Cleveland Browns mock: Malik Willis at 13, but Steelers are interested

The Combine is fast approaching, and to some, the Cleveland Browns quarterback room is shrouded in uncertainty as faith in Baker Mayfield is rumored to have waned.

If you’re longtime beat writer Mary Kay Cabot, you erase any doubt over the future of the position by taking Liberty QB Malik Willis with the first pick in the NFL Draft, via Cleveland.com (subscription needed), as she did in her two-round mock.

I once hoped Willis could fall to the Browns in the second round, but as teams feel the pressure to find a quarterback, that dream is proving to be what it always was: A long shot.

If Willis doesn’t end up in Cleveland, the Browns may have to deal with him for the next 10+ years, because “You know who” is interested.

Cabot went to the Senior Bowl and heard the Steelers like Willis. She also wrote that she saw Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin spending extra time with the prospect in Mobile.

Cabot sees Willis as a Trey Lance-type pick, meaning he’d sit the bench in his first year. Of course, this means Mayfield would play out his rookie contract, accepting the challenge to lead the team even though someone is waiting in the wings to take his job.

It worked for the 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo, but I’d contend that Mayfield is not of the same mindset as Jimmy G.

Elsewhere in Cabot’s two-round mock, she has Cleveland taking Penn State product Jahan Dotson in the second round, 44th overall. The way Cabot writes it, Dotson could be in play even if the Browns go with a receiver with the 13th pick.

"“I believe the Browns need to acquire three starting caliber receivers this offseason and Dotson fits the bill,” she wrote."

No arguing Cabot there. Current receivers Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz are still projects. Jarvis Landry is under contract…for now. It’s imperative the Browns get more production out of the wide receiving corps than what we saw last season.

I’ve made a case to sign Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the Packers free agent. Sure, we’d all love Devante Adams. Let me know when it happens.

As for the Steelers interest in Willis–it makes a lot of sense. They’ll get by this season with Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins, but their front office also needs to secure the future of the position.