Taking a receiver first in the draft may spell the end for Donovan Peoples-Jones and others on the Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns need help at receiver and it could come in the NFL Draft.

The Cleveland Browns need help at receiver, and while the team doesn’t have their first-round pick this year due to the trade for the embattled Deshaun Watson, the Browns do have eight picks this year. Most are day-three picks and have no real value, but the team still has a second, a third, and two fourth-rounders.

With that, the Browns can maybe add two starters and two key roleplayers. Maybe, if Andrew Berry wasn’t drafting. He is, however, and so we have to hope he lucks into something. The Browns need Berry to luck into at least one receiver early on, but taking one with their first pick in the second round may be an acknowledgment that the other receivers on the team just aren’t cutting it.

To be fair, there’s truth to that thought process. The Browns are a team in need of talent at receiver, despite taking Donovan Peoples-Jones, Anthony Schwartz, Demetic Felton, David Bell, and Michael Woods II over the last three drafts.

Schwartz shouldn’t be on the team come the start of the 2023 offseason, nor should Felton. Bell was a disappointment and Woods really has no upside that we saw in year one. Usually, rookies show you something worth investing in, but not Bell or Woods. The only real “standout” is Peoples-Jones, who is at best an average starter in the league.

The team needs depth, sure, but Peoples-Jones hasn’t been so impressive that a top-flight rookie prospect won’t push him down the depth chart.

The Cleveland Browns need to start making honest observations of the drafted talent

If you were to tell me that every player the Browns drafted over the last three seasons, save for eight, were going to be cut this offseason, I’d say “good, about time.” Potential gets you fired, and frankly, the team doesn’t have any Pro Bowler-caliber players from anyone they drafted. That’s 24 players taken over three seasons and not one is Pro Bowl-caliber.

So while drafting a receiver in the second round may seem like a bad idea over more obvious positions of need, like defensive tackle, the fact is the receiver position is bad. It’s very bad, the only difference between the receivers and defensive tackles is that some out there are foolishly holding onto the idea that a receiver in year two, three, or four is going to take a massive jump in production.

The thing is, players, show you what they can be in year one. They may not be a finished product just yet, but they’re at least showing you they can be something good or even great.

Does anyone think Bell is on his way to a Pro Bowl season at some point over his career, let alone a Hall of Fame-worthy career? I don’t. Sure, there’s going to be someone who says “but but but but but, give him a chance!”

And we will, he’s cheap, affordable, and can fill a roster spot but if you go into the draft thinking the Browns are set at receiver, I’ve got some bad news for you.