster Slaughter, Reggie Langhorne and Brian Brennan have the Cleveland Browns had a legitimate receiving corps.

Braylon Edwards was solid for a few years, but then quickly fell from grace. And his quarterback was Derek Anderson.

Speaking of quarterbacks, we can talk all day about Otto Graham, Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar, but they all had reliable receiving targets to count on.

Right now, Colt McCoy has arguably the NFL's worst receiving corps and it's clearly been on display the past few years—even before McCoy's arrival.

In 2011, McCoy had over 2,500 yards with 14 touchdowns to just nine interceptions through 12 games. Lest we forget, the Browns played a insanely difficult schedule through the beginning of December.

Of every team Cleveland faced with McCoy under center, six finished in the top 10 ranking for total defense.

So for the most part, the Browns need playmakers at the receiver position in order to give McCoy a chance. Selecting Ryan Tannehill at No. 4 overall is not the answer.

Yes, Tannehill has first-round potential, but he has just roughly 1.5 years of experience at quarterback and did not play in a pro-style system at Texas A&M. Tannehill has mobility, arm strength and size, but  there will always be durability concerns until he puts on the pads this fall.

Now, McCoy also has durability concerns, but then again, we've yet to see him take snaps with a dominant receiver on the outside. At Texas A&M, Tannehill had three impressive targets in Jeff Fuller, Ryan Swope and running back Cyrus Gray (who's way underrated).

Obviously it's unfair to compare how those players would perform at the pro level like McCoy's targets, but the Browns desperately need a consistent playmaker. Tannehill as a rookie will only be as good as his receivers, whereas McCoy at least has the NFL experience to make them better.

And if Cleveland decides to take Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon at No. 4, we can finally get a fair evaluation of McCoy. There's no doubt the Colt can improve, but it's only going to be minimal without any receiver in place that can beat single coverage.

A twist to this selection, though, comes in the form of Tannehill's experience at receiver. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, he caught 101 passes for over 1,400 yards and scored nine touchdowns.

Quite honestly, Cleveland could make Tannehill a receiver, but that versatility is still not worth the No. 4 pick. If the Browns don't feel the need to select Blackmon, then Alabama running back Trent Richardson or LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne would suffice.

Remember the last time the Browns selected a quarterback in the top five? It was Tim Couch, who had almost 8,500 passing yards, 75 touchdowns and just 36 picks in his final two college seasons.

This are clearly much more impressive stats than Tannehill's, and Couch was as big and had as strong an arm.

When the draft comes, if the Browns don't end up going for Blackmon, Richardson or Claiborne, the next best option would be to trade down. To that end, though, Cleveland could play the deceive card and really make it sound like Tannehill is their guy.

Doing so may allow the Browns to get more in a trade from a team like Miami, Jacksonville, St. Louis, or whoever else sees interest in Tannehill. With another first-round pick later on, trading down to stock up isn't the worst of ideas.

The worst idea would be to select Tannehill too high at No. 4, especially given the significant drop in quarterback talent after Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.


John Rozum on Twitter.