The Cleveland Browns go back on the clock in Round 2 on Friday night. GM Andrew Berry and the Browns hold the No. 41 pick, the 9th of the second round.
Who will be available when the Browns make that first pick? To help sort things out, I ran 10 mock drafts each at The Draft Network and Pro Football Focus in their respective draft simulators. Executing some executive judgment on the final aggregated results, I came up with this as the projection of the Friday night picks before the Browns pick:
33. Bengals – Josh Jones, OT, Houston
34. Colts – Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU
35. Lions – Marlon Davidson, DT, Auburn
36. Giants – Josh Uche, LB, Michigan
37. Patriots – Zack Baun, LB, Wisconsin
38. Panthers – Jaylon Johnson, CB, Utah
39. Dolphins – Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE, Penn State
40. Texans – A.J. Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa
That leaves the Browns at No. 41 with a pretty favorable situation. There are two safeties still on the board who were common first-round projections in LSU’s Grant Delpit and Xavier McKinney from Alabama. Southern Illinois standout Jeremy Chinn is another option. If they want to hit linebacker, Wyoming’s Logan Wilson would be a great fit. TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock and his Oklahoma counterpart, Neville Gallimore, need to be considered too. There are a plethora of wide receiver candidates too.
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I settled on Xavier McKinney as the pick at No. 41. It’s an educated guess based on what I believe the Browns coaching staff is looking for in a safety.
Now to the third round, where the Browns hold two picks, No. 74 and No. 97.
At 74, it’s a good time to address the interior offensive line depth. LSU’s Lloyd Cushenberry is a great fit if he’s still on the board. He can play guard or center and is a great athlete in space. Temple center Matt Hennessy is a natural successor to JC Tretter, but he’s limited to just being a center and not a guard. If Cushenberry is available, he’s the projection.
The bounty from the Duke Johnson trade, No. 97 is a good spot to add a wide receiver. I’ll stick with a player I’ve really grown to like during the draft process in Texas A&M wide receiver Quartney Davis.
I mentioned Davis as a potential fourth-round choice for the Browns recently, but if the team really wants the intriguing prospect, they’ll probably need to pull the trigger on Friday night. He’s not ready to be a starter, but the Browns need a situational No. 3 wideout and Davis can step into that role as a rookie. I would prefer Van Jefferson from Florida but I don’t realistically think he’s still on the board at 97.