The Cleveland Browns' Round 1 Big Board Before Combine

For the third time in four years, the Cleveland Browns have two picks in the first round of the NFL draft. This year's picks come at 12th overall and 19th overall, the latter acquired from the Buffalo Bills when they moved up to draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins last year.

Though the draft is more than two months away, it's certainly not too early to examine the Browns' biggest positions of need and see which players could meet those needs in the first round. With the scouting combine getting underway this week, the Browns will start taking interest in particular players. 

What happens at the combine could certainly change the Browns' opinions on these players. But for now, these are the ones the team should consider using their two first-round picks on this year.

7. Kevin White, WR, West Virginia

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The Cleveland Browns aren't thin, on paper, at wide receiver. Despite Josh Gordon's minimum one-year suspension for violating the terms of the NFL's substance abuse policy, the team does have veteran holdovers like Andrew Hawkins, Travis Benjamin, Taylor Gabriel and, if he is re-signed, Miles Austin to hold down a passing game that is currently without a quarterback at its helm.

However, there is a glut of receiver talent in the 2015 draft, much as there was in 2014. And this year, the Browns would be wise to actually address the position they so boldly—and dangerously—ignored a year ago. With two picks in the first round, it seems as good a time as any to pick up one of the draft class' top receivers.

One of those options is West Virginia's Kevin White. In White's two years with West Virginia, he amassed 144 receptions for 1,954 yards and 15 touchdowns, with 109 catches, 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns in his 2014 season, when he led the Big 12 in receptions and was second in receiving yards.

White is currently Dane Brugler of CBS Sports' pick for the Browns at 12th overall. In his scouting report, Brugler describes White as, having "outstanding leaping ability and reflexes to make adjustments to easily secure balls away from his body and is at his best highpointing and plucking with his large, reliable hands," and displaying "above average coordination and footwork in his breaks to create separation at the top of his routes and catch the ball without breaking stride to create after the reception."

At 6'3" and 209 pounds, White has prototypical size for a receiver and should display above-average speed once he's called upon to run the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. He can take the top off of defenses, much like Gordon, but decidedly comes without the off-field red flags that has now led Gordon to at least a year away from the NFL.

6. DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville

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While Kevin White might be more of a target for the Browns with the 12th overall pick, Louisville wide receiver DeVante Parker could be more their speed with the No. 19 pick. 

Parker had a career 156 catches for 2,775 yards and 33 touchdowns in his four years at Louisville. His 2014 season was disrupted by a broken foot. Otherwise, it was set to be his best if he hadn't been injured, with Parker totaling 43 catches for 855 yards and five scores through six games.

Though neither as fast nor as athletic as White, Parker knows how to get open, how to highpoint the football and how to win battles in coverage with what NFL.com's Lance Zierlein describes as his "daunting catch radius." 

Zierlein also points out that Parker's "routes are inconsistent and sometimes lack sharpness," but that is certainly augmented by Zierlein's conclusion that "soft hands and elite concentration are his calling cards." His strengths appear to make up for his weaknesses, and his weaknesses aren't something Parker cannot unlearn.

A finesse receiver with just three dropped passes in three seasons sounds just like what the Browns might need to make their passing game more complete in 2015 and beyond.

5. Danny Shelton, NT, Washington

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A longstanding problem for the Browns has been stopping the run. Indeed, Cleveland's defense ranked dead last in rushing yardage per game allowed in 2014, at 141.6. Further, 2014 nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin is an unrestricted free agent. With his departure impending and the Browns needing to upgrade their run-stopping capabilities, they should have a close eye on dominant Washington defender Danny Shelton in the first round.

Shelton had a total of 203 tackles and 11.5 sacks in his collegiate career, one in which he started for three years and never missed a game. But ignore the sack total—Shelton is a run-stuffer, almost exclusively. He's helped by his massive frame—CBS Sports' Rob Rang describes Shelton as "built like a Coke machine and... just as tough to move—that allows him to take on double-teams with ease.

Shelton seems destined to be a first-round pick. This could mean Shelton will be out of the Browns' reach by the time their first pick, at No. 12, comes around—Rang's colleague Dane Brugler has him being selected seventh-overall to the Atlanta Falcons in his latest mock draft. But that shouldn't deter the Browns from keeping Shelton on their big board and taking a very close look at him at the scouting combine.

4. Eddie Goldman, NT, Florida State

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It's possible that nose tackle prospect Danny Shelton could be a top-10 pick once the draft commences in April. But that doesn't mean the Browns will be out of options at the position in the first round. Another target could easily be Florida State's Eddie Goldman.

Goldman doesn't have the pass-rushing chops of Shelton, but that doesn't matter. What does is that Goldman can take on double-teams from opposing offensive linemen, stop the run and anchor the Browns defensive line—all things he is capable of doing.

In three years at Florida State, Goldman totaled 62 tackles, four tackles for a loss and six sacks as part of a rotation in which he was a run-stopping specialist. Though this limits what he can do in the passing game, CBS Sports' Rob Rang is still confident enough in Goldman's talents to say that he's "scheme and position diverse," and is "just scratching the surface of his potential."

Depending on the needs of other teams, the Browns may be able to snag Goldman in the second round. But based on their own needs and the talent level of Goldman, he needs to be in Day 1 consideration for Cleveland in this year's draft.

3. Brandon Scherff, OL, Iowa

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Just as the Browns need help stopping the run, they need help advancing their own run game. After center Alex Mack went down in October, the run game suffered the most, with the Browns ending the year averaging just 107.5 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per rush.

A run game should not live or die on one offensive lineman alone. Mack's injury further magnified just how troubling the Browns offensive line is in run blocking. They need to fortify the line in 2015's draft, and with two first-round picks they could be in good position to make a significant upgrade.

Iowa's Brandon Scherff would make a good right tackle or right guard in the NFL, after playing left tackle in college. CBS Sports' Dane Brugler and Rob Rang note that Scherff's "upper body strength, along with proper hand placement and good knee bend, make [him] a force in the running game," and that his "occasional missteps in pass protection can be corrected with more experience."

The scouting combine will be a major factor when it comes to Scherff's draft stock. He's suffered two significant injuries—a broken right leg combined with a dislocated ankle in 2012 and a torn meniscus suffered in 2014 that didn't cost him playing time but did result in surgery.

But if Scherff's health checks out, he's easily a Round 1 pick and could upgrade the Browns offensive line signifcantly. Rang and Brugler compare him to Dallas' Zack Martin, as does NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock. Mayock also favorably compares him to someone very familiar to the Browns, 2014 second-round selection, guard Joel Bitonio.

2. Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota

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The Cleveland Browns are bracing to lose incumbent starting tight end Jordan Cameron to free agency. Behind him are serviceable but not game-changing players in Jim Dray and Gary Barnidge. With the draft class quite shallow at the tight end position and the Browns needing to add both talent and depth at the position, it's not one Cleveland can leave until Round 5 and hope to find a new long-term starter.

Therefore, Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams, the best player at his position in this year's draft, needs to be on the Browns' Round 1 short list. 

Williams is way more Jimmy Graham than he is Heath Miller and should step easily into the role of Cameron, should the Browns not be able to keep him around. In two seasons in Minnesota, he's totaled 61 catches for 986 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 16.2 yards per reception.

Even more notably, as NFL.com's Lance Zierlein points out, 82 percent of Williams' catches have been either first downs or touchdowns, owing to him being a "red-zone winner" who "goes all out for the catch." Blocking is a weakness, but that's what Dray and Barnidge are there for.

Simply put, there may be no better tight end for the Browns' needs in this draft than Williams, and if he's there at 12th overall, they must draft him.

1. Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Could the Cleveland Browns take quarterbacks in the first round of the NFL draft in back-to-back years? It's quite possible, given general manager Ray Farmer's longstanding adoration of Oregon's Marcus Mariota which dates back to 2014, when Mariota opted to remain in college for one more year rather than declare for the draft.

Since that time, the Browns' quarterback situation has been rocky. Though they selected Johnny Manziel with their second of two first-round picks in 2014, he was beaten out for the starting job by current free agent Brian Hoyer. Though Manziel had two starts late in the year in place of Hoyer, he ended the year on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, was fined by his team for missing treatment of said injury and is currently in treatment for his alcohol use.

Meanwhile, both Farmer and Browns head coach Mike Pettine have made it clear that they will "leave no stone unturned" in the search for a quarterback for 2015, which likely means free agent and draft-day additions to compete with Manziel and fellow second-year quarterback Connor Shaw.

Though it may require the Browns to package their two first-round picks in the 2015 draft to acquire Mariota, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Further tipping the scales in Mariota's favor is soon-to-be Browns quarterbacks coach Kevin O'Connell's current tutoring of Mariota.

Mariota might be the best quarterback prospect in this year's draft, but that does not mean he's a sure thing—the class overall is weak at the position. Still, Mariota is the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner, has a collegiate completion percentage of 66.8 and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 105 to 14 (and 42 to four in 2014).

Still, there are concerns. Though CBS Sports' Rob Rang praises Mariota's "effortless arm strength to zip the ball up and down the field and his gazelle-like athleticism to out-run defenders," he does display some of the same concerns as Manziel did a year ago.

Rang lists among Mariota's weaknesses that, "some of the basics like taking the ball from under center and scanning downfield while dropping back are skills Mariota hasn't been asked to master yet," and is "overly reliant on his first read."

However, there is one thing that separates Mariota from Manziel: Mariota was "often lauded for his intelligence, humility and work ethic." That could tip the scales in Mariota's favor, pushing the Browns to package picks to move up enough to snag him in Round 1.