Cleveland Browns Need To Get More Out of Second-Round Picks

One of the stories to come out of the Browns OTAs is the development of 2009 second-round picks Brian Robiskie and David Veikune.

Both Robiskie and Veikune had a lot of trouble getting on the field in 2009. Robiskie only was on the active roster for 11 games, and didn't actually get on the field for all 11 of those games. Veikune only made the active roster for 10 games last year.

The reason to focus on this point is the need for teams to have successful early-round draft picks right out of the gate. It's a reality of the game in the 21st century that isn't necessarily right, it just is what it is.

It’s true that you can’t properly evaluate a draft until two or three years down the road, but it is not unreasonable to expect guys taken in the first two rounds to contribute a little more than the guys taken in the last few rounds.

In 2009, two out of the three second-round picks didn’t do much but take up a roster spot.

Robiskie is the biggest mystery, as he was being touted as the most polished receiver to come out of last year’s draft yet barely made it onto the field.

There were rumors that Robiskie was in Mangini’s doghouse for some off-field issues that had nothing to do with breaking team rules or the laws of the land, but nothing ever was substantiated.

All we do know is that Mangini buried Robiskie last year and kept trying to pound the square peg that was Veikune into a round hole in his defensive schemes.

Both reportedly are much further ahead this year, and Mangini even singled out Robiskie for some unsolicited praise in one of his press conferences last week.

This year’s two second-round draft picks, Montario Hardesty and T.J. Ward, also are going to be under pressure to make their mark early and often. The Browns want to be a running team, and the secondary desperately needs playmakers.

Mangini's 2009 first-round draft pick Alex Mack turned out to be a great pick, but his second-round drafting didn't turn out to have the kind of immediate dividends you want to see today other than with Mohamed Massaquoi.

Hopefully, that won't be the case this year, and we'll see the kind of improvement Mangini has talked about with Robiskie and Veikune.