FOOTBALL GODS FINALLY SMILING ON BROWNS

By STEVE KING

Some thoughts on what the Browns did – and, in some cases, didn’t do – as the 2019 NFL Draft wrapped up with rounds four through seven on Saturday:

*Thar the draft had many more defensive prospects than offensive ones, played fright into the hands of Browns, who needed help on that side of the ball. It’s another sign that, after all the nightmarish stuff that has happened to them in this ugly expansion era, the football gods are finally smiling on the Browns.

*Sheldrick Redwine, the safety from Miami (Fla.) who was taken in the fourth found, at No, 119 overall, has some speed. All the players from Florida – he’s from the Miami area – do. A safety with speed is a real gift. So is one with coverage skills, which he has, too. His presence will push some veterans in the back end of the defense.

*Mack Wilson, a linebacker and the first of the Browns’ two fifth-round picks, intrigues me if for no other reason than the fact he played at Alabama. Alabama is stacked with great players who get coached like it’s an NFL team because of head coach Nick Saban. Wilson’s prepared for the pro game and is a winner. That’s a great combination.

*The other fifth-round selection is a kicker, Oklahoma’s Austin Seibert. When a team drafts a kicker in any round, especially before the seventh and final one, it’s s clear indication that the job is his if he wants it and can prove he’ll be able to handle it.

*Sixth-rounder Drew Forbes, a tackle who is the only offensive player the Browns selected in the draft, is from Southeast Missouri State. When a player is from a tiny school like that, he has to be lights-out good against the competition he’s facing to warrant being drafted.

*That the Browns used both their first and last picks of the draft – Donnie Lewis Jr. of Tulane was chosen in the seventh found – to get cornerbacks says a lot about the Browns’ concern about, and focus on, that position.