Browns go defensive, select tackle Warren
By GEORGE WELKER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BEREA -- Switching coaches in the off-season resulted in switching gears, as the Cleveland Browns went with defense with their first pick of the 2001 NFL draft.
Instead of immediately selecting an offensive player to help quarterback Tim Couch, Cleveland took 312-pound defensive tackle Gerard Warren of the University of Florida with the third overall pick.
Instead of picking a player that would help the Browns put points on the scoreboard, the Cleveland brass favored a player that would keep points off of it.
"I just want to win, whatever it takes to win," said Dwight Clark, Cleveland's director of football operations.
"If it's building the defense first, then so be it. If we need to build the defense first, and stop people from scoring and stop the run, that's what we're going to do."
Run-oriented: Clark, Browns' president Carmen Policy and new coach Butch Davis all said playing in the run-oriented AFC Central Division factored in the decision to select Warren.
"If you can't stop the run in the National Football League, it's very difficult to win," Davis said.
The Browns focused on getting a player that would help them stop Tennessee's Eddie George, Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis and Cincinnati's Corey Dillon, who possibly could end up in Cleveland as the Browns seek a running back via free agency.
"If you can't stop the run, you can't win. [Opponents will] never throw the ball, there's no reason if they can get 150, 160, 170 yards rushing," Davis added.
Davis described Warren as a player the Browns couldn't pass by.
"On the field, no matter if I'm getting double-teamed or triple-teamed, I don't know how to quit," Warren said. "I give my best effort every time on the field, because you never know when your last play is."
In college, Warren played 35 games for the Gators, starting 22 times and earning a rating as the best defensive tackle in college football. He collected 30 stops behind the line of scrimmage and had 47 QB pressures in his career. He had 25 stops and 43 pressures in his final two seasons and recorded 91/2 sacks in his career.
Fast, strong: Warren clocked a 4.93 in the 40-yard dash and bench pressed 435 pounds. He was an All-Southeast Conference first team selection by the league's coaches and second team All-SEC by The Associated Press.
"He is a force. He is a nasty, violent player, and that's what we need in there," Clark said.
"I guess you could call it Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde," Warren told reporters after coming to Cleveland from Gainesville, Fla.
"Off the field I'm pretty mellow, I'm a throwback country boy from Union County, Fla., but on the field its like I flip a switch. I have a job, and I won't let anyone stop me from doing my job."
"He is an extraordinarily massive, powerful, athletic big man. He can penetrate and collapse the pocket," Davis continued.
And, Warren is the perfect complement for DE Courtney Brown, whom the Browns took as the first overall pick a year ago.
"Adding him gives us depth and playmakers. It gives us guys that literally can play at any position," Davis said.
"Our defense will change dramatically now," Clark said. "Linebackers will be better, corners will be better, just because we can stop the run and put pressure on the quarterback."
"As you can see, our original plan to build this team on offense took a little hit to the ribs today. We're delighted to have Gerard Warren as member of the Cleveland Browns," Policy said.
Previous focus: When Cleveland returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999, the Browns focused on offense, hiring former Jacksonville offensive coordinator Chris Palmer as head coach and selecting Couch as the No. 1 pick.
But, when Palmer floundered, winning just five games in two years, the Browns replaced him in January with defense-minded Davis.
In the days leading up to the draft, Cleveland didn't indicate in which direction -- offense or defense -- it was leaning. But, officials said Saturday that Warren hit the top of their list by midweek.
"There is a true advantage to taking something that you have that is good and making it much better, and perhaps, with a little luck, making it really, really good," Policy added.
"You're going to see a defensive line that is far, far above average."