Trent Richardson: Browns Take Worthwhile Risk Trading Up for Alabama RB

There's much to be said about the Cleveland Brown's decision to move up, from No. 4 to No. 3 in the 2012 NFL Draft, to add Alabama running back Trent Richardson.

On the one hand, the Browns desperately needed a top-tier ball carrier to rejuvenate their moribund ground game, which ranked 31st in the league in yards per carry last season. That wasn't likely to improve with Peyton Hillis signing the Kansas City Chiefs and leaving extra carries to be split between Montario Hardesty and Chris Ogbonnaya.

Unless a 'back like Richardson stepped in to absorb them.

On the other hand, Cleveland picked up a 'back in each of the three previous drafts—James Davis in 2009, Hardesty in 2010 and Owen Marecic in 2011—and still wound up in this position.

Of course, none of that is Richardson's fault, nor should Mike Holmgren have simply stood by and waited for his other picks to pan out.

There were also (reasonable) concerns about spending an extra fourth-, fifth- and seventh-round pick to move up for Richardson.

That is, until you consider that Cleveland already had 13 picks coming in to Thursday night's proceedings. Surely, they could afford sacrifice a few of them to keep the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, among others, from swooping in on Minny's pick, especially since 13 rookies would've been hard-pressed to make the Browns' roster out of training camp.

The only part of Cleveland's move that can reasonably come into question is the decision to opt for a running back of any sort so early in the draft. Quality runners are a dime a dozen in the NFL these days, what with team after team realizing how much smarter it is to go with a stable of ball carriers rather than one guy who can carry the load on every down.

In part, because the position lends itself to frequent injury and short careers.

Consider, too, that, of the top five rushers in the league last season, none were former first-round picks.

And for a team like Cleveland, that's had one winning season in the last nine, there are other, more pressing needs at positions of greater scarcity that could've been filled that early.

That being said, Richardson has all the makings of a great player from the get-go. He has the size and strength to run through defenders, the athleticism and agility to run over and around them and the speed to leave them eating his dust.

He'll be a big boost to Cleveland's woeful offense behind quarterback Colt McCoy, and is about as close to a sure thing as you'll find in this year's draft.

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