Matt Goul dug up some more day 2 players the Browns will probably be checking out. This time, it's Edge-rushers.
I didn't hear the interview, but saw the headline that Scott Petrak said that the Browns aren't interested in signing Jadeveon Clowney long-term, and would probably offer 2 years at 16 mil per.
I suspect that got garbled, and bet that what Petrak really said was that since Clowney and his agent seem to want to back up another Brinks truck before he turns 30, any longer-term deal would be too expensive.
At any rate, that's what Scott should have said.
Edge-rushers are hard to come by, so drafting one or more specialists or projects on day 2 or 3 is a good idea, even if you miss on half of them.
Alabama DE Terrell Lewis is a guy I've mentioned before as a potential sleeper.
I know: Alabama and "sleeper" don't belong in the same article, but this is what I mean:
1: The injury that cost Lewis most of the time he missed was a torn acl. These surgeries are wildly successful, and often result in a stronger ligament than the original.
2: Due to the time he missed, he's less refined, hence has more room to improve.
3: As it stands, Lewis is not good vs the run, but he has the frame (6'5") to add more muscle (he's 262 lbs now, and was probably trying to stay light because some teams see him as a 3-4 OLB).
PFF loves Lewis as a passrusher, and he could be a situational specialist in the NFL as a rookie.
His biggest dings are his questionable durability (he also missed time with an upper arm injury).
Zierlein pegs him as a starter by his third season IF he can stay healthy.
I suspect that the Browns would have to consider using a second round pick on this guy, because I doubt that he'll make it to the third round in this market/class.
Covid 19 will help there: Team Doctors can't get up close and personal with these players, and most teams wil err on the side of caution.
Zierlein likes Yeter Gross-Matos more than Lewis, as Yeter is more raw, and can improve more with NFL coaching and experience. Zeirlein also says he can start right now.
Yeter had 8 sacks last year, but also a whopping 15 tackles for loss. He's about the same size as Lewis, and can also get bigger and stronger.
Alex Highsmith should go lower than Lewis and Gross-Matos because he's 6'3", 248 lbs and played linebacker.
He got 16 sacks in 2019, so Berry has to check him out, but he's more 4-3 than 3-4.
Julian Okwara is another raw guy with upside (and Defensive End stature), but he missed a lot of tackles, and at this point is a passrusher only.
Like Highsmith, Berry probably won't consider him before the third round.
Curtis Weaver (18.5 sacks for Boise State) is really tough to nail down. He's only 6'2" and was a stand-up DE who covered some. He's over 260 lbs and not lean. He's not a great athlete either, and was weak vs the run.
He's obviously got great instincts, but he's not a linebacker, and well...maybe in the 6th or lower. Big fish, little pond. (I'll be rooting for the guy, however. I love those underdogs).
Greg Newland mocks Jeremy Chinn to the Browns in the second round of his latest mock draft.
As you guys know, I brought up Jeremy Chinn earlier, and whenever I do that with a player, for some reason other writers suddenly get the same idea.
The guys who read my analyses here and pretend it was their idea overeach sometimes.
I don't think Chinn will go that high.
Greg takes Malik Harrison with the first third round pick, and that's ok with me.
At 97th overall, Greg takes EDGE Darrell Taylor (another guy I completely missed).
Zierlein calls this guy a five-star talent with a 3-star skill-set right now. He's a 4-down DE who just needs to add a couple moves and refine his techniques.
Per Z, he's not a starter yet, but could contribute situationally, and had outstanding upside as a passrusher.
The heck with the rest of these picks.
Greg and others think that linebacker is a top priority, and don't seem to know the difference between strong and free safeties.
And they all still think that the new Left Tackle has to be a Joe Thomas pass protector (as a rookie) in a drop-back vertical passing offense--so a trade-down from 10 is unthinkable.
And OBJ and Kareem Hunt can't be traded.
I'll have to correct this stuff again later, but thanks to Matt Goul for finding all those EDGE guys in this draft.
Ideally, they do land Clowney, but can also draft 1-2 developmental candidates to replace him when he puts on his ski-mask and straps on his gun and takes off in his Brinks truck in 2021 or 2022.
....okbye
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