Cleveland Browns pick award winner over local kid in Round 2 of NFL Draft
By Chad Porto
![NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 13: Safety Grant Delpit #7 of the LSU Tigers raises his hands to the fans while he is leaving the field after the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Clemson Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSU defeated Clemson 42 to 25. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 13: Safety Grant Delpit #7 of the LSU Tigers raises his hands to the fans while he is leaving the field after the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Clemson Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSU defeated Clemson 42 to 25. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/b0b8b5b5d28676423077ade5c99f18bc8005c851a0ba09acb8a16a0c6e96b33a.jpg)
The Cleveland Browns picked a defensive back in round two as many expected but it was Grant Delpit and not Antonie Winfield Jr. as fans hoped
The Cleveland Browns picked LSU defensive back Grant Delpit at no. 44 overall in the second round of the NFL Draft. This is the Browns second straight SEC pick, having picked up Alabama’s Jedrick Wills in the first round on Thursday. Delpit is expected to play safety for the Browns though anything can happen when the team gets together in the pre-season; whenever that is.
The Browns had traded with the Colts who jumped up from No. 44 to No. 41 in exchange for pick No. 160. The Browns were still able to get the defensive back they wanted, and Ohio-native Antoine Winfield Jr, whom fans were hoping the team would take, went the very next pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Delpit won the Jim Thorpe Award in his junior season at LSU, which ended up being his last before declaring for the draft. Previous winners of the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back in the NCAA, include Minka Fitzpatrick, Morris Claiborne, and Patrick Peterson. Not exactly a group of scrubs.
Terms: pick 41 for No. 44 and No. 160 https://t.co/IE1W0ustXf
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 24, 2020
Delpit will now join a secondary that includes a fellow-second-round pick from the 2019 draft in Greedy Williams, as well as the former fourth-overall pick in the 2018 draft in Denzel Ward. Both Ward and Williams will anchor corner with Delpit more than likely taking the free safety position, though that’s just an assumption, he could play strong safety or even nickel corner depending on the personnel on the field.
The Browns still need to get a linebacker, an interior linemen, and a defensive linemen in this draft and with two more picks on the second day, the Browns may just find exactly who they need to get two of those positions secured.
Grade: A-
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