Anthony Henry is the last Brown to lead the NFL in interceptions and still holds a franchise record. (Getty Images)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
One in a series.
Everyone knows the Browns’ record in the first round of the draft has not been good.
For instance, not a single Browns’ first-round pick from 2011 through 2016 is still with the team, and only three of those eight selections are still active in the NFL.
But they’ve had successes, too, and not just in the first round.
Since 2010, the NFL has spread the draft over three days. Periodically, we will rank the Browns’ best choices in their expansion era from Day 1 (Round 1), Day 2 (Rounds 2-3) and Day 3 (Rounds 4-7), along with their best selections of undrafted rookies.
Browns Best Day 3 draft picks since 1999
1. LB Joe Schobert (Wisconsin)
2016, Round 4, 99th overall. GM: Sashi Brown.
The only player of 14 Browns draft selections in 2016 to earn a Pro Bowl berth, Schobert made 49 starts in four seasons and improved under three different coordinators. He co-led the NFL in tackles one time and led the Browns in that category three times, and then led them with four interceptions in 2019. While not good enough to warrant a second contract from yet another management regime, Schobert’s body of work earned him a five-year $53.75 million bonanza in free agency from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
2. DT Ahtyba Rubin (Iowa State)
2008, Round 6, 190th overall. GM: Phil Savage.
He was the choice of coach Romeo Crennel to be the team’s first draft pick in 2008, which came in the fourth round because of three prior trades, but wasn't taken until two rounds later. Beginning with his third season, Rubin made 70 starts over five years for four head coaches. Departing in free agency, he was good enough to start 32 games for two playoff teams in Seattle and play as a reserve on one with Atlanta before a biceps injury ended his career at the age of 32.
3. CB Buster Skrine (Tennessee-Chattanooga)
2011, Round 5, 137th overall. GM: Tom Heckert.
Short and slight but pugnacious and fearless, Skrine beat out the competition as the team’s top nickel back his first two seasons and then ousted higher draft picks for starting jobs in his third and fourth seasons. He went on to earn two contracts in free agency -- $25 million for four years with the Jets, and most recently, $16.6 million over three years with the Bears.
4. WR-KR Travis Benjamin (Miami)
2012, Round 4, 100th overall. GM: Tom Heckert.
One of the most under-rated Browns of their new era with one of the most enduring nicknames, the Rabbit made his mark with three punt return touchdowns and a 12.6-yard punt return average in four seasons. As a receiver, though, the man with pencil-thin legs averaged 15.4 yards a catch in four years. His one season as a starting wideout, he totaled 966 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 68 catches. Benjamin scored a $25 million contract for four years with the Chargers in 2016, and recently signed a one-year deal with the NFC champion 49ers.
5. CB Anthony Henry (South Florida)
2001, Round 4, 97th overall. GM: Butch Davis.
A towering and physical ballhawk, he co-led the NFL in interceptions as a rookie with 10, including a franchise-record Pick 6 of 97 yards. Although his interception total dipped to two his second season, he was a starter on the Browns’ only playoff team of the expansion era and proceeded to start 39 games in four years. He cashed a $25 million, five-year contract in free agency with the Cowboys and added 12 interceptions – two returned for touchdowns – in four seasons before being traded to the Lions for backup quarterback Jon Kitna.
Honorable mention: TE Jordan Cameron (2011, Round 4), CB Pierre Desir (2014, Round 4), RB Jerome Harrison (2006, Round 5), LS Ryan Pontbriand (2003, Round 5), FB Lawrence Vickers (2006, Round 6), LB Mack Wilson (2019, Round 5).