Browns sign their UFA's

Normally,I don't write posts on the players signed as undrafted free agents by the Browns.
However,with this crop of players being acclaimed as either the best or second best in the league by most sources,I decided to offer a few comments,..

There are a few players that I was surprised didn't get drafted on this list and I bet some of these signees make the Browns.

To me,the one player I am really happy about is Maryland's power leg Brad Craddock,who drilled 81 % of his field goals and won the Lou Groza Award as the best kicker in college in 2014.
Craddock didn't repeat the award due to missing time with an injury,but Craddock kicked several field goals of over fifty yards in showing the leg strength that incumbent Travis Coons lacks.
I asked my buddy Kendall Morris,a devout Maryland football fan about Craddock and Kendall reports that Craddock came to Maryland as a punter and with work with former Brown Matt Stover developed into quite an accurate kicker.
Kendall describes Craddock as having a "strong and accurate leg that reminds him of former Terp Nick Novak".
If Craddock is like Nick Novak,who has had a pretty good career,I'll take that all day!
If I had to make a prediction right now,I bet Brad Craddock is the Browns kicker for the opening game...

Dominique Alexander of Oklahoma is a talented linebacker that led the Sooners in tackles the last two seasons.
Alexander was a mild surprise in going undrafted and I like him as a player,but he does arrive in Cleveland with two other rookies in Joe Schobert and Scooby Wright,so he'll have to do well in camp to make the team.

Mike Matthews is a somewhat undersized center from Texas A&M that has been tutored by the best in his father-Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews.
Matthews is 6'0 and 290,which is pretty sizable for the average man,but undersized for an NFL lineman.
I still wouldn't be surprised to see Matthews work his way on this team and might just stick on motor and attitude,,,,

Two defensive backs are interesting in Tracy Howard of Miami Florida and Kenya Dennis of Missouri.
Howard was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school and Dennis was a captain as a Tiger.
Both were rated by Ourlad's Dan Shonka over the Browns 5th round corner Trey Caldwell,so either or even both could surprise in camp and make the club.

Browns complete day three

The Cleveland Browns finished their draft with some players that might turn out to be steals and made a trade to attempt to help a player with a change of scenery.

The Browns did add a fifth rounder in a tradedown with the Raiders and later added cornerback Jamar Taylor from the Dolphins in swapping seventh rounders.
Taylor,a second rounder from Boise State in 2013,had been regarded as a bust in Miami and given that the Browns already have Justin Gilbert,one could make an argument the Browns really didn't need another disappointing corner on the roster.
I look at it differently.
The cost of giving Taylor a chance was just dropping in the seventh round,the pick still resulted in Scooby Wright and if it doesn't work out,the team can just release Taylor.
At 25,Taylor is still young enough to put it all together.

I love the two drafted linebackers,which were the Browns first pick and their last one in Wisconsin's Joe Schobert  (4th)and Arizona's Scooby Wright (7th).
I attempted to reach Ryan to ask for more about Schobert,but on the podcast,I spoke about how much I loved Wright.
Wright is one of those linebackers that are always underestimated in the draft based on size and speed and then just go out and tackle everything in sight for years.
Schobert was a pass rushing outside backer as a Badger,but most likely will move inside in the NFL.
I think both of those guys make the team and one if not both start sometime in the next two years...



The Browns took a lot of pass catchers to try to spray a bunch of picks around to maybe wind up with a good one or two.
Auburn's Ricardo Louis (4th) is a terrific physical specimen that has been rumored to be moved to corner due to bad hands,which is a small problem for a pass catcher.
That brings to mind last years pick in the fourth round of another Browns receiver pick that had issues catching the ball and didn't even make the team in Vince Mayle.
I hope Louis doesn't meet the same fate as Mayle.
Princeton's Seth DeValve (4th) was a college wideout that the Browns plan on moving to tight end and the best two picks came in the fifth with UCLA's Jordan Payton and my favorite sleeper (mentioned on the podcast preview) in Colorado State's Rashard "Hollywood" Higgins,who was an absolute theft at this stage of the draft.
The Browns have added quite a few interesting receivers and I would be surprised if more than one weren't on the final roster for 2016.



Cleveland added two players to the secondary in TCU's Derrick Kindred (4th) and Trey Caldwell (5th) of Louisiana-Monroe.
Kindred is noted as a hard tackler that played his entire 2016 season with a broken collarbone,choosing to play through the pain rather than miss the season and should at least be a benefit on the special teams
Caldwell isn't the biggest corner at 5'8,but did finish with 52 tackles last season.that's about the extent of what I know about Caldwell as none of the three draft books that I lean on had a writeup on him and I couldn't find much on YouTube about him either.

Bruising Baylor guard Spencer Drango (5th) will attempt to move inside after playing tackle at Baylor.
At 6'6 and 315 pounds,Drango has a chance to add some depth to the offensive line,but despite his size will need to work on his run blocking after spending so much time being a pass blocker at Baylor in an offense that preferred the throwing of the football.

On the overall,I liked this draft day with a few flaws-I would not have drafted Seth DeValve or Trey Caldwell because I think there would have been an excellent chance of being to sign them as undrafted free agents,but clearly in the case of DeValve,they must have had the feeling that another team was interested.

Browns in the third-Take three...

The Cleveland Browns used three third rounders and made one trade to add an extra fourth rounder tomorrow on the final day of the draft...

The Browns took another pass rusher in Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib with their first pick in the round.
Nassib only started one season for Penn State,but finished with 15 and a half sacks to set a new record in sacks there.
Nassib can rush the passer,but can also be a run stuffer as well.
Nassib is suited to the 3-4 more than a 4-3,which is a refreshing change for the Browns to pick players that fits their scheme and is the type of guy that may never make a pro bowl,but could be part of your defensive line rotation for ten years.
There were players on the board that I liked better,but I cannot argue with the pick especially if the plan is for Emmanuel Ogbah to be a standup rush off the end linebacker....


Cleveland had two picks back to back at 76 and 77,but would use only one with 76 used on Auburn tackle Shon Coleman,which along with their pick yesterday of Corey Coleman,makes me wonder if they bought stock in Coleman camping equipment or might pick Gary Coleman in the seventh.
Seriously,Coleman will be an older (25 ) rookie,but the left tackle at Auburn will be the early favorite to replace Mitchell Schwartz on the right side of the offensive line.
The 6'5 Coleman is agile enough to play left tackle,but is a better fit on the right side.
At over 300 pounds,Coleman has long arms and is solid in both pass protection and as a run blocker.
Coleman has beaten leukemia after 30 months of chemotherapy and looks to be an excellent pick at this point.
Coleman has an excellent chance of starting the season at right tackle and I liked this selection...


Cleveland traded down as they traded the 77th pick in round 3 along with their fifth round pick (141) to Carolina for three picks-Carolina's 3rd (93),4th ( 129) and 5th (168).
Cleveland now has four picks in the fourth round...

The most controversial pick came next as the Browns used the third rounder from Carolina to take a quarterback,but it was not either of the two passers that had been connected to the Browns via a local tag.
Many thought the Browns might like Michigan State's Connor Cook or Ohio State's Cardale Jones,but instead tabbed USC's Cody Kessler.
Kessler is a tough guy and a very accurate passer which Hue Jackson seems to like,but doesn't seem to have the type of talent (as in not a very strong arm) that makes him a viable quarterback to lead a team as a starter.
What I do think that Kessler has is the type of attitude and character to be an excellent backup and this could be the Browns getting the guy into the locker room as a backup and see then what happens.
Kessler reminds me of a player that gets overdrafted and might be overwhelmed if forced into a starting role.
Cleveland may have their eye on a top quarterback in next years draft and could have picked Kessler to be the mentor of sorts to that QB.
I think this was a bit of a reach on the Browns and they could have likely added Kessler on day three of the draft.

Back tomorrow night with the final days of the Browns draft...

Browns tab Emmanuel Ogbah in round two

The Cleveland Browns decided to pass on various offers for their pick to start off day two in the NFL Draft and added a disruptive pass rusher in Oklahoma State's Emmanuel Ogbah.

The Big 12 defensive player of the year (funny,I didn't know that they played defense there) finished with 12 and a half sacks last season and shows the type of speed that few defensive end have.
Ogbah is a player that you would hope would bring some pass rush to Cleveland,but the Browns have attempted to draft pass rushers for years with little success.
Another flag raised is that Ogbah appears to be a prototype 4-3 end that the Browns appear to be attempting to turn into a standup 3-4 outside linebacker.
This is not a move that's impossible to make,but some players are just not suited for the role and I'm more likely to approve a player that has made that move in college,not a transition for the pros.

However,you have a player with tremendous tools with high college production and no off the field issues,so Emmanuel Ogbah looks like a very solid pick to me.
Ogbah was one of several players that would have made sense for the Browns,so I'm fine with it,just a little concerned about the plans to shove a player into a system that might not best suit his skills.
Here is hoping that Ray Horton uses Ogbah to his best and not use him to cover tight ends! Ha Ha!

Back later with the third round choices...

Browns trade down again,select Corey Coleman in Round One

The Cleveland Browns weren't finished trading down in the first round of the NFL Draft, but eventually settled in at 15th overall and selected Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman.
Before I comment on Coleman, let us discuss the trade with the Tennessee Titans that brought more picks to the Browns.

Cleveland traded their first-rounder (8) and a sixth-round pick to the Titans for their first-rounder (15), third-rounder (76), and the Titans second-round pick in the 2017 draft.

The lovely Cherie commented, "I know these are good picks, but don't you get tired of waiting until next year-every year?"
She's right of course, but the Browns now have 2 picks in each of the first two rounds of next year's draft and put themselves in a position to control that draft.

However, don't forget about this one where the Browns hold the first pick in the second round and possess three third-rounders (65,76, and 77) to play with to fill holes or even trade up into the second round if a special player is worth making a move for.

After the trade to the 15th slot, Cleveland did take a badly needed receiver in Baylor's Corey Coleman.
Coleman was not my top-rated receiver (My top was Ole Miss WR Laquon Treadwell), but TCU's Josh Doctson was considered very close to the top of my WR list.
Coleman is looked at as the top deep threat in the draft as his speed is superior to Treadwell and Doctson, although, at 5'11, he isn't as tall as that pair and might not as be as large of a red zone target either.
Coleman is more of a game-breaker and lord knows that the Browns need as many of those as they can get, but there will be a bit of a learning curve as Coleman accumulated huge receiving numbers playing in the Baylor spread offense, which is much different than the pro-style offense that NFL teams use.

What I really like about Coleman was his 20-touchdown season with the Bears which saw him win the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in college football.
Coleman caught 74 passes for over 1,300 yards for an average of 18.4 yards per reception, but keep in mind that teams that play in the Big 12 often have inflated offensive numbers due to the spread offense and poor defenses in that league.
The Browns (other than Josh Gordon in his one year of Comet Kohoutek-like play) haven't had a big play deep threat since the one solid year that Braylon Edwards had in 2007 and Coleman brings the capability of being able to do so.

Overall, I'm fine with Coleman.
Treadwell, Coleman, and Doctson all seem to be rated roughly the same by different observers with different orders of the three with most rating Treadwell as more NFL-ready and Coleman with more of the "upside" that we all talk about.
Corey Coleman will hopefully be the first step in revitalizing an offense that gives Dreary its name.....

I plan on a post on the Browns' second-rounder tomorrow night and then a follow-up on the third-round selections.

Podcast:Part two of our NFL Draft preview

We talk prospects,Browns and the AFC North in part two of our draft preview...

Podcast:Special Guest Daniel Parlegreco

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