Ball Played: Triumphant return for Indians Carrasco
April 22, 2015Nick Swisher ready to begin rehab assignment
April 22, 2015Though the Cleveland Browns are widely rumored to be one of several teams who could trade their first-round selections in the 2015 NFL Draft, Scouts Inc.’s Todd McShay continues to provide his insight on what the newly outfitted team will do in the event they hold on to the No. 12 and No. 19 selections.
According do McShay, who marries his draft board with team needs, Louisville wide receiver DeVante Barker and Texas defensive tackle Malcom Brown could be two of the newest players to don those new Nike kits.
12 DeVante Parker | Cleveland Browns (7-9) | COLLEGE: Louisville | Class: Sr | HT: 6-2 | WT: 209 | POS: WR
Analysis: The Browns really need a receiver after not taking one in last year’s draft and with Josh Gordon’s NFL future in doubt. Parker is a good value at this spot; he’s a big target who can threaten defenses vertically with his speed and come down with contested catches. The Browns’ biggest need is at quarterback, but they won’t be able to draft one in the first round in this scenario. They’ve been mentioned as a team that could move up to draft Marcus Mariota, but I don’t think they’re as likely to do so as some of the other teams I’ve mentioned so far.
Parker’s physical skill set recently landed him as the No. 3 receiver on Joe Gilbert’s positional rankings in addition to a recent mock draft from Mel Kiper Jr. While the team has added Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe via free agency, they could still benefit from a player of Parker’s talent level, especially at this mid-round value.
Selecting the talented Parker with the No. 12 pick, however, would mean passing up on the highly-discussed Danny Shelton out of Washington, who McShay had being selected by the Browns in his previous iteration of this mock. Filling the big gap on the defensive line is Brown.
19 Malcom Brown | Cleveland Browns (7-9) | COLLEGE: Texas | Class: Jr | HT: 6-2 | WT: 319 | POS: DT
Analysis: The Browns lost both Jabaal Sheard and Ahtyba Rubin in free agency, and Phil Taylor is recovering from knee surgery and entering the final year of his contract, so adding a versatile player like Brown to their defensive front would be a wise move. He is just average as a pass-rusher but is excellent versus the run, and he showed the ability to play multiple roles in multiple defensive schemes while at Texas. He’ll help shore up the Browns’ run defense, after they landed a big-play wide receiver in DeVante Parker with the No. 12 pick.
Like Parker, Brown ranks third amongst his peers on Joe Gilbert’s board.
Drafting these two players would undeniably address needs, but would leave the Browns searching for the answer at quarterback in addition to leaving the tight end and offensive line to be addressed in later rounds. Big shout out to the Cavs for making this part of the NFL season fly by. Cleveland will have a few new players to root for in a little more than eight days.
13 Comments
Drafting these two players would undeniably address needs, but would leave the Browns searching for the answer at quarterback in addition to leaving the tight end and offensive line to be addressed in later rounds
They only have two first round picks so filling three spots: QB, OL & TE would be kind of tough. Besides if they draft a TE in round 1 Farmer should be fired on the spot.
Assuming Cooper and White are gone when we pick Parker, and Shelton is gone when we pick Brown, I’m ok with this.
“Big shout out to the Cavs for making this part of the NFL season fly by.”
Hear, hear. By far the least hysteria and obsessiveness about the draft on this site since I’ve been coming here. And for the first time have not once heard “we have two first rounders, x many picks overall, and this is the most important draft since the team returned in ’99.” Yet.
I still like Parker more than White. But, really, if we end up with two of these guys, then Farmer did his job. All should be good.
Again you are setting yourself up for disappointment I’m afraid I can’t see a WR being chosen by this organization in the top 20 picks after they signed a pair of free agent WRs.
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Right. Not saying they can address all needs with first two picks as much as noting those holes that still need to be filled.
wait – McShay said nothing about Parker’s ability to high-point the ball so I hope they pass on him.
hundred.
is it bad I know which episode that’s from?
Oh yeah, football talk- if it goes down like this, I will sleep well that night. But I agree that it is unlikely Farmer drafts a reciever that high
Drafting Parker in the first round would be a mistake. A first round WR talent would excel with Teddy Bridgewater throwing to him, and he didn’t. He played well for a half a year out of four.
I would much rather address a need other than WR early, and then pick up a Devin Smith with the second round pick.
Gotta disagree here. Parker was hurt last year, but absolutely crushed it when he was on the field without Bridgewater and only had shaky QB play at best. In just six games he went over 100 yards five times, and had at least 8 catches 4 times.
If you average his six games out to a full season, he goes for 93 catches, 1852 yds(!), 11 TDs.. Your first argument is that that is too small a sample size, to nwhich I say that over a full season, his raport with the QB would get better.
If you don’t want him, that’s one thing.. But he is certainly a 1st round pick.
Agreed he was great in his six games last season. I’m just wary about a guy who only had six great games in four years, including three that he spent with Teddy Bridgewater at QB. I personally wouldn’t spend a first round pick on him when guys like Devin Smith will potentially be available in the 2nd and Stefon Diggs available in the fourth round or later.