Thursday, April 26, 2018

Cleveland Browns Persons of Interest-Part Two

The defensive persons of interest have to start with N.C State defensive end Bradley Chubb.
Chubb plays with a high motor and is clearly the top pass rusher in the draft.
If the Browns draft Chubb, they should be able to put some serious heat on opposing quarterbacks with Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah and raises their pass rush to the elite level.
If the Browns would miss out on Chubb either by someone else taking him or passing on him, Sam Hubbard of Ohio State could be a consideration either as a first-round trade-in or with one of the second rounders.
I love the talent and speed of Marcus Davenport of UTSA and he might turn out to be as good as Chubb, but the lesser competition is a small concern.
A year or two of strong coaching might make Davenport and eventual all-pro level player.
I'm not sure if the Browns will take a defensive tackle, but I'm a big fan of two players.
I really like Du'Ron Payne of Alabama, who I think will be that defensive tackle rarity- the three-down defensive tackle that is able to generate an inside pass rush.
USC's Rasheem Green isn't as wide as you would hope from an interior lineman, but his speed and pass rushing skills make him a player that you could rotate in and out at both tackle and end.
I like the potential of Virginia Tech's Tim Settle and Georgia's Trenton Thompson reminds me of one of those linemen that are a little undersized and yet all they do is hustle all over the field and play in the league for ten years.

The Browns might use a day three pick on a linebacker,so I'm going to focus there.
For the record, I'm really a big fan of Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State because I've seen him play so much but he'll go before the Browns are likely to pick one.
My favorite third-day hopeful? Josey Jewell of Iowa, who reminds me of Christian Kirksey and might develop into that type of player.
Jewell should at least be a special teams demon.

In the secondary, I have Ohio State's Denzel Ward as my top corner and should the Browns trade down from four, I think Ward is a consideration.
I think Minkah Fitzpatrick of Alabama might wind up as a tweener, not a true cornerback or a safety.
Fitzpatrick is more of a 15-20 player on my board rather than the top five player that he was graded as many entering the draft.
I loved Desmond King of Iowa as a corner/ballhawk last year and he produced a huge rookie year for the Chargers-I think Josh Jackson of the same school brings similar skills and is faster.
Jackson will go earlier than King did so he could be a second-round consideration.
A corner with the talent to be a second-day pick that shouldn't go before the final day is Texas Longhorn Holton Hill, who will fall due to off-field issues.
Hill might be worth a flier in the sixth or seventh round.
My highest rated safety is Florida State's Derwin James, who I think will enter the league as my favorite to win defensive rookie of the year.
James will go in the latter part of the top ten and some team is going to be quite fortunate.

This is an important draft for the Browns and I cannot believe that they will throw away all the goodwill that the new front office has earned on Baker Mayfield.
Here is hoping that the people in Berea are smart enough to not to suckered in by a con man.
See you tonight with lots of thoughts on the Browns selections.

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