Slowly but surely, we are getting close to the NFL draft. Almost two months after the NFL combine and a month and a half after the opening of the NFL’s league year (free agency), the Tennessee Titans will be on the clock, even if they’ve already made their decision, with the Cleveland Browns right behind them.
For years, the NFL draft was Browns fans’ Super Bowl, which made ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. one of the most important media members to follow as one of the first to put out regular NFL mock drafts. While Cleveland’s brass might be willing to get aggressive to fill their needs, the team continues to be connected to QB Jalen Milroe after many expect them to draft WR/CB Travis Hunter.
Kiper, in what his colleague Field Yates says will be his final mock draft of the year, does have the Browns selecting Hunter with the second overall pick (Insider, $):
I debated Hunter vs. Penn State’s Abdul Carter for Cleveland. There’s no doubt that slotting Carter opposite Myles Garrett would destroy opponent game plans. But Hunter is a special prospect in so many ways, and he’d check a big box for the Browns — mainly as a receiver. They have wideout Jerry Jeudy and tight end David Njoku but need more pass-catching talent. Hunter — my No. 1 overall prospect — has a “wow” factor to his game, and he could use his speed, ball skills, instincts and elusiveness to become an impact player right out of the gate. He had 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 TDs last season.
With Cam Ward off the board first, Kiper then has Shedeur Sanders being drafted ninth by the New Orleans Saints and Jaxson Dart off the board at pick #26 to the Los Angeles Rams. In Kiper’s first two-round mock draft, he has the Browns and New York Giants selecting the next two quarterbacks off the board, but Milroe goes to New York and Tyler Shough is wearing the orange and brown:
Deshaun Watson is out with a re-torn Achilles, and Kenny Pickett is the only other quarterback on the Browns’ roster. Shough has the arm strength to drive the ball in Cleveland weather, and he looks the part at 6-foot-5 and 219 pounds. Some evaluators will be concerned by his age (turning 26 this year), but the flip side of that is his experience — he has thrown 951 passes over 43 career games. He could compete with Pickett for starts.
An older quarterback prospect will evoke comparisons with Brandon Weeden, but age is not the only concern with Shough, who played for three different teams but never attempted more than 170 passes until his seventh season in college.
Milroe went to the Giants with the very next selection and was the final quarterback selected in Kiper’s mock draft.
