More on Browns Draft

To set the scene, the Browns took care of most of their real team needs when they hired Hue Jackson and his assistants.  The real need is franchise quarterback (and they already have good hold-the-fort guys.)

Naturally, the team is imperfect, and could use upgrades everywhere.  My own estimation of the talent in the nursery, and that which was handcuffed by Mike Frankenstein's Rubics Cube defense, is guesswork, along with what Ray Horton can get out of it.

So there are lots of question marks on that side of the ball, along with question marks about Gordon, Pryor, Mack, and Schwartze on the other side.

Age and depth matter, so they'll note guys like Whitner, Dansby, Barnidge, Thomas, Mack etc. whether they stay or not, because they need to stock the shelves behind them, and provide insurance.

This makes the top three priorities beyond quarterback offensive line, tight end, and inside linebacker.  Since "passrusher" is unsettled, we'll include that there.

You will note that I didn't include wide receiver.  Good.

But after taking (preferably) Goff or Wentz at number two, the Browns could well go best available player, using scheme and position priority as tie-breakers.

So I did more digging, checking out multiple (reputable) post-Senior Bowl mock drafts, and Rang's Big Board rankings to guess what might happen, and who could fall to the Browns at 34 overall.

The consensus has Noah Spence and three more elite linebackers, all of which I loved, going in the top twenty.  Rang and Brugler both had the Broncos drafting Hunter Henry, the best tight end, at the end of the first round.

The good news is that nobody expected Braxton Miller to go in the first round.  I stopped looking right there.  If Miller is there at 33, they've either got to take him, or a boatload of draft picks if they don't.

Many of you have seen Miller in action, so you know.  What's been said about him has diminished his stock below more experienced receivers, but his talent and upside are undeniable.

And the experience stuff is, as usual, all out of proportion with reality.  I've even heard some people wondering if this 6'1" 208 lb. slot receiver can play outside!  Benjamin can.  Hawkins can.  Who asks these questions?

Miller has translated the routes he memorized as a quarterback and been putting them into practice.  He's still making mistakes as he grasps the nuances of that route tree and press coverage.  He might indeed be a year away from making it seem natural to him.  But he can most certainly make a big impact immediately in the slot, out if the backfield, as a returner, and on select routes.

I still believe that both Josh Gordon and Terrelle Pryor will be significant contributors in 2016.  If I'm right, this crew would be truly frightening.  If I'm wrong, it would still be pretty good.

My mock draft right now optimistically says Goff first and more realistically Miller second.

Picking in the third round gets nebulous.  Diondre Hall is a 6'2" 205 lb. small college corner who can run with anybody but needs work.  There are pretty good guards and right tackles (even eventual left tackles) who could compete to start right away.  Really good nickel linebackers and good safeties (sometimes the same people).

This even carries over into the top of the fourth round; if these NEW GUYS pick well, they have a good chance of getting a quality backup or starter there; notably on the offensive line.

Where it gets more interesting is if Ray Farmer's compensatory picks materialize at the end of this round, giving them a cluster of four picks, the last of which will be at the top of the fifth round.

This is a lot of picks, so they might try to peddle that fifth rounder and the sixth and seventh to in order to move up or get higher picks next year.

What could they get at the bottom of the fourth round and lower?

I looked around for other people's sleepers, just to get some names to look into.

I've already mentioned Senior Bowl tight end Jerrell Adams.  Another tall cornerback is Micheal Jordon (better in zone than man, possible safety).

Small college outside linebacker Victor Ochi 6'2" 254 was a big fish in a small pond, but he's a sack machine and a complete player.  (Actually he played defensive end, but stood up a lot and moved around sometimes).

Quarterback Jason Vander Laan is 6'4" 244.  He ran for almost five thousand yards.  He's probably not an NFL quarterback.  If he ever could be, he's a couple years away.  But he's just a real football player who could play H-back or tight end (if he can catch) in the NFL.  A bit of a project, of course, but he could help on special teams.

Bryce Williams is another tight end.

At least one or two of these guys will go undrafted.  Half, or even most of them might be stocking shelves in 2017.

The way it looks, the Browns could get a potential franchise quarterback, a stud wide receiver, a Barnidge heir apparent, and at least one starting caliber offensive lineman out of this first draft of the new regime.  The rest is a crapshoot, but they can be sure to upgrade special teams.

There doesn't look like much help at linebacker in this draft, and I'd expect Sashi to chase other teams' free agents trying to compensate.

Barring that, the defense in general might not get upgraded much in this draft, but the offense should be pretty loaded and deep.

Or I could be full of it.

But one thing I don't think they will do: Rent old guys for one season.

This isn't major reconstruction like Haslam said to reassure potential Head Coaches and forestall midseason lynch mobs.  You don't do that with a very young and TALENTED team.

At the same time, it's not realistic to expect to knock off the Steelers and Bengals in one season.  

Geezers need not apply.  Come back in 2017.