The Cleveland Browns participated in the NFL Draft over the weekend and this year there was no weirdness like drafting two quarterbacks or two running backs. It seemed to be a sound sensible draft and if you believe the draft pundits, GM Andrew Berry had a real good weekend.
It was a given going in the Browns were going to look for a left tackle early in the selection process and after a trade down with Kansas City, they took Spencer Fano out of Utah, and coach Todd Monken said he will play the position. Fano played right tackle the past couple of years in college but did play on the left side during his freshman season.
We will say this with all of the picks, that no one knows for sure until these guys take the field, but Fano seems like a guy who can be an NFL starter. He was highly rated by the “draftniks”, with the only negative being his arms were short.
With their second pick in the first round, they went with KC Concepcion from Texas A & M. We would have preferred a bigger wide receiver, since the majority of the wideouts the Browns have are smaller. And the rap on Concepcion is he has questionable hands.
The Browns have a type. They love receivers who struggle catching the football, which would seem to be the prerequisite for the job. We understand he’s dynamic in the open field, but if you don’t hang on to the ball…
They remedied that on the second round, taking Denzel Boston, listed a 6’4″ and 209 pounds. You have to wonder with Concepcion and Boston now on the roster, how that affects Jerry Jeudy. We don’t see Jeudy being happy with his role if he’s suddenly the third or fourth wide receiver in the pecking order.
Cleveland also added S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren from Toledo in the third round (58th overall). We saw several draft experts projecting him as a late first round pick, so the value is there. With Grant Delpit being a potential free agent after the year and Ronnie Hickman on a one-year tender, this selection makes a lot of sense.
They built depth with the rest of the draft, especially on the offensive line and at tight end, with after the last couple of years, having extra players at those spots, that is definitely needed. The Browns have had to play linemen just signed or activated off the practice squad over the last couple of seasons.
We know we asked the Browns not to take a QB, but really, Taylen Green is the perfect 6th round pick, a ton of upside and an elite athlete. Now, we would still move one of the three quarterbacks currently on the roster, but not the one the team will choose, we are sure. At least having him on the field will make the exhibition games worth watching.
Pretty much everything about the draft made sense and Berry picked a lot of players ranked highly by the draft experts. That’s the reason they received high marks.
The truth of the matter is no one will really know until these players take the field against a different team. But there isn’t a lot to complain about right now.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 