Browns Draft: Cleveland should assume more help is needed at safety

Grant Delpit isn’t going to be cleared to return to work out for a few more months, according to the Browns’ own website. More than that, his injury was an Achilles tendon tear, one of the most physically affecting injuries a person can sustain that doesn’t directly affect the nervous system. Delpit may make a full recovery, or he may not. It’s impossible to know what he’d look like after such a major injury.

For comparison, Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets suffered a relatively similar injury, was out for an entire year, and still deals with lingering issues from the injury. The big difference is, Durant was never an “athlete”. He was never the fastest or relied on quickness. He’s just a long dude who can shoot over your heads. Delpit has to be fast. He has to be quick. He has to be able to secure deep routes and come up to the line and stick a running back.

He has to keep as much athleticism as possible, but will that be possible with such a devastating injury? Who knows if he’ll even be ready for a return by the time training camp begins. There could be delays, he could aggravate the injury, or just be out of shape due to months of having to rehab and not condition like an NFL player is normally able to.

It’s really for that reason why the Browns should consider using one of their Day 2 picks during the 2021 NFL Draft on a safety, or at least on a player who can play safety. If you can get a hybrid player who can play linebacker or safety or safety and cornerback, that’s who you should take. If there exists such a player.

More than likely you can grab a safety who’s fast in the second or third round and just convert him to corner if Delpit does return to form, which is the worst-case scenario (Damarious Randall went from corner to safety and back to corner, it happens).

The hope is that Delpit does return to form and with modern medical techniques, it’s very possible he does. Yet, as great as science is, the human body is still a tricky and unpredictable beast. It’d be best to secure the safeties on day two and take out any need or desire to rush Delpit back.