The Cleveland Browns have been busy these last few weeks meeting with potential draft picks. They have the No. 2 draft pick and, because of that, will have their pick of players at their current drafting spot. They also hold the No. 33, 67, and 94 picks as well through the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. The draft is only about two weeks away, beginning on Thursday, April 24, from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The swirling conversation this past week has the Browns targeting wide receiver and cornerback star Travis Hunter from Colorado at the No. 2 spot. So we’ll ride with the momentum and take him as our No.2 selection in this latest mock draft. From there we’ll give you a few more names of players that Cleveland could try and draft through the remaining parts of the first three rounds.
Pick No. 2: Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
Hunter is the “flavor of the week” as everyone is high on the Browns taking Hunter here at pick No. 2. Before Hunter, the chatter centered around edge rusher Abdul Carter from Penn State. Before that, the discussion revolved around quarterbacks Cam Ward(Miami) and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado). I still believe the Browns will take one of these two quarterbacks at No. 2, but for this mock, we’ll stick with Hunter.
Hunter is a fantastic athlete and could be dangerous on either side of the ball. I think the Browns would use him primarily on offense as a wide receiver, as the Browns continue to search for offensive talent to help their usually poor offensive squads. Hunter could do a lot of good for Cleveland but there is still a concern when it comes to quarterback, and this team has struggled and will continue to struggle without an answer at that position.
Former Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon had a record-shattering 2013 season where he racked up 87 receptions,1,646 yards receiving, and 9 touchdowns, and the team was terrible with a record of 4-12. Back then, it was aging wonder Brandon Weeden slinging Gordon passes. So while Hunter could catch passes from about anyone, it won’t amount to much more than just stats if the team can’t find the right leader of the offense in a new quarterback.
Pick No. 33: Derrick Harmon, DL, Oregon
Photo via Imagn Images
This won’t be a flashy pick, but Cleveland needs to continue to build up their defensive line with fresh faces and youth and Harmon could come in on day one and provide a spark. He played at Michigan State prior to finishing his collegiate career at Oregon. He had a fantastic season with the Ducks, where he collected 45 tackles, 11 for losses, had four passes knocked down, forced and recovered two fumbles, and had five sacks.
When you watch the film on Harmon, you see a player with exceptional speed for a big man and a guy who was consistently causing havoc in the backfield. He was a good run stopper too, and the Browns need to build up their defensive line even more and this pick would help do the trick.
Pick No. 67: Bradyn Swinson, Edge, LSU
Photo via Imagn Images
It seems like everyone and their mother keeps talking about Abdul Carter, an edge from Penn State, as being that next “generational” player, and the Browns would be foolish to pass up on him at No. 2. But their are a plethera of our great talent at the edge position in this draft one player the Browns could pick up would by Bradyn Swinson from LSU. This kid has a motor that doesn’t stop, and when you watch tape on him, you see a player that plays with a powerful fury. Time and time again Swinson gets into the backfield to cause problems. Also, his ability to get to the outside in pursuit of the running back is off the charts.
Swinson played most of his collegiate career at Oregon before going to LSU this past campaign. In this last season with the Tigers, Swinson had 58 tackles, 13 of those for losses, 8.5 sacks, three pass deflections, and forced two fumbles. He was a menace all season. In a midseason battle with Ole Miss and their quarterback Jaxson Dart (who’s getting a lot of chatter to be drafted by the Browns), Swinson had 8 tackles, including 3 for losses, and 2 sacks on Dart.
Pick No. 94: Devin Neal, RB, Kansas
Photo via Imagn Images
While many Browns fans will be eager for their team to draft a couple of running backs early in the draft, it may not happen until the later rounds. The running back position is a definite need for Cleveland but there is plenty of supply to meet the demands in this year’s draft class.
With this 94th pick, I see the team taking Devin Neal from Kansas, a consistent and steady runner who could be a nice addition to a Browns team desperately needing to improve on their run game. We still don’t know if Cleveland running back Nick Chubb is returning, as he sits out there in free agency land so getting Neal here would be a good start to building up the group.
Neal played all four seasons in Lawrence as a Jayhawk, putting up great numbers. He ran for 4,343 yards, a 5.7 YPG average, and had 49 touchdowns. He tacked on 77 catches for 711 yards and four touchdowns to boot.
The Browns run a lot of zone scheme action on the offensive side of the ball and Neal would thrive in this type of offense. They could use another Kareem Hunt style player to be able to take screen passes out of the backfield for bursts of offense and to help move the chains. He recently ran a 4.58 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. So he has excellent speed and has good balance and can elude the tackle more times then not.
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