This three-round 2021 NFL Mock Draft has the Browns trading up.
The Super Bowl is over, and that can only mean one thing: Every Browns fan in the world is waiting for their team to earn a berth in Super Bowl 56.
The window is open for Baker Mayfield and company to extend the Browns’ season into February, but they’re going to need help from the front office. While the Browns are going to be in the thick of thing sin the AFC, they’ve still go to contend with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, as well as Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
Cleveland couldn’t close the gap with either squad this past season, so it will be imperative for Andrew Berry to find the players to put Cleveland over the hump.
Free agency will help a little, but hitting a bulls-eye or two in this spring’s draft is what can take the Browns to a different level (trading for J.J. Watt would do that as well).
This three-round 2021 mock draft from NFL.com mostly sees the Browns load up on defense. Here’s the way I see it breaking down.
Round 1
It’s believed the Browns will take a linebacker at some point in the 2021 NFL Draft, but would GM Andrew Berry trade up to get one?
NFL.com’s Chad Reuter latest mock projects the Browns to trade up from No. 26 to No. 21 so they can select Missouri junior linebacker Nick Bolton.
Retuer described him as an interior playmaker in the mold of Devin Bush. To jump up five spots, Reuter has Cleveland coughing up one of its fourth-round picks, in addition to a sixth-round selection.
The pick is a nice thought, but trading up, for a linebacker, no less, doesn’t seem like this Browns’ front office would make, mainly because the organization doesn’t seem to put a great deal of value on the position.
After taking over as GM, Berry saw Joe Schobert leave in free agency and then waived Christian Kirksey. Knowing full well this team needed a linebacker, Berry didn’t take one until the fourth round, when he selected LSU linebacker Jacob Phillips.
With the Browns emphasis on analytics, it would seem more likely the team use their first-round pick on big-money position, such as defensive end or corner. The team really needs an edge rusher to complement Myles Garrett, and signing one in free agency will cost a ton of money.
The Browns will be busy handling internal business regarding personnel, and it just doesn’t seem feasibly that the team will dole out major money for someone like Shaquille Barrett.
Drafting a stud edge rusher and paying him on the rookie scale will go along away to helping the Browns build their defense.
Additionally, the Browns have been drafting linebackers in the later rounds and those players are maturing to the point where they can play more reps. Mack Wilson is the most recognizable name to return. He hasn’t been great, but I don’t think the Browns are ready to give up on him.
Some might forget Sione Takitaki was taken in the same draft as Wilson. The BYU product was actually a higher pick (third round) than Wilson. Entering year three, Takitaki should be a major player in 2021.
Phillips is a player the Browns really like. They eased him into the lineup much like they did with Takitaki. Bottom lining it: The Browns have nurtured three young linebackers. They’ll probably take another at some point in the draft and pepper the depth chart with veterans on one-year contracts.
Browns 2nd-round pick
Reuter extended his mock to the third round and had Cleveland taking Pitt edge rusher Rashad Weaver in the second round.
I already went over why an edge rusher makes sense financially, but the Browns need talented players at the position. Olivier Vernon won’t be back, meaning the Browns need to get a great deal better.
I’d like to see what Curtis Weaver can do after sitting out the year injured. The Browns picked him up before the season started after he was a waived by Miami. Not wanting to put all the eggs in his basket, the Browns would have to add more players, probably through the draft.
It just doesn’t look like Cleveland can throw a ton of money around in free agency competing against other teams for a defensive end.
But if the Browns were to get J.J. Watt in a trade…OK, wishful thinking.
If Weaver lasts this long, he’d be an excellent addition to the roster and might have a shot at starting opposite Garrett.
3rd round
No. 89: In the third round, Reuter taps Kentucky red-shirt sophomore Kelvin Joseph. Joseph was once an LSU Tiger, but transferred to Kentucky and sat out the 2019 season. He played nine games last season and has just 20 games of college experience under his belt.
Joseph has potential to start on the outside, and that’s something the Brown sneed to consider getting early in the draft.
Greedy Williams looks on paper, but the truth is he’s a practice rep away from suffering a season ending injury. If Williams is healthy, great. Williams should be as good as Terrance Mitchell. However, with guarantee he’ll be on the field, the Browns need to find playmakers at the position.
Joseph has a lot of upside, especially for where the Browns will get him if he’s available here.
No. 91: Reuter has the Browns going with a wide receiver here in the form of Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace.
He’s listed as 6-feet, 190 pounds. He caught 59 balls for 922 yards and six touchdowns in his final collegiate season.