It’s draft week and Thursday is the day all Browns fans look forward to, Draft Day. After weeks and months of mock drafts, rumors, player evaluations and just plain silliness ( see OBJ trade rumors) it’s time to get down to business. First let me say I base all my mock drafts on The Draft Network’s big board for my player rankings and profiles, http://www.thedraftnetwork.com. As well as my old friend Colin Lindsay at Great Blue North Draft Report for additional team information and news, http://www.gbnreport.com. But my go to website for any information from the draft to free agency will always be the guys at the Orange and Brown Report, https://247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-browns. So, I’m basically going to do a full day one draft and then all the Browns picks as I see them. I will not have any trades, although certain teams like Miami, Tampa, Denver, Philadelphia, San Fransico and Atlanta, are making a lot noise about moving up into the top ten or at least to the Browns pick at number 10. Personally, if the OT the Browns want is at ten, pick him. It’s that simple. So here goes, enjoy, comment and argue with me, I love a good draft argument.
#1 Cincinnati, Joe Burrow, QB, LSU.
#2 Washington, Chase Young, DE The Ohio State.
#3 Detroit, Jeffery Okudah, CB, The Ohio State.
#4 New York Giants, Isaiah Simmons, LB, LSU.
#5 Miami, Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon.
#6 L.A. Chargers, Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama.
#7 Carolina, Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn.
#8 Arizona, Tristan Wirfs, OT, Iowa.
#9 Jacksonville. C.J. Henderson, CB, Florida.
# 10 Cleveland Browns, Andrew Thomas, OT Georgia.
#11 New York Jets, Mekhi Becton, OT, Louisville.
#12 Las Vegas Raiders, Henry Ruggs, III, WR, Alabama.
#13 San Francisco 49ers, CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma.
#14 Tampa Bay, Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama.
#15 Denver, Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama.
#16 Atlanta, Javon Kinlaw, IDL, South Carolina.
#17 Dallas, K’Lavon Chaisson, Edge, LSU.
#18 Miami, Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama.
#19 Las Vegas Raiders, Jeff Gladney, CB, TCU.
#20 Jacksonville, Neville Gallimore, IDL, Oklahoma.
#21 Philadelphia, Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU.
#22 Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU.
#23 New England, Jordan Love, QB, Utah State.
#24 New Orleans, Denzel Mimms, WR, Baylor.
#25 Minnesota, Yetur Gross-Matos, Edge, Penn State.
#26 Miami, Cesar Ruiz, IOL, Michigan.
#27 Seattle, Josh Jones, OT, Houston.
#28 Baltimore, Lloyd Cushenberry, III, IOL, LSU.
#29 Tennessee, Ezra Cleveland, OT, Boise State.
# 30 Green Bay, Jalen Reager, WR, TCU.
#31 San Francisco, Jaylon Johnson, CB, Utah.
#32 Kansas City, D’adre Swift, RB, Georgia.
As for the rest of the Browns draft picks, here you go.
#41 Jeremy Chinn, S, So. Illinois.
# 74 Davon Hamilton, IDL The Ohio State.
# 97 Logan Wilson, LB, Wyoming.
# 115 Alex Highsmith, Edge, Charlotte.
# 187 Justin Strnard, LB, Wake Forest.
#244 Omar Bayless, WR, Arkansas State.
In previous mock drafts I had the Browns taking Thomas, Chinn, Hamilton, Wilson and Strnard. So here are the draft profiles from The Draft Network on the new players added to my mock draft 4.0.
Alex Highsmith, Edge, Charlotte. “Has enough snap anticipation ability and quickness releasing out of his stance to threaten the outside edge track and attack gaps. While he likes to dip and rip the outside edge track, he has showcased a decent inside move that is set up with good hand swipes and an effective spin move to get home as a pass rusher. Hands are generally active as he battles to disengage. Hand are sudden, well-timed and well-placed. Plays with terrific effort and competes throughout the rep. Has good play recognition skills and rarely takes himself out of his fit/rush lane. Experienced working for a stand-up role where he will likely project at the next level. Hard-charging and urgent defender.”
Omar Bayless, WR, Arkansas State. “Omar Bayless is an intriguing late bloomer who will warrant consideration as a developmental talent. Bayless exploded in a big way in 2019 and will have to answer concerns about being a one year wonder — but he’s got the size, ball skills and hands to be an effective target if he’s able to further develop his route breaks and become a more consistent separator before he’s got the ball in his hands. Upside is an NFL starter but he’ll need more polish in his game to get there.”
The key to the top ten in this years draft falls on two picks, the Giants at number 4 and Chargers at number 6. Right now the Giants could take a tackle, either Wirfs, Wills or Thomas or a defensive player, LB Simmons. I think they go defense if Simmons is there. The Chargers are making noise that they won’t take a quarterback at six. Do you really think they’re going to go into the season with Tyrod Taylor as their starting QB? Jacksonville goes with CB C.J Henderson with the ninth picks and still gets a defensive lineman later in the first round. As I mentioned earlier, Tampa, Denver, Philadelphia and Atlanta all want to get into the top ten to pick certain players. In this draft, they pretty much get need positions filled. Tampa gets a tackle to protect Brady, hopefully Wills has a drivers license so he can pick Tom up at the old folks home on the way to practice. Denver gets a WR, although it isn’t Ruggs and Atlanta gets the impact defensive player they want. As for Philadelphia, they get a really good wide receiver at pick 21. Finally the 49er’s have two first round picks and then don’t pick again until the fifth round. I expect some movement to pick up picks in the 2nd, 3rd and or the 4th rounds.
As for the rest of the Browns picks, I tried to fill positions of need with the remainder of their picks. I really love Chinn, Hamilton, Wilson and Strnard. Highsmith and Bayless just fell into place as I went through the draft board. I don’t think the Browns will go cornerback in this draft, based on the players already on the roaster, but I could see a corner and a tight end possibly being drafted in the sixth and seventh round. After the draft is over, I really look forward to seeing which undrafted free agents the Browns are able to sign. I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting list.
So, Thursday is the draft and we’ll get answers to a lot of important questions. Like what does Roger Goodell’s basement look like? I can guarantee it probably looks better than my entire house. I wonder if we’ll see a furnace or a hot water heater in the background? Will his family boo him at the start of the draft? When will the first glitch happen? Will we hear the old AOL dial up when the Giants Dave Gettleman is on the clock? These are the most important questions concerning this year’s draft. Right? Seriously, if you agree or disagree with my mock draft 4.0, let me know. Hey I’m a Browns fan, I live to argue about the draft. Everyone stay safe, wear a mask if you go out, support your locally owned businesses, don’t touch your face and WASH YOUR HANDS. Go Browns.