With the Cleveland Browns being mostly in the background through three-plus months of NFL Draft hype, we tried to put together one place for you to catch up on mostly everything ahead of them starting with pick No. 54 Friday night. We pick up part two at No. 28, halfway to the Browns’ first selection (unless they trade it, which was outlined in detail).
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28. At various points (and in various exercises) over the last three months, I have mocked four players to the Browns at No. 54: Oregon wide receiver Troy Franklin, Ohio State defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr., LSU defensive tackle Maason Smith and Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley. If I’m right, I’ll absolutely and obnoxiously victory lap my wisdom. But right or (probably) wrong, trade down or no trade down, I’m just trying to follow what the experts say, what I perceive Cleveland’s needs to be and mix how the board might fall with how far down the Browns might be willing to go in a trade.
29. Why Smith? Because he’s young (21), played in just 22 college games and might be just starting to harness his talents. He has rare size at 6-foot-5, 306 pounds with a wingspan of almost 84 inches. He missed almost all of 2022 with a knee injury and also dealt with coaching changes over his short LSU career. But Smith showed up in Baton Rouge as a top recruit and heads to the NFL as a player who could develop into a game-changer. Dane Brugler, The Athletic’s draft guru, lists Smith as the No. 64 overall prospect and No. 6 defensive tackle.
30. Why Corley? Because at 5-foot-10, 207 pounds, he’s built like a running back and got on NFL radars with his run-after-catch ability. He’s different from most wideouts in this class, and that’s something that might appeal to the Browns as their offense and wide receiver rotation continue to evolve. He could start as a bit of a situational player who gets scripted touches, then earn a bigger role as his career continues.
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31. Why Hall? Mostly because he’s a young (20), upfield defensive tackle who has natural pass-rush ability. Every team is looking for that, and that’s exactly what makes the Browns’ attack-style defense under coordinator Jim Schwartz go. What’s just a bonus is that Hall is from Cleveland and would love to play for his hometown team. Hall made a formal pre-draft visit to the Browns’ facility in early April.
32. On the second day of Senior Bowl practices in January, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin closely watched one of the defensive line drills. Afterward, Tomlin shared a handshake and brief conversation with Hall. That had to be a cool moment for any young player, and it was that for Hall. “Being a hometown Cleveland kid, my hometown wouldn’t approve of that,” Hall said. “But wherever I go, wherever I’m blessed enough to go, I’ll be ready to play. I don’t care where that is. God handles that.”
33. Hall said he grew up in Cleveland and Garfield Heights barking during Browns’ games with friends and family. “I was even barking during the bad years,” he said. He started high school at Cleveland Benedictine, but his mother took a job 30-plus minutes east in Portage County and he transferred to Streetsboro High School.
34. He wasn’t an immediate star, but his potential was obvious. “My second year of high school and first (at Streetsboro) my coaches would get on me hard,” Hall said. “It was about what I was doing, but they kept asking me to think about how good I could be down the road. It was a change of mindset.” By the following summer, college coaches were following closely.
35. “I didn’t even know what a college offer was or how it worked,” Hall said. “Nobody in my family ever had been to college or played football professionally. So (moving) was a little culture shock and just dealing with the recruiting process was new, but I was all in on Ohio State.”
36. Streetsboro head football coach Pete Thompson remembers Hall as “a natural athlete … but much stronger than most normal humans.” He said the quick rise in recruiting interest pushed Hall to be more consistent in the classroom and weight room, and over his final two seasons Hall “mostly dominated. There was a play where he was at defensive end, and the other team ran an option keeper away from him. He still made the tackle right at the line of scrimmage. It was one of those where you go back and you’re just blown away.”
37. Brugler mocked Hall to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 43. One longtime scout who spoke to The Athletic about the draft on the condition of anonymity said his team views Hall as a top-50 talent in this draft but had “some non-football concerns” that might push him further down the board. A second scout said he graded Hall as a late second or early third-round prospect. Brugler ranks Hall as his No. 60 overall player.
38. “At defensive tackle, it’s about what you’re looking for,” the first scout said. “Johnny Newton from Illinois and (Hall), those are the interior pass-rush guys who are hard to find. Newton probably goes early in the second. Hall definitely goes on that second day. If you’re looking for more of a run-stopper in that second-round range, you’re probably in on Kris Jenkins from Michigan.”
39. Some teams view Darius Robinson of Missouri as an edge player. Some view him as a defensive tackle. “Either way, Robinson is a straight ass kicker,” the second scout said. “He’s not getting out of the top 40.”
40. In general, the scouts view this draft as a strong one for offensive linemen and “pretty deep” at wide receiver. “If you want a pass rusher, you better go get him early,” the second scout said. “Some teams are going to see this as a good class overall, some are going to feel like they’re reaching by the end of Round 3. But I think this is still a pretty good draft. (The Browns) at 85 will no doubt have a chance to get a good player, but some years that’s right around where it falls off.”
41. Hall chose to leave Ohio State after three seasons. Many of his Ohio State teammates facing similar choices decided to stay, and with big name, image and likeness money being thrown around by the top college programs, that could become a trend. “Some quality players, guys who probably would have been in that second-day range, chose to stay in school,” the first scout said. “We don’t do final grades until they’re actually in the draft, but Ohio State had around five guys who I’d say were plenty good enough to (get drafted) choose to come back.”
42. The second scout on Ohio State tight end Cade Stover, a native of Lexington, Ohio: “I’m not saying anything about Stover other than I hope my team gets him this weekend. He’s not the perfect prospect, but he’s a really good football player.”
43. The Browns were 50 picks away from having a chance at Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Harrison and Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are 2024 draft prospects with famous fathers. They both played at St. Joseph’s Prep School in Philadelphia, the alma mater of Browns coach Kevin Stefanski.
44. Brugler gave five offensive tackles first-round grades and one a first/second-round grade. The next six have second- or third-round grades. In his final mock, he had the Browns using pick No. 85 on Yale’s Kiran Amegadjie, a developmental prospect.
It’s a very top-heavy OT class. Better get your guy early. https://t.co/szE0xAj0aW
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) April 24, 2024
45. In 2021, offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia was the highest-rated prospect in Oregon’s recruiting class. Franklin was second. Now, they both could go in the second round after Suamataia transferred to BYU for his final two college seasons. Suamataia is just 21 and has a second-round grade from Brugler, who wrote that Suamataia “is still very young and lacks refinement in several areas, but his blend of size, mobility and core power are the foundation of a scheme-diverse NFL starter. He will require a patient coaching staff who can ease his transition to the pro level.”
46. If you’re this far into the weeds of the draft (and this story) and want to connect some dots, Brugler’s No. 54 player regardless of position is Corley. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s No. 54 on his final list of the top 150 prospects is Notre Dame offensive tackle Blake Fisher, who started his college career at left tackle before suffering an injury and losing the left tackle job to Joe Alt, who was selected No. 5 by the Los Angeles Chargers. Fisher is Brugler’s No. 11 offensive tackle, one spot ahead of Amegadjie. Two names I’ve had circled since early in the process are Fisher and running back Audric Estime. Both played two seasons under new Browns tight ends coach Tommy Rees when Rees was Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator.
47. Does it mean anything if the Browns hosted a prospect on a formal pre-draft visit? Like every team’s draft rankings and preferences, it probably differs from player to player. Andrew Berry remains ultra-secretive about the Browns’ process, but he did acknowledge that they’ve hosted more visitors than they did in past years. “We really use the visits to maybe address selective questions that we have for a prospect — and when I say questions, that doesn’t necessarily mean like a bad thing,” Berry said. “We may need increased medical (reports). It may be a player where we want to see how they handle a full-day installation in the classroom. It may be a player that we want to talk through some, you know, behavioral issues with. So it really does vary. It’s a helpful part of the information-gathering process as we build the entire board.”
48. I’m pretty convinced the Browns will draft a wide receiver, defensive lineman and offensive lineman. If they end up with six (or more) picks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them draft two offensive linemen or two defensive linemen. Berry has selected an interior offensive lineman on the third day in three of his previous four drafts as general manager. He’s selected multiple offensive linemen in two of the four.
49. Joel Bitonio isn’t going to play forever. He’ll be 33 this season, his 11th. Wyatt Teller will be 30 during the season. Ethan Pocic turns 29 in August, and top interior offensive line backup Michael Dunn turns 30 in August. I’m not sending anybody to the retirement home, but while the tackle group makes for an interesting discussion, the Browns also probably need to address the interior of their offensive line while they’re in future planning mode.
50. I could see the Browns drafting a running back. Maybe Estime. Maybe Clemson’s Will Shipley. I’m not convinced they’ll add a running back, but I view the position’s present and future as completely open. Everyone is rooting for Nick Chubb, and a healthy Chubb is still a game-changer. But we don’t have any real timeline on Chubb’s rehab or potential return. Though the Browns have plans for Nyheim Hines as a change-of-pace back and kickoff returner, he’s also rehabbing from a torn ACL. Jerome Ford is a playmaker, but he’s not an every-down runner. Stay tuned.
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51. Obviously, the Browns will set out to find a player like Ford in the fifth or Dawand Jones in the fourth. Good drafting is the lifeblood of good franchises, and all playmakers remain welcome for an offense that’s again in transition. I know it’s easy to look and see what appears to be a crowd already in place at position groups like running back, wide receiver and defensive line, but Berry has never really viewed things that way. He knows the Browns need both young legs and quality competition to help maximize what’s already in place.
52. At Toledo’s pro day in March, I noticed a crowd of scouts gathered around a player as the event concluded — something I’d never seen before. It wasn’t cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round. It was Yale receiver Mason Tipton, an Akron native who was eligible to participate because some other non-Toledo players from Ohio universities like Mount Union and Findlay were participating. It turns out Tipton was not just a courtesy invite — he can fly.
53. By the numbers provided to The Athletic by one scout in attendance, Tipton was timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.33. Every turf track is different, and every stopwatch is different, but 4.33 would have tied Tipton for the second-fastest 40-yard dash of any receiver at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine. Tipton had a Zoom meeting with the Browns earlier this month and had one with the Cincinnati Bengals lined up for the day before the draft. He’s also talked on the phone with a handful of other teams and received feedback that he could be a late-round pick or priority free agent this weekend.
54. Harrison didn’t do any athletic testing during the pre-draft process. After strong showings at the Senior Bowl and combine, Mitchell was only a spectator at Toledo’s pro day. Those players didn’t need extra attention, while Tipton — the long shot’s long shot — was begging for any attention he could get. “I knew I had pretty good game film, but I honestly wondered if I could get anybody to look at it,” Tipton said. “That 40 really opened some eyes, so I’m just hoping that leads to a chance to chase this dream.” Tipton also participated in wide receiver drills during pro days at UConn and Yale, and he participated in the local workout days for the New York Giants and Jets. “It’s hard to know what’s going to happen,” he said. “But I’m just grateful for the chances I had and hopefully getting another one.” The draft is for the optimist. On Saturday, it’s for the dreamers.
(Photo of Andrew Berry: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
