10 moves the Cleveland Browns must make during the 2018 offseason

4. Draft players, not projects

The thing that bothers me the most about the 2017 draft was that the Browns punted on the opportunity to pick players.

You don’t need to be a lifelong scout to know how the NFL Draft works.

Every year, there’s about 10-12 players you just know are going to make an impact.

With the Browns trading down the past two years, they’ve taken themselves out of contention to draft those types of players.

The Browns passed on impact player Carson Wentz in 2016, traded down, and need up with Corey Coleman.

In 2017, they took Myles Garrett, which was good. There’s still a lot to like about the edge rushing defensive end. However, the analytics gurus traded out of the 12th spot, where the Texans took impact player DeShaun Watson. Cleveland ended up taking David Njoku and Jabrill Peppers.

Both players are gifted athletes, but as far as making a big impact on the football field goes, they didn’t help the Browns win any games in 2017.

Njoku caught 32 balls for 386 yards. He did catch four touchdown passes.

Peppers seemed miscast as Gregg Williams’ “angel” defender. He didn’t record his first sack and first interception until Week 17.

Both players still have futures in the league, but that’s the point. They were projects. They were picked in the mid to late 20s and needed time to learn the NFL game.

The Browns have to find more players who can be difference makers from the outset. With two picks in the top 4, and three picks in to the top 33, they’ve got a great chance to do so.