3 Cleveland Browns draft picks who should play a lot in 2022

Drafting just isn’t as fun when there’s no first-round pick. Considering the state of the Cleveland Browns since 1999, this time of year is when the fan base collectively looks to their new, highly regarded first-rounder as the franchise savior.

Ultimately, we come back the next year, ready to try again, and again and again.

Alas, no first rounder. Heck, not even a second rounder after the Browns traded the 44th overall selection away, striking yet another deal with the Texans.

So the Browns didn’t make their pick until the third round.

This draft took me back to 2008, when the Browns took Beau Bell in the fourth-round. The UNLV product was the team’s first selection that year, as the organization sold out to move up to select Brady Quinn in 2007.

I remember the local media giving Bell so much ink upon arriving in Berea, that even his grandmother had to be surprised by the coverage. However, in a boring draft, he was the Browns shiny new toy and everyone was ready to enshrine him in Canton.

We all just hope the Browns are going to be smarter than everyone and unearth a Hall of Famer in the fifth-round, when in reality, it’s just such a long shot. The great players with starter potential go early. Obviously, guys who get drafted later do rise above their expectations, it just becomes harder to find them, because everyone is looking to find the next hidden gem.

With that I mind, here’s a look a three rookies will will play a lot in 2022, in addition to a forecast for the rest of the team’s picks.