{"id":762701,"date":"2026-02-19T16:04:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/762701\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T16:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:04:20","slug":"browns-2026-mock-draft-round-up-surprise-qb-and-double-ol-strategy-divide-nfl-insiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/762701\/","title":{"rendered":"Browns 2026 mock draft round-up: Surprise QB and double OL strategy divide NFL insiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Browns 2026 mock draft round-up: Surprise QB and double OL strategy divide NFL insiders<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Next week is the NFL Scouting Combine, and the mock drafts from analysts are running wild with ‘what-if’ scenarios for the Cleveland Browns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Armed with a pair of first-round picks, I rounded up five different mocks to look at the different possibilities GM Andrew Berry could explore. From a trade down to a shocking defensive choice to a pair of offensive linemen to a surprise QB, the draft experts give the Dawg Pound a wide variety of options to debate.<\/p>\n

More:\u00a0Browns making wrong type of NFL history: How Andrew Berry can fix the 56-year crisis threatening Shedeur Sanders<\/a><\/p>\n

No. 6<\/p>\n

Spencer Fano, OT, Utah (6’6″, 308-lbs)<\/p>\n

“The Browns should be hoping one of the top offensive tackles is available to them at No. 6. Cleveland snags Fano to start from Day 1.”\u00a0(Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State (6’0″, 205-lbs)<\/p>\n

“Cleveland could pick a wide receiver or offensive lineman here — there are more than enough needs to go around. But in this scenario, the Browns reinforce their strength on the defensive side of the ball. Downs becomes a versatile enforcer on the back end.” (Dan Parr, NFL.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

No. 12 (mock trade with Cowboys)<\/p>\n

Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State (6’2″, 200-lbs)<\/p>\n

“Cleveland’s long-term plan at quarterback remains unknown, but it is unlikely to be on the roster. It would be wise to accumulate future resources to potentially make a move in upcoming draft years. Dallas is more focused on the present, so it parts with future resources (No. 12 overall and two future second-round picks) in exchange for No. 6 overall and future fourth- and sixth-round picks. It is a reasonable trade considering the Browns still address one of their two biggest needs (wide receiver and offensive line).”\u00a0(Josh Edwards, CBS Sports<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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No. 24\u00a0(via Jacksonville)<\/p>\n

Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia (6’7″, 315-lbs)<\/p>\n

“This draft would be a big success for the Browns if they landed two starting offensive linemen, as they do in this scenario with Freeling joining Spencer Fano. If\u00a0Dawand Jones<\/a>\u00a0stays healthy, I think Fano could play inside.”\u00a0(Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah (6’6″, 308-lbs)<\/p>\n

“The Browns have too many holes on the offensive line to leave Round 1 without drafting at least one player who can help them up front.”\u00a0(Charles Davis, NFL Network<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama (6’2″, 208-lbs)<\/p>\n

“The Browns can’t ignore the need for getting a bona fide young drafted franchise QB moving on from Kevin Stefanski. Simpson would give them some short-area accuracy, leadership and athleticism in the Bo Nix mold.”\u00a0(Vinnie Iyer, The Sporting News<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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More Browns News:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Browns 2026 mock draft round-up: Surprise QB and double OL strategy divide NFL insiders originally appeared on The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[2007,925,86,613,85,54,2337,230,229,2856,19996,7,212,6,126,3501,17,7723,582,20708],"class_list":{"0":"post-762701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-andrew-berry","9":"tag-bo-nix","10":"tag-browns","11":"tag-caleb-downs","12":"tag-cleveland","13":"tag-cleveland-browns","14":"tag-clevelandbrowns","15":"tag-cowboys","16":"tag-dallas","17":"tag-daniel-jeremiah","18":"tag-dawand-jones","19":"tag-football","20":"tag-jacksonville","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nfl-network","23":"tag-offensive-linemen","24":"tag-shedeur-sanders","25":"tag-spencer-fano","26":"tag-the-browns","27":"tag-ty-simpson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116098148942077977","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}