Cleveland Sports Forum

Sorry about the lack of draft posts but I am finding it hard to look at possible 3rd round picks. Hopefully we will do better once we get in to the 3rd round.

Round 1 tonight. Browns twiddling their thumbs. Let's hope the Browns don't do something stupid like trading Chubb.

Really, really like the Browns draft so far. First 3 picks are big guys.

Browns 2023 NFL Draft takeaways: Weird draft comes back to helping Deshaun Watson

Dec 30, 2021; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Cedric Tillman (4) celebrates a touchdown after a reception during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers in the 2021 Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
By Zac Jackson
Apr 29, 2023
46

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For the Browns, this was a strange draft. It was a condensed draft, too, as the Browns’ first six picks came in a range of fewer than 60 picks, starting in the middle of the third round and stretching to the end of the fifth. The Browns didn’t have many immediate needs, but Friday and Saturday they continued what has to be viewed as a solid offseason with mostly sensible additions — and at least a couple of interesting ones.

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Most teams that finished 2022 in fourth place and are coming off two consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs view the draft as sort of a lifeline. The Browns, though, are an experienced team that knows hopes of becoming a legit AFC contender lie in quarterback Deshaun Watson, for whom they traded three first-round picks (and six total picks) in March 2022. Watson is fully eligible for the entire season, and the Browns feel they’ve upgraded his receiving corps as part of eventually seeing the best version of Watson this season.

What they got from Watson in six games last season wasn’t nearly good enough. This draft starting with the addition of big wide receiver Cedric Tillman was geared toward helping Watson, as was the March trade for speedy wide receiver Elijah Moore that saw the Browns move out of the draft’s second round and start their draft at No. 74 with Tillman. With their second pick, at No. 98, the Browns furthered their commitment to helping new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz with the drafting of 335-pound defensive tackle Siaki Ika.

Stretching back to January or February, a list of fair and attainable offseason goals for the Browns would have included boosting the receiving corps, getting bigger on defense and helping Schwartz eventually clean up some of the messes that plagued the Browns last season. The draft included a lot of doubling up on March positional additions and continuing to help a defensive line that long stood as the team’s most pressing need — and still might into this summer.

The picks
• Cedric Tillman, WR, Round 3, pick 74
• Siaki Ika, DT, Round 3, pick 98
• Dawand Jones, OT, Round 4, pick 111
• Isaiah McGuire, DE, Round 4, pick 126
• Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB, Round 5, pick 140
• Cam Mitchell, CB, Round 5, pick 142
• Luke Wypler, C, Round 6, pick 190

Best pick
The Browns like McGuire’s blend of size (6-foot-4, 268) and athleticism, and he’s powerful enough to crack Schwartz’s remade defensive line rotation in at least some role — or maybe multiple roles. The Browns think McGuire has ideal length, what Browns general manager Andrew Berry called “natural” power and an aggressive nature that fits Schwartz’s front. Myles Garrett is going to get most of the Browns’ sacks, and free-agent addition Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is getting paid to get his share, too, but there should still be chances for McGuire to help.

Pick who will make biggest immediate impact
There’s no guarantee that any Browns rookie will be a full-time contributor in 2023, but based on the current depth chart and the apparent influence of Schwartz, Ika will probably be first in line. The Browns last year didn’t have enough size or talent at defensive tackle, and that’s why they signed 325-pound Dalvin Tomlinson on the first day of free agency and used a top 100-pick on Ika, whose college weight fluctuated from 335-355.

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In a video shared by the team social media accounts following the selection of Ika, Schwartz told Ika, “You’re not a dump truck anymore. You’re a Ferrari now.” We’ll see how fast Schwartz can get that rather large vehicle going. Ika weighed 335 at the combine but said Saturday that he hopes to “lose a few pounds” so he can play in the 335-340 range and fulfill Schwartz’s wishes of having him play up the field.

Biggest surprise
Berry didn’t make a trade until deep in the seventh round. He’d made at least two trades during each of his previous three drafts, and in a rare moment of openness at his pre-draft news conference, he pretty much acknowledged he’d be looking to be active in seeking trade opportunities. Berry said he “came close” a few times but didn’t finalize anything until a seventh-round trade with the Ravens came together quickly and netted the Browns a sixth-round pick in 2024.

As the draft unfolded, Berry liked what he saw — and what his team got. Almost all of the team’s picks ranked higher than they went per the rankings of Dane Brugler, The Athletic’s draft guru. Tillman had a second-round grade and was Brugler’s No. 8 wide receiver. Jones was Brugler’s No. 62 overall prospect, Ika was No. 71, McGuire was No. 94 and Wypler was No. 133.

That the Browns added a quarterback in Thompson-Robinson was not a surprise. With eight picks to start the day, the Browns felt like they had at least one bonus pick and they believe Thompson-Robinson has the talent and the makeup to have a lengthy NFL career.

Remaining needs
The Browns still probably need more depth and experience across their defense. As it stands now, the linebackers group is unsettled with multiple players working back from significant injury and no depth at safety.

Berry wasn’t teasing any specific moves in his post-draft news conference. He said the Browns will still be looking “for help everywhere” and will “explore every opportunity” to improve the roster.

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The Browns previously had a free agent visit with 330-pound defensive tackle Al Woods, and the Browns still might view Woods as a player capable of giving them 20 or so snaps a game. That might depend on the progress Ika can make this spring and on the status of second-year defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey, who to this point has been involved in more off-field incidents than any mid-level player should be. Officially, the Browns say little besides that Winfrey remains a member of the team despite his arrest on a misdemeanor assault charge involving a woman earlier this month.

The offense returns all of its listed starters from last season and appears pretty set. The one exception may be at running back, where Nick Chubb is the clear-cut starter and second-year man Jerome Ford is now the No. 2 runner. The Browns could add both a veteran runner and an undrafted rookie.

The Browns’ primary goal the rest of the spring will be getting Watson on the same page with his new pass catchers and continuing to build an offense that maximizes Watson’s athletic ability. The addition of Wypler adds more depth to the interior of the offensive line, and it’s possible that the addition of Jones could lead to third-year tackle James Hudson moving inside to guard. Under Berry, the Browns have always heavily invested in the offensive line — and not just the starters. Berry said part of the reason the Browns are so excited about Jones is that Jones has rare size and ability — and the Browns have respected veteran offensive line coach Bill Callahan to help Jones become a better player.

Post-draft outlook
The Browns have their core pieces. In this draft, they added some really interesting — and large — pieces in Ika, Jones and Tillman, all of whom are big for their respective positions. It feels like Tillman will eventually replace Donovan Peoples-Jones, who’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, and the Browns took Tillman because they think he adds needed physicality to the wide receivers group.

For the 2023 season, March was always going to be more important than April in terms of building the initial depth chart and trying to fill the team’s biggest current holes. The Browns have long been betting that the core they built from 2020-22 would be good enough to win, and now they hope Watson and Schwartz can lead significant leaps on offense and defense.

Browns post-draft depth chart: Question marks remain at linebacker, safety

1423409297
By Zac Jackson
5h ago
17

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The Browns were never going to draft any slam-dunk opening day starters in a draft they didn’t start until pick No. 74. Their returning talent and March aggression made that obvious, so the draft was mostly about the future and doubling down on some March priorities.

Surprises were few, and that was supposed to be the theme of the entire offseason. Monday, ESPN reported that the Browns are picking up the fully-guaranteed 2024 fifth-year option for left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. General manager Andrew Berry again declined to discuss plans for Wills during Saturday’s media session, but the Browns picking up the option has always seemed like a certainty. The draft furthered the team’s commitment to premium positions, and left tackle is that.

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

Browns 2023 NFL Draft takeaways: Weird draft comes back to helping Deshaun Watson

The option is worth a little over $14.1 million, but the Browns have time to re-work a longer-term contract for Wills and lower that number on their 2024 salary cap. Perhaps an extension could even be coming ahead of the option, so we’ll see. Berry and Kevin Stefanski both said separately in the offseason that they believed Wills had his best year in 2023, and though the Browns drafted Ohio State’s Dawand Jones in the fourth round last weekend, Jones feels like a right tackle only in the early part of his NFL career.

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Could that change later? Certainly, and with the Jones pick it feels like the Browns were swinging for an eventual home run. But it’s also likely that Jones needs lots of seasoning before the Browns can even judge his progress, let alone pencil him in as a keeper.

Let’s take a brief and way-too-early look at how the rest of the roster stands after the draft and three weeks before the team takes the field for organized team activity practices. This unofficial depth chart does not reflect any post-draft signings of undrafted rookies. We’ll update with a fresher — and likely more detailed and accurate — depth chart in June, once the Browns complete their offseason program.

Quarterback (4)

1. Deshaun Watson
2. Joshua Dobbs
3. Dorian Thompson-Robinson (R)
4. Kellen Mond

Presumably, the Browns drafted Thompson-Robinson with the intent of making him the No. 2 quarterback of the future. The long preseason this summer gives the team a chance to evaluate both Thompson-Robinson and Mond while getting Watson the reps he needs to build chemistry with his new receivers. How the other guys play will make for a nice preseason discussion point; how Watson plays will determine the direction of the entire organization.

Running back (4)

1. Nick Chubb
2. Jerome Ford
3. Demetric Felton
4. John Kelly

The Browns not drafting a running back could be viewed as an endorsement of Ford, whose running back opportunities were few as a rookie. But Ford impressed as a kick returner, and the Browns think he can catch passes out of the backfield and fit the offense they’re trying to build. The team’s intent a year ago at this time was to make Felton a running back, but multiple injuries at wide receiver moved him there. It’s clear his future with the Browns — if there is one — is not going to be at wide receiver, so maybe it’s here. Expect the Browns to monitor the veteran running back market.

Wide receiver (13)

1. Amari Cooper
2. Elijah Moore
3. Donovan Peoples-Jones
4. Marquise Goodwin
5. David Bell
6. Cedric Tillman (R)
7. Jaelon Darden
8. Jakeem Grant Sr.
9. Anthony Schwartz
10. Daylen Baldwin
11. Marquez Stevenson
12. Mike Harley Jr.
13. Isaiah Weston

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Obviously, change is coming. The numbers game will sort itself out in August, but clearly, the guys in charge thought the previous group wasn’t close to good enough. Moore gets a fresh start and will get plenty of opportunities; Tillman will have to earn his, but the Browns clearly have high hopes. It’s too early to say whether players like Schwartz or Grant have any shot, and it’s fair to wonder how Bell fits. This will be a group to watch closely in July and August, and it feels like little is actually settled outside of Cooper as the No. 1. Michael Woods II will land on injured reserve after he tore his Achilles tendon in an offseason workout.

Tight end (4)

1. David Njoku
2. Jordan Akins
3. Harrison Bryant
4. Zaire Mitchell-Paden

It’s a big year for this position. Njoku’s 2024 cap is number is more than $16 million, and almost all of his guaranteed money is in this season. The Browns think he can be a dangerous catch-and-run player with Watson and that he can have a big year. The team is optimistic about Akins, too, who has history with Watson and is a big target. Bryant is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and Mitchell-Paden gets another summer to prove he’s worth further development. It’s hard to find tight ends, which is why the Browns signed Akins — and why they have some cautious optimism about this group.

Offensive line (15)

1. Joel Bitonio
2. Wyatt Teller
3. Jack Conklin
4. Jedrick Wills Jr.
5. Ethan Pocic
6. James Hudson
7. Michael Dunn
8. Drew Forbes
9. Dawand Jones (R)
10. Nick Harris
11. Wes Martin
12. Luke Wypler (R)
13. Dawson Deaton
14. Joe Haeg
15. Tyrone Wheatley Jr.


The Browns need a dominant year out of Myles Garrett under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. (Scott Galvin / USA Today)
The Browns continue to invest in the offensive line, which is smart business for multiple reasons. Considering the massive 2024 salary cap numbers carried by Bitonio ($19.6 million), Teller ($13.9 million) and Conklin ($12.9 million) plus the commitment to Wills, that investment is soon going to have to result in the development of new contributors. Wypler was projected as a fourth-round pick and was acquired in the sixth, and at 6-foot-8, 374 pounds, Jones has rare size for the position — any position, actually. Might Hudson move to guard? Can O-line coach Bill Callahan get the best out of Jones? It’s going to be an important summer.

Edge defender (6)

1. Myles Garrett
2. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
3. Alex Wright
4. Isaiah McGuire (R)
5. Isaiah Thomas
6. Sam Kamara

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Garrett is a little like Watson in that the Browns don’t need a good year out of him; they need an extraordinary year. Garrett is capable of that, and the Browns think they’ve found his rush complement in Okoronkwo. Wright and McGuire will need to play immediately as Okoronkwo isn’t an every-down defensive end at 253 pounds. The team thinks Thomas could become a keeper, too, but he will need a big summer to crack the roster after the arrivals of Okoronkwo and McGuire.

Defensive tackle (10)

1. Dalvin Tomlinson
2. Jordan Elliott
3. Maurice Hurst
4. Siaki Ika (R)
5. Perrion Winfrey
6. Ben Stille
7. Trysten Hill
8. Tommy Togiai
9. Roderick Perry II
10. Michael Dwumfour

It’s no longer the thinnest group on the roster — no, that’s not a size pun — but it’s still pretty much Tomlinson and a bunch of question marks. That’s why Ika was drafted, and the Browns think Hurst can help if he’s healthy. What’s the actual pecking order here? Can the Browns salvage something out of Hurst and Hill — or even Winfrey or Stille? Most importantly, Tomlinson has to be really good and new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has to make this group better against the run.

Linebacker (8)

1. Anthony Walker Jr.
2. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
3. Sione Takitaki
4. Jacob Phillips
5. Tony Fields II
6. Matthew Adams
7. Storey Jackson
8. Jordan Kunaszyk

Considering the top four finished last season on injured reserve and that Takitaki is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last December, we’ll take a wait-and-see approach. The Browns wanted Walker back; the Browns almost certainly needed Walker back. But as for the plan for the rest of the group — and whether the team really thinks this group is close to good enough — let’s wait and see.

Cornerback (7)

1. Denzel Ward
2. Greg Newsome II
3. Martin Emerson Jr.
4. A.J. Green
5. Cameron Mitchell (R)
6. Thomas Graham Jr.
7. Mike Ford

This is arguably the best position group of the 10, and it’s arguably one of the best cornerback groups in the league. Newsome again is in line to be the top slot cornerback, but he’s said publicly his role and responsibilities will be different in Schwartz’s defense. Emerson took on single coverage against some top-line receivers as a rookie and generally held his own. If this group stays healthy, the Browns have options for matchups and can force a bunch of turnovers. A good year could also lead to some difficult decisions next offseason, so let’s see what happens.

Safety (4)

1. Juan Thornhill
2. Grant Delpit
3. D’Anthony Bell
4. Bubba Bolden

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After signing Thornhill for $14 million guaranteed, the Browns chose not to draft a safety. There’s no proven depth at the position, so the Browns could sign a veteran this summer after letting Bell and some undrafted rookies develop in the spring.

Delpit is entering the final year of his rookie contract. He was better in the back half of last season than he was early on, and there’s a lot at stake — for Delpit and for the Browns — this year with the switch to a new defense.

Post draft summaries.

Every team loves their draft.....until they show up on the field and start playing. I'm sure there will be some good surprises and some "why-did-we pick-this loser" disappointments.

Still waiting for a Super Bowl ....year 58

I love the draft !