Factory Of Sadness
FanSided

Cleveland Browns: Who Should The Team Draft In 2016?

By Justin Blum

facebooktwitterreddit

Another year of draft picks are needed for the Cleveland Browns to take the next level.

After watching the Cleveland Browns play three preseason games it’s evident that they are still another year away from having a championship roster. There are plenty of areas that needs to be improved and draft picks used next season should definitely help make the Browns achieve the roster they need.

Still, a lot can and will happen during the course of a football season. Just last year New England was 2-2 after an embarrassing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. After that happened, many began to write off Tom Brady and the Patriots. Obviously that writing was a little premature.

But alas, Cleveland is not New England and Josh McCown is not Brady. No amount of success this year will prevent the Browns from needing more talent on both sides of the football. Upgrades are needed on both the offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage. The Browns also still need help running the ball and stopping the run on defense.

Without Dwayne Bowe and Terrelle Pryor, Cleveland have not had a big bodied receiver on the field. Wide receiver is a position that has been targeted as the weakest position group for the Browns. However, players have began to improve as the preseason moves to the last week. Unfortunately, there still will be questions regarding the position.

Someone who has shown promise is rookie UDFA E.J. Bibbs. He has been the prototype player in which head coach Mike Pettine wants to build a roster with.

With the running game, both Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West have shown nothing. Duke Johnson is the best bet for the Browns to have success at running back.

Rookie defensive linemen Danny Shelton and Xavier Cooper have shown that general manager Ray Farmer can make great selections on draft day. Justin Gilbert may never be thought of as anything other than another first round bust for the Browns.

McCown and Johnny Manziel (when he played this preseason) have looked decent enough for me to quit holding my breath. Still, the Browns would be doing themselves a huge favor by drafting a quarterback (or two) in the upcoming draft. That is assuming that the Browns don’t sign Eli Manning or some other high priced free agent in the offseason.

With the roster another year from being a legit contender, who are some players the Browns should look to draft?

A franchise quarterback should be priority number one for Farmer next spring. Local kids like Cardale Jones and Connor Cook would make a lot of sense. Jared Goff from Cal and Paxton Lynch from Memphis are big quarterbacks that also could add tons of talent and leadership to the position for Cleveland.

James Conner is a 250 pound running back from the University of Pittsburgh who also would be perfect for the Browns. Conner regularly seeks out contact with defenders who are trying to tackle him. He ran for over 1,700 yards and had 26 touchdowns last year.

Pettine has said that he wants the Browns to be a bully. With Cleveland being a run first team, Conner would embody the type of guy the Browns are looking for. Think: the opposite of Crowell, who is far too often brought down at initial contact. Conner is built like Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl RB Le’Veon Bell. Conner was made to play in the AFC North division.

The Browns offensive line is good. They do however need a dominant right tackle to compete with Dallas to have the best offensive line in the NFL. Being a bully starts up front. Four of the five positions are solidified, but right tackle needs to be addressed.

Jerald Hawkins from LSU would be a solid choice. He has played right tackle and has been a solid, dependable player. I also like Jason Spriggs from Indiana. Spriggs has started every season at left tackle and at 6’7, 305 lbs., he could add quality depth to the offensive line from a late round draft pick.

Bibbs has been a favorite of Pettine and has been impressive since signing with the Browns this spring. Other players that the team could seek for the TE position includes Bucky Hodges and Austin Hooper.

More from Cleveland Browns

Hodges is 6’7, 245 lbs, from Virginia Tech and started as a quarterback when he first got to college. He’s obviously athletic. He is big and has speed too. He would pose match-up problems for any team trying to defend him.

Hooper, from Stanford, is 6’5 250 and has all the tools to be an NFL Pro Bowler. Adding these two players to the roster, along with James Conner and Jerald Hawkins, would make Cleveland’s ground game very formidable.

Having deep threats on the offense would help as well. Pryor and Taylor Gabriel are certainly threats, but the Browns need more than just these two players. Obviously Cleveland can’t pick 7 first round players, so some help will have to come in the form of later round draft picks.

Mack Hollins from North Carolina is the perfect receiver to “play like a Brown.” Hollins started out as a special teams standout and he made quite an impressive move to full time wide receiver last year. He is 6’4, 215 and he’s fast. Hollins has great hands and he’s smart. He will be a steal for someone, hopefully Cleveland, in the third or fourth round.

Devon Cajuste, from Stanford, is another big wide out that has all the intangibles that Pettine would love. He’s 6’4,  230 lbs., and his numbers at Stanford last year were impressive. Cajuste is, like Hollins, big, fast, smart and has great hands.

If the Browns were able to draft these offensive players next year, I’d be absolutely confident of their chances to beat any team on any given Sunday.

After drafting Shelton and Cooper last year and signing undrafted free agent Dylan Wynn, the Browns are close to having the defensive line that they want to take the field on Sundays. Kenny Clark of UCLA would be the next player to add to defensive line.

Clark is 6’5 305 and is built to be a 3-4 defensive end. He would be the perfect bookend. Clark, Shelton and Cooper would make a terrorizing line of guys 23 years old or younger. Adding Wynn into the mix and the defensive line for Cleveland could be dominant for years to come.

The Browns also need help at the linebacker position and Shaq Lawson and Pete Robertson are just the guys to make this crew stand out. Lawson is a 6’3 275 pound outside linebacker from Clemson is just what the doctor ordered. Lawson can rush the quarterback and set the edge in the run game. Pete Robertson was the Big 12 defensive player of the year for Texas Tech last year and would be a great fit on the inside for the Browns.

Karlos Dansby and Christian Kirksey are the starters for Cleveland at inside linebacker, but Robertson should replace Craig Robertson as the team’s backup. He could then take the place of Dansby in 2017, after spending 2016 learning from one of the games best.

That makes 11 players that Cleveland could draft next year to complete the roster, which is the same number of draft picks they have for next year. If all eleven of these guys landed on the Browns roster, I’d bet my house on them making it deep in the playoffs in 2016, 2017, 2018, and beyond!

Next: Browns: 2015 Preseason Review Part 2: WRs, TEs, OL

More from Factory of Sadness

Home/Cleveland Browns