Word on the Street: Browns Will Draft Either Sanchez or Crabtree

The Browns won four games last season. It cost Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel their jobs, and has led to an offseason full of speculation about whom the team will draft with the fifth-overall pick next Saturday.

Cleveland's collapse was mildly surprising; it won 10 games in 2007 and just missed the playoffs. With the quarterback position seemingly decided -- Derek Anderson went to the Pro Bowl in '07 -- only the defense needed fixing. Trading for Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams accomplished that (in theory, anyway) and all that remained was winning the Super Bowl.

Clearly, that didn't happen, and in the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft, the speculation has primarily concerned two players on the roster: quarterback Brady Quinn and wide receiver Brayon Edwards. To some scouts, Quinn, despite only attempting 97 career passes, isn't considered accurate enough to be a starter. Edwards wants out of Cleveland, and he may get his wish as soon as this week, and no later than this summer.

Which is why the latest rumor, via WOIO's 19 Action News (!), sounds eminently plausible:

Sources have told 19 Action News the Browns will either take USC quarteraback [sic] Mark Sanchez or Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The Browns have the fifth pick in next week's NFL Draft.

It's worth pointing out that the National Football Post's Mike Lombardi has been beating this drum for a month now. Whatever, it's potentially more evidence that new general manager George Kokonis and new head coach Eric Mangini don't think either Quinn or Edwards can help the Browns back to respectability -- even though Edwards had 80 receptions for almost 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns during the '07 season.

That said, Braylon dropped nearly as many passes a year ago, and Anderson is proof that expectations can change drastically over the course of one season.

And while Sanchez or Crabtree would make the Browns offense better, the defense would still have gaping holes at linebacker and in the secondary. One mitigating factor: there doesn't appear to be a defensive player worth a top-5 selection. Instead of reaching to fill a need, the Browns could take Sanchez or Crabtree, both immediate starters and potential impact players.

You know, just like Edwards and Quinn when they were drafted.