NFL Draft Grades 2012: Teams That Will Make Up for This Year's Picks in 2013

Some fans of the Browns, Seahawks and 49ers are not happy right now, but fear not. Next year's draft will be better than this one, especially if those teams find themselves high up in the order.

And judging by one of the Browns' moves this year, that very well might be a reality.

Here's a look at some teams that will be making up for this year's quasi-futility with next year's moves. Three-hundred and sixty-five days isn't that much.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns took the perfect pick with their No. 3 overall selection and even traded up to get him. Trent Richardson was one of the best offensive prospects available and will do wonders for an offensive unit that finished fourth-to-last in the league in 2011.

And then Cleveland took Brandon Weeden with their No. 22 overall pick. Seemingly the only person who saw it coming was Weeden himself, who hinted at the move in an interview with the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot the week before the draft. He said: 

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I feel really good about how everything's gone with the Browns throughout this whole process. It would be exciting if I ended up there. 

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From what Weeden says, it's clear he has a serious competitive drive and is willing to work as hard as humanly possible to become the Browns' starter. However, a first-round pick is a lot to gamble on a 28-year-old whose own college offensive coordinator told the Cabot that he was unsure of how his player would fare without superstar wide receiver Justin Blackmon: "Was Joe Montana the same without Jerry Rice? I think they're great players on their own, and they made each other a lot better together."

The good news is, USC's Matt Barkley will be at the top of the board next year and if this whole Weeden thing doesn't work out, the Browns will probably be right up there at the top of the order to select him.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks' first-round selection in this year's draft was perhaps the most confusing of all. With a plethora of highly-regarded defensive ends on the board, they chose West Virginia's Bruce Irvin, a risky prospect with average size and ability, plus a long history of off-the-field issues.

Most recently, Irvin was arrested in March after his pro day workout for destruction of property outside a Jimmy John's shop in Morgantown, W. Va., according to ESPN.com.

Pete Carroll, who recruited Irvin out of junior college while he was the head coach at USC, seems psyched about the pick, telling the Washington Post that there are few prospects who possess Irvin's speed and ability. But is Irvin really so high above the Chandler Joneses and Melvin Ingrams of the world that he warranted a No. 15 overall selection?

In 2010, Irvin showed excellent pass-rushing ability—when he was rushing on third down. In 2011, he struggled to do the same thing on every down. Consistency is key and there's no certainty that Irvin has it. This would've been a good risk to take late in the second or third round, but in the first?

Lucky for the Seahawks, if the Irvin experiment backfires in 2012, there will be at least one appealing prospect at the top of the order next year in LSU's Sam Montgomery. The defensive end/outside linebacker was already one of the top defensive players in the nation in 2011 after registering 13 tackles for a loss and nine sacks before the Tigers' national championship loss to Alabama. With another year of experience under his belt, he'll likely be one of the top options in the 2013 draft.

San Francisco 49ers

Popular opinion prior to the 2012 draft had the 49ers taking a guard. Instead, San Francisco went for wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, who barely graced a first-round board and was the seventh-ranked wide receiver prospect. They passed over Georgia Tech's Stephen Hill as well as South Carolina's Alshon Jeffery.

The confusion continued when San Francisco took running back LaMichael James in the second round, a 5'8", 194-pound Oregon product who is ranked below average in height/weight/speed, durability and intangibles by ESPN.com. He has a history of ankle problems and, despite phenomenal quickness, is a strange selection given the fact that the 49ers recently signed Brandon Jacobs and already have Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter.

But have no fear. Though there doesn't project to be a plethora of first-round caliber talent at guard next year, the 49ers can turn to Washington State's Marquess Wilson if Jenkins, Randy Moss and Mario Manningham all fail to pan out. Jenkins set single-season records for the Cougars in receptions (82) and yards (1,388) in 2011.