Fire up your Cleveland Browns-related NFL Draft theories. You might soon be right.<\/p>\n
You might be wrong, too. And two weeks from the start of what\u2019s quite obviously an important but hard to predict draft for Cleveland, it seems likely that even the folks who ultimately make the decisions are still working through things.<\/p>\n
The Browns need offense \u2014 a lot of it. Cleveland holds pick Nos. 6 and 24 in the first round, two more in the top 70 and nine total.<\/p>\n
At a time when every team is probably open to discussing draft-day trades, the Browns seem more willing than most to push those conversations forward. But actually finalizing a trade-down depends on which players come off the board in the first five selections, and only then will Cleveland know how the board fits its wish list.<\/p>\n
For the team and its key decision-makers, the rest of this month is about turning evaluations into actual plans and finalizing last-minute details.<\/p>\n
New coach Todd Monken is trying to get to know the players already on the roster and give general manager Andrew Berry as much information as possible about how he would prefer to fill various holes on the depth chart. Berry should feel an urgency to fill as many of them as possible, but these Browns don\u2019t feel like a one-year fix.<\/p>\n
A year after they undoubtedly had their best draft to date, how should Berry and his staff approach this one? How should the Browns handle immediate and glaring needs versus more future-focused decisions? And, to those of us on the outside, what popular talking points might actually lead to real clues?<\/p>\n
What are the screaming needs?<\/p>\n
Awkwardly but gently pushing quarterback aside (for now), the Browns clearly\u00a0need a wide receiver and a starting left tackle. But in what order? And in what world is it easy to find top-shelf players at those positions, even with the No. 6 pick?<\/p>\n
It feels like there\u2019s less juice surrounding the run-up to this year\u2019s draft as compared to last year. Remember that the Browns held the No. 2 pick and were fairly open about their intent to find a quarterback. Travis Hunter\u2019s highlight reel was must-see TV, and Abdul Carter\u2019s College Football Playoff run made him a household name. There was much to discuss.<\/p>\n
Riling folks up about potential tackle to guard conversions is a bigger challenge. There\u2019s no quarterback to take at No. 6. The Browns probably have to go offense over defense, but no one knows how they view the tackle class.<\/p>\n
In his annual must-read draft guide, \u201cThe Beast<\/a>,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Dane Brugler wrote that Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate is \u201ca day one NFL starter and potential Pro Bowler.\u201d Brugler\u2019s top tackle, Utah\u2019s Spencer Fano, was a right tackle for his final two college seasons but is considered versatile enough to play anywhere across the line.<\/p>\n Tate seems a lock to go in the top nine picks, but it\u2019s unclear if he\u2019ll come off the board in the top five or be available for the Browns at No. 6.<\/p>\n Right now, starting their draft with Tate and then taking the other Utah tackle, Caleb Lomu, at No. 24 makes perfect sense for the Browns. Starting with Fano and then taking Texas A&M\u2019s KC Concepcion, Brugler\u2019s No. 4 receiver, also seems like a solid plan.<\/p>\n Concepcion took a formal pre-draft visit to the Browns\u2019 facility on Wednesday. Though they don\u2019t publicly confirm their pre-draft visitors, the group has been wide receiver and offensive tackle-heavy.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no real consensus on how picks Nos. 2-5 will shake out, so let\u2019s see what happens \u2014 and if the Browns prioritize their biggest immediate needs first.<\/p>\n Will a real trade-down option present itself?<\/p>\n The Browns traded out of the No. 2 pick last year as part of their pivot to the future. That extra first-round pick they acquired from Jacksonville was probably earmarked as one that would either land or help them get a quarterback \u2014 more on that later \u2014 but it certainly was part of an organizational commitment to adding more young, cost-controlled players who could grow into significant roles.<\/p>\n With the Browns holding two first-round picks and still having a lengthy list of offensive needs, another trade-down early in the first round makes sense if they can find a partner.<\/p>\n Though it appears unlikely that Cleveland could add a 2027 first-rounder, it might be able to add additional second-day picks in either this draft or next year\u2019s. We\u2019re not calling for a full repeat of a trade that nets a pick intended to be used in a 2027 quarterback hunt, but we\u2019re acknowledging the possibility that such a hunt could be part of the Browns\u2019 path.<\/p>\n If the team doesn\u2019t really love any of the offensive tackles at No. 6 but doesn\u2019t want to risk waiting until No. 24 to see the group picked over, it could look to trade, say, three to seven spots down. Even at No. 24, Cleveland could look to move down again if a team picking either late in Round 1 or early in Round 2 targets a certain player.<\/p>\n If a trade comes to fruition, the Browns can cite their lengthy list of needs as a good thing in keeping them more open-minded than a team looking to address a specific need.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it really just depends on the prospects that are available,\u201d Berry said at the league meetings last week. \u201cI don\u2019t know that we are going to be picking at No. 6 at the end of April, and if we are picking sixth, I have no idea what we\u2019re going to take at this point. And so we try to remain flexible as we go into draft weekend, and we want to use the asset in the best way possible, whether that\u2019s sitting and picking, trading up, trading down, trading it for a veteran player.<\/p>\n \u201cI know I said this last year, and people thought it was just GM talk, but it really is the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Are the Browns in on Ty Simpson?<\/p>\n From what I\u2019ve gathered, no \u2014 not in the first round, anyway. Simpson is the No. 2 quarterback in this draft, and no one seems to know if he\u2019ll go in the middle of the first round or even closer to the middle of the second. Simpson was just a one-year college starter, and there\u2019s not much of a track record of those players succeeding early in their NFL careers.<\/p>\n Even if the Browns aren\u2019t fully focusing on next year\u2019s draft when it comes to quarterbacks, the team probably feels it can better address its offensive line and wide receiver issues in this year\u2019s first round.<\/p>\n Brugler wrote that Simpson is \u201ca mid-level starter at best, a backup at worst,\u201d and he gave the Alabama quarterback a second-round grade. LSU\u2019s Garrett Nussmeier received a third-round grade, and the next quarterbacks on Brugler\u2019s list are Penn State\u2019s Drew Allar (third\/fourth), North Dakota State\u2019s Cole Payton (fourth) and Miami\u2019s Carson Beck (fourth\/fifth), who was a backup at Georgia when Monken was the team\u2019s offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n Though there hasn\u2019t been a full-blown quarterback workout tour like last year, the Browns have been assessing all of their draft options. Monken is familiar with most of these quarterbacks from his time coaching in college. Berry is familiar with these quarterbacks from almost a full year of the team considering another quarterback search.<\/p>\n