WalterFootball’s Cleveland Browns Mock Draft Breakdown

First Round (Pick #10) – OT Mekhi Becton, Louisville University

"Perhaps the Browns will think twice about entering the season with Greg Robinson as their left tackle. They desperately need help on the offensive line. At 6-7, 340, Mekhi Becton is a massive human being. Despite his size, however, Becton is athletic and flexible, as he showed us at the combine. He projects similarly to Cordy Glenn."

Mekhi Becton may not be a lot of peoples pick in this slot but he is WalterFootball’s. I worry about anyone who only cites the NFL Combine as a reason to be high on a player. Good players are good, regardless of combine stats. In fact, the combine can at times give talent evaluators a false sense of perspective. Too many ‘work-out warriors’ fly up people’s draft boards because of their 40-yard dash times.

Becton is big but he’s also carrying a lot of weight. Think about the God-tier level of players on the offensive line, namely Joe Thomas. Thomas played at about 310 lbs throughout his career. He’s about the same height as Becton but far lighter. Offensive linemen don’t need to be heavy anymore, they need to be strong and quick. They’re not stationary objects, they don’t need to weigh 400 pounds.

If you’re running the ball, that player is moving forward. So why would you need to be heavy? You need to be strong. Strong enough to move the defensive tackles off their point. Defensive tackles need to be heavy, sure but offensive linemen need to be strong and fast.

Then you have to worry about his agility with the opposing pass rush. We’ve already seen heavy players who can’t move laterally and get obliterated. How well can Becton really move? He doesn’t have a lot of information on those lateral quickness tests from the combine. Sure, he ran a 5.10 40-yard dash but who cares? He needs to be QUICK, not FAST.

To paraphrase Jim Ross, Beckon needs to be sudden like a hiccup.

Becton’s mobility is an issue, with the NFL website basically says that Becton is slow and a liability against more complicated defenses who stunt. Which is every NFL team.

Why is he so high again? His size? That’s never blown up in anyone’s face.

A player nearly 370lbs? That’s not going to be useful when he’s facing off against 275lbs defensive ends, with tight end speed and running back agility. People shouldn’t worry about dumb terms like ‘value’ or ‘reaching’ with the Draft. There’s only one value that anyone should worry about. Take the player you think is the best when you can. That’s why the Browns should go get Wisconsin’s Tyler Biadasz in the first. The best tackle in the draft is a projected second-round pick, so if you can swing both the best tackle and the best guard/center, then you just did all you needed to rejuvenate the line.

If you’re deadset on walking away with two tackles in the early rounds, then Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs is the better option.