ANOTHER METCALF ON OFFENSE?

By STEVE KING

He’s a whole heckuva lot bigger, but what would you think of the Browns using their first-round pick, at No. 17 overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft on the nephew of a franchise legend.

I’m talking about Mississippi wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, who, in a Mock Draft by staff writer Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz that appeared in last Wednesday’s editions, was the choice for the club. The uncle of the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is former running back-returner Eric Metcalf, a 5-10, 190-pound Cleveland Browns Legend who was drafted by the team in the first round, at No. 13 overall, in 1989 and played for it for six seasons, through ’94.

Here’s what Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote about his reasoning for the pick:

“What better way to kick off Year 2 for Baker Mayfield than by adding the big-bodied downfield threat he lacked as a rookie? Metcalf was recently cleared for all football activity after neck surgery in October, and he possesses the deep speed and catch radius to capitalize on Mayfield’s daring throws.”

Middlehurst-Schwartz is absolutely correct about the Browns needing a big, physical, fast wideout who can stretch the field for Mayfield and as such keep those safeties from creeping up into the box and stuffing the running game and the backs catching short passes out of the backfield. If the Browns can’t find such a player in the offseason – either in the draft or in free agency – then the book on Mayfield and the Browns offensively will be to dare him to throw long.

The Browns know it. Everyone knows it.

And if turns out to be Metcalf as the man selected to do it, how cool would that be to get his uncle back into the picture with the Browns?

But there’s a longtime to go before the draft – 2½ months, to be exact – and with that, then, there will be a lot of mock drafts. This one, because of that familiar last name, caught my eye, and now that you now about it, I’m sure it has caught your eye as well.