Browns select Garrett with No. 1 draft pick
Texas A&M star makes school history as NFL’s 47th No. 1 overall pick
ARLINGTON, TEXAS— While 21 NFL draft picks sat in a makeshift green room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, wearing suits and ties and waiting impatiently for the phone to ring, top prospect Myles Garrett celebrated with friends and family in his hometown.
The party at Tierra Verde Golf Club, which included a crawfish and crab boil and barbecue, honoured the city’s first No. 1 overall draft pick.
Despite rumours the Cleveland Browns might draft North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with the top choice, they followed the script by selecting Garrett on Thursday night.
The former Arlington Martin star became the league’s 47th No. 1overall pick since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the eighth defensive end.
Garrett made Texas A&M history, surpassing Luke Joeckel, an Aggie who went No. 2 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013.
One hour before the draft began, Garrett said he hadn’t heard from the Browns.
“I need it. I want it,” Garrett said. “I’ve worked hard for it. I’ve put good film out there for that moment . . . I’m looking forward to being No. 1 if that comes true.”
Cheers, smiles, hugs and high-fives punctuated the phone call to Garrett that assured the selection.
“It’s elating,” said Garrett’s sister, Brea, who won an NCAA indoor track championship at A&M. “We knew that Myles was special. We knew that Myles was going to go far. There was no doubt in our minds. But to come and be where he’s going, it’s fulfilling to see him reach his full potential. It’s another step of us being proud of him and what he’s done.”
Garrett’s selection went as planned, giving much of Arlington a secondfavorite NFL team. But the rest of the first round was not expected to be as predictable with several teams looking to trade either up or down. Garrett, though, was everyone’s No.1.
“Cleveland has to take this guy, because he’s the best player in this draft,” NFL.com draft analyst Gil Brandt said before the Browns announced their choice.
Arlington Martin coach Bob Wager saw this coming four or five years ago while watching Garrett become a five-star recruit.
Garrett once made 8.5 sacks in a single game, and he blocked seven kicks in the first seven games of his senior season.
In College Station, Texas, Garrett broke Jadeveon Clowney’s SEC freshman sack record and followed with first-team all-American honours his final two seasons. He finished his three-year career with 32.5 sacks and 48.5 tackles for loss.
“Let’s face it: You’re not a potential No. 1 draft pick without tremendous athleticism,” Wager said. “But there are a lot of guys out there with tremendous athleticism who don’t have good work ethic to match. When you put those two things together, that’s when you really skyrocket.”
Some draft analysts have compared Garrett to another Aggie product, Von Miller. The Broncos outside linebacker, who made 33 sacks in his four-year A&M career, has 73.5 career sacks in the NFL.
The Browns can use Garrett. They finished 1-15 last season and only one team had fewer than the Browns’ 26 sacks. Cleveland ranked 31st in total defence and 31st in rushing defence.