Myles Garrett selected No. 1 overall by Cleveland Browns in NFL draft

On Thursday night, defensive end Myles Garrett became the first Texas A&M player taken first in the National Football League draft as the Cleveland Browns resisted the temptation to pick a quarterback and made him the first overall selection.

Rumors were circulating early Thursday morning that the Browns, who had the first and 12th picks in the draft, would select North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky with the first selection and choose a defensive end with their second choice. However, the organization could not pass on Garrett, a phenomenal athlete and powerful pass-rusher on the field and a model citizen off it.

Garrett’s selection marked the seventh consecutive draft in which A&M had a player taken in the first round.

Thirty-four Aggies had been first round selections over the 81 previous NFL drafts. Of those, five – John Kimbrough in 1941, John David Crow in 1958, Quinten Coryatt in 1992, Von Miller in 2011 and Luke Joeckel in 2013 – were selected second overall.

A two-time All-American, Garrett posted 141 tackles (47 for losses) and 31 sacks during his three-year Texas A&M career. He further wowed scouts with measurables that included a 41-inch vertical jump, a 10-8 standing broad jump, a 4.64-second 40-yard dash and 33 reps in the 225-pound bench press.

Still, he had critics – most notably SEC Network analyst Booger McFarland and former NFL star Warren Sapp – who opined that Garrett should not be taken No. 1.

"I don’t see it from his kid,” Sapp told ESPN reporter Adam Schefter last week. “I see the splash plays; everybody gets those. Where’s the game he took over? Where?

"Any defensive lineman who’s the number one pick, you turn up and you say, ‘There it is.’ This kid, no, I don’t. I’m a pretty plain and frank guy, and I watch the tape, and he disappears. I watch the tape, and he absolutely disappears.”

However, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock vehemently disagreed.

“I think his upside is he should be a Pro Bowl defensive end,” Mayock said. “He should be a huge difference-maker in the NFL in the pass game. The only way that doesn’t happen is one of two reasons: one, he gets hurt, or two, he doesn’t want it bad enough. But his physical talent is awesome.”

For a while, the Browns, who have history of making questionable draft day decisions, appeared to agree with Sapp. Several reports indicated the Browns were actually planning to pick Trubisky, who passed for 3,748 yards and 30 touchdowns with six interceptions for the 8-5 Tar Heels last season.

Trubisky seemed attractive to Cleveland because the Browns were 28th in the NFL in passing offense last season behind quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Josh McCown, who combined to throw 12 touchdown passes and eight interceptions.

However, the Browns were equally inept on defense, particularly in the pass rush. Cleveland was 30th in the NFL in sacks with 26 and was 31st in total defense.