Butch Davis' Fall

Peter King, in regard to Butch Davis' fall as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, notes

[Dwight, former GM] Clark's tenure, to be charitable, was an unmitigated disaster. Of the 61 combined picks in the 1999 expansion draft and the '99 and 2000 college drafts (those were double-draft picks years in rounds three through seven for Cleveland), only one, cornerback Daylon McCutcheon, is a full-time starter. So when Davis walked in from the University of Miami in 2001, he was basically taking over an expansion team -- without all the built-in advantages an expansion team has.

I want to say that again, just so you get the enormity of how pathetic the player selection was by this front office in 1999 and 2000: One player of the 61 picked in the first two years is a regular starter now. That is so alarmingly bad it's hard to fathom. Let's take away the 37 expansion draft picks. One of the 24 draft choices, picking first overall each year, is a regular starter in 2004.

and goes on to say

Davis deserves a chunk of the blame today, to be sure. But more goes to Policy, Clark and the first coaching staff. On Wednesday, the day after I talked to Davis, I got a call from someone in the Browns' organization, asking if I would like to see a personnel sheet entailing the team's roster movement from 2001 to 2004. Sure, I said. When the e-mail came, I knew why Davis wanted me to see this. (I assume it was he who directed it be sent to me.) The salient points:

• Of the 63 players on the roster in Davis' first years, 43 of them (68 percent) are out of football.
• Only two of 31 inherited offensive players -- Dennis Northcutt, Aaron Shea -- are still Browns.
• Not a single quarterback, offensive lineman or linebacker from the 2001 teams is still with Cleveland.

"When up and down the roster high picks don't make an expansion team long-term, you're going to have a problem," Davis said.

It is certainly tough to win when you don't have decent players.