More on the Browns’ Draft

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Posted By: County Sports Network April 27, 2020

More on the Browns’ draft – Well, yeah, of course Wills will start

By STEVE KING

Here are some more thoughts on the Browns’ performance in the NFL Draft:

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*Two draft experts were talking on one of these radio programs and one asked the other, “Do you think Jedrick Wills Jr. will start at left tackle from Day 1?” The response was, thankfully, “Yes,” because that’s a no-brainer. Let me be very clear in saying that if Wills does not start from the very start, especially when the Browns have absolutely no other competent tackle to put out there, then it will be the beginning of a “total bust” story. You don’t take a player in the first round, at No. 10 overall, at a position other than quarterback and stash him on the bench for a while so he can learn under some veteran starter. Wills will start, period. What he does with this opportunity up to him, but I think he will take full advantage of it. This is not the second coming of guard Austin Corbett, who was taken with the first pick of the second round in 2018 and never did anything.

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*More on Wills: Not only does he have the talent to do the job, but he will also have Bill Callahan, one of the best offensive line coaches in the business, and some retired left tackle by the name of Joe Thomas – perhaps you’ve heard of him? – working with him. The stars are all aligned in just the right way for him to do well ALMOST from the start. Hey, he’s a rookie, and as such, he will need a little bit of time to learn.

*Still more on Wills: I love – absolutely, positively love – that the Browns stayed put at No. 10 and took him. I was fully expecting them to trade down out of the pick. I had resigned myself to it. But the Browns had the courage of their convictions and got their left tackle for the next however many years. Fantastic!     

*That all the national writers, broadcasters and draft analysts are giving the Browns high marks for their work in the draft, is extremely encouraging. Unless everybody is wrong, this has all the makings of a draft that can do a lot to help turn this team around.

*I worry that all these rookies are not getting any work on the field right now. But at the same time, it’s not a problem for just the Browns, but also for all of the rest of the teams in the league. So, then, everybody is facing this disadvantage.

*I know the Browns just picked up the fifth-year option on tight end David Njoku. I know head coach Kevin Stefanski, even after the drafting of tight end Harrison Bryant over the weekend, said he still believes in Njoku. I know Njoku, right after the fact, said he was not shaken at all by the team signing tight end Austin Hooper in free agency. I know Njoku said there will be plenty of work for both him and Hooper. I know Njoku was drafted at the bottom of the first round in 2016, when current Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta and Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry were with the club. I know, I know, I know. All those things might seem to be comforting. But if I were Njoku and had been either hurt and/or unproductive and under-performing after being taken the first round, I would be fearing for my job.

*And finally, I know that everybody – everybody, including me! – has said that, with the all work that’s been put into the offense, this is a big year for quarterback Baker Mayfield. And it certainly is. There is no doubt about that. But I don’t believe that this is a make-or-break year for Mayfield. He has to be better – he can’t go backward – but if he doesn’t go lights out, then I think the Browns will still move forward with him. I think he will play very well. He has always played his best football when he’s been challenged or doubted, and I think he is chomping at the bit to get the chance to once against prove people wrong.

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