Who Are Experts Predicting to Browns in 1st Round of NFL Draft
One of the yearly traditions of NFL draft season is the mock draft. Experts give their predictions, ranging from just the first round to all seven rounds, about which players each team will select.
The Cleveland Browns have two picks in the first round of the 2015 draft, and there is no shortage of opinions about who they will select. Let's take a look at who five different draft experts predict the Browns will select in Round 1 this year.
Dane Brugler, CBS Sports
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The Expert: Dane Brugler, CBS Sports
The Picks: Round 1, Pick 12: DT Danny Shelton, Washington; Round 1, Pick 19: OT La'el Collins, LSU
CBS Sports' Dane Brugler has the Browns firmly going with the best players available with both of their Round 1 picks this year, starting with Washington defensive tackle Danny Shelton.
Shelton totaled 208 career combined tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks, with 93 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks in 2014. Brugler's CBS Sports colleague Rob Rang says that Shelton is, "[b]uilt like a Coke machine and he's just as tough to move," and has a "[n]atural wide body with thick thighs that help him anchor, even against double-teams," adding that he is "[s]urprisingly coordinated and flexible."
Rang continues that Shelton, "[p]ossesses a powerful bull-rush to walk centers deep into the pocket and slides off blocks easily to grab hold ball-carriers nearby," making him an effective pass-rusher but also a strong run-stopper, the latter being something the Browns need help with. Still, with Phil Taylor moved to nose tackle for 2015, Shelton may no longer be on the Browns' radar that early in Round 1.
With the second of the Browns' two Round 1 picks, Brugler has the Browns selecting LSU offensive tackle La'el Collins. Rang's scouting report of Collins reads very similarly to Shelton's, in that he opens by comparing him to a large piece of cooling equipment. He says, "Collins sports a thick, powerful frame that makes him about as difficult to move as a chest freezer. His frame belies his quick feet, an attribute that when combined with his long arms, impressive strength and aggression make him a devastating run-blocker."
Though a left tackle in college, Collins projects to be a right tackle in the NFL. Given that right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is one of the only weak spots on the Browns offensive line, it's possible they look for his replacement in Collins, moving Schwartz to guard. But with Michael Bowie already on the roster and capable of playing right tackle this year, they may pass on Collins if they have greater needs and don't see Collins as their best option at pick No. 19.
Brian Baldinger, NFL Network
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The Expert: Brian Baldinger, NFL Network
The Picks: Round 1, Pick 12: OL La'el Collins, LSU; Round 1, Pick 19: DT Malcom Brown, Texas
NFL Network's Brian Baldinger sees the Browns taking a best-player-available approach to Round 1 that is similar to Brugler's, only he has the positions reversed. At 12th overall, he has them taking LSU offensive tackle La'el Collins and addressing defensive tackle at 19th overall with Texas' Malcom Brown.
Of Collins, Baldinger notes that Browns head coach "Mike Pettine knows he needs to get better in the trenches." He adds that, "Collins is a powerful run-blocker who can play right tackle or offensive guard." This scheme versatility is certainly intriguing, and the Browns have long prided themselves on having one of the league's most solid offensive lines. Collins would add even more security on the line, but again, it's one they may not need given the presence of Michael Bowie.
Baldinger's justification for the Browns selecting Brown at 19th overall is even more straightforward: Simply put, the Browns "get a much-needed nose tackle to anchor their porous defensive front." It's true that the Browns had a porous defensive front last year, to the tune of being the league's worst run defense. And it's also true that Brown could help solve that problem with his 88 career combined tackles and 15 tackles for loss, 13 of which came in 2014.
But the Browns appear stable at nose tackle, with Phil Taylor starting at the position and Ishmaa'ily Kitchen backing him up. Brown is a top prospect among the draft class' defensive linemen, and that could certainly turn the Browns' heads in Round 1, but not as a player who fits a specific need.
Mel Kiper, ESPN
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The Expert: Mel Kiper, ESPN
The Picks: Round 1, Pick 12: DT Danny Shelton, Washington; Round 1, Pick 19: OT Ereck Flowers, Miami
ESPN's Mel Kiper is yet another draft expert who noticed the departure of 2014 starting nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin in free agency as well as the Browns' struggle to stop the run last season and put two and two together, giving Cleveland Washington's Danny Shelton with their first of two Round 1 picks.
In fact, that's how Kiper opens, writing, "Teams ran consistently and effectively on the Browns last season, and it started in the middle of the line, where they just didn't have the block-eaters after Phil Taylor was lost with an injury" while ignoring that Taylor will be the Browns' nose tackle this year. But that also does not seem to matter to Kiper, who continues, "he can eat up double-teams at the point of attack and make others around him better," and, "[a]t 340 pounds, he's exactly what the Browns need in the middle."
There would be few complaints were the Browns to draft a talent like Shelton in Round 1. He could certainly make his presence felt in Cleveland's defensive line rotation as a rookie, and his size and skill set should make the Browns run defense better. It's just a matter of whether need and talent line up favorably.
With the Browns' second of two first-round picks, Kiper has the team selecting Miami offensive tackle Ereck Flowers though not for the same reasons Baldinger and Brugler have them taking La'el Collins. Instead, Kiper notes the season-ending injury suffered by center Alex Mack, saying, "while Flowers isn't a center, a player like him would have helped offset the brutal ripple effect we saw last year."
Kiper notes that the draft class is deep at wide receiver, which means they can put the position off until a later round and still get a high-quality player. He considers the Browns as "a team that has to run the ball to be successful on offense," so "making sure things are in a good place up front is crucial." Hence, Flowers falls to the Browns at No. 19.
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Todd McShay, ESPN
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The Expert: Todd McShay, ESPN
The Picks: Round 1, Pick 12: DT Danny Shelton, Washington; Round 1, Pick 19: OT Ereck Flowers, Miami
Though it's not always the case, ESPN's Todd McShay is in agreement with his colleague Mel Kiper about what the Browns should do with their two first-round picks. He has the team selecting Washington defensive tackle Danny Shelton at No. 12 and then Miami offensive tackle Ereck Flowers at No. 19.
McShay, like the others, notes "the team's biggest needs are at wide receiver, right tackle and nose tackle" but has the Browns going first for nose tackle and Shelton at No. 12 because "Shelton is the No. 9 player on our board, so he's a value here, and there are good receiver and right tackle prospects to be had with the Browns' No. 19 pick."
While McShay concedes at No. 19 that he "think[s] this pick would come down to a wide receiver or offensive tackle," he has the team taking Flowers because he "is a tough player with very good intangibles who takes well to coaching," adding, "[h]e has a massive frame, is effective as a pass protector and a run blocker, and could fit in at right tackle opposite Joe Thomas or at guard."
Even with Phil Taylor at nose tackle and the potential of either Mitchell Schwartz or Michael Bowie handling right tackle duties this year, draft experts apparently are hung up on what they still see as weaknesses at the positions—weaknesses so glaring that needs like tight end and wide receiver should wait until later.
It's possible the Browns don't see it that way, however. These are good players who would have a home in Cleveland as rookies, but other positions may be better addressed in Round 1.
Matt Miller, Bleacher Report
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The Expert: Matt Miller, Bleacher Report
The Picks: Round 1, Pick 12: DT Danny Shelton, Washington; Round 1, Pick 19: TE Maxx Williams, Minnesota
Bleacher Report's Matt Miller takes a slightly different approach. He does have the Browns selecting a nose tackle, Washington's Danny Shelton, at No. 12, but he goes offense with No. 19, predicting the Browns take Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams.
Miller has a different opinion of Phil Taylor, who will be moving back to his natural nose tackle position this year, saying that "Taylor hasn't lived up to his first-round status, and it's time to replace him." He notes that Shelton "can be the anchor they lack in the middle of the defense and free up inside linebackers to make plays inside and outside the tackle box" and calls him "a big, bad, pure stud at nose tackle."
This is a new approach to the Browns' nose tackle situation. He acknowledges that the Browns are preparing to move Taylor back to the position but that it's not the right move, envisioning Shelton to live up to his billing in ways Taylor hasn't.
Miller is also the only one of these five experts to acknowledge the Browns' dire situation at tight end. Currently, there are only two on the roster, Jim Dray and Gary Barnidge, and neither have the playmaking skills of Jordan Cameron, the tight end the Browns are desperate to replace.
Miller notes that Williams is raw given that he had only two years of experience at Minnesota, where he totaled 61 receptions for 986 yards and 13 touchdowns. Still, he notes that Williams "has Travis Kelce or Greg Olsen-like upside and can be the dual-threat tight end the Browns build their intermediate passing game around."
Further, "Williams gives [the Browns] a big, physical threat in the red zone" regardless of who ends up starting at quarterback for the team this year. That kind of player can make any quarterback better, whether it's the inexperienced Johnny Manziel or the limited veteran Josh McCown. Plus, it meets a need at a position that is very thin in this year's draft class.
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