Before the 2017 draft, then-Browns coach @huejack10 was dug in on Myles Garrett as the No. 1 overall pick. The front office wanted Mitchell Trubisky. He took extreme measures to plead his case. From Ep. 45 of the Pass It Down podcast, with @fatnatsilver… pic.twitter.com/Fmkr8NBOJb
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 31, 2021
Hue Jackson’s tenure as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns was horrendous, to the tune of a 3-36-1 record over three seasons.
It sounds like it could have been even worse, somehow, if Jackson hadn’t gotten his way in the 2017 NFL draft.
Appearing on the Pass it Down podcast with the dad-and-daughter tandem of Mike and Nat Silver, Jackson relayed a story from the predraft process where he says he had to fight against the idea of picking Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 1 overall selection over Myles Garrett.
Garrett was the clear-cut top overall prospect in that class, while Trubisky was a late-rising prospect who ended up going No. 2 overall after the Chicago Bears traded up. Garrett quickly became one of the NFL’s most dynamic and dominant pass rushers, while Trubisky became the latest in a long line of quarterback busts atop the draft.
So, while plenty of folks over the years have made fun of the Bears for trading up to take Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, it sounds like the Browns dodged that bullet by siding with Jackson over other voices in the room.
