CLEVELAND BROWNS

Round 1 (10): T Jedrick Wills, Alabama
Round 2 (44): S Grant Delpit, LSU
Round 3 (88): DI Jordan Elliott, Missouri
Round 3 (97): LB Jacob Phillips, LSU
Round 4 (115): TE Harrison Bryant, FAU
Round 5 (160): IOL Nick Harris, Washington
Round 6 (187): WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, Michigan

1st Round: Cleveland insists Wills was their top priority all along. There were some concerns that there may be a run of tackles prior to the Browns’ selection, but they were left with their pick. Wills was the top tackle on a lot of boards, drawing a player comp to Lane Johnson in the PFF Draft Guide. He has special explosion and agility for someone that large and should be able to immediately make an impact in the run game after earning a 90.5 run-blocking grade with the Crimson Tide in 2019. “His ability to crush a double team then take a linebacker for a ride is special for a college tackle prospect,” exclaimed PFF.

Balance Of The Draft: The Browns were able to pick up not one, not two, but three top-25 players on the PFF Big Board. Two of those players came at selections 44 and 88, which is a testament to the value Cleveland was able to get. Delpit won the Jim Thorpe award as college football’s top DB this season. He fell down boards largely due to his concerns as a tackler, but what he is able to do in coverage is special. His tackling issues were tied directly with injury issues, but he got back on track late in the season once he healed. Mel Kiper had him as a Top-10 not long ago ... Elliott was arguably a bigger steal in the third round. He has a solid combination of size and athleticism, and from a production standpoint, you can argue that no interior defender in this class has been better. Elliott has the highest overall grade of any interior defender in the class over the last two seasons. He is coming off a 2019 campaign in which he earned grades of 90.0 or higher as both a run defender and pass-rusher. Getting that kind of player - the 23rd-ranked player on the PFF Big Board - at No. 88 is tremendous value ... Some feel Phillips may have been a bit of a reach but he actually led the LSU defense in tackles (ahead of first-round pick Patrick Queen). From an athletic standpoint, Phillips has the explosion and burst that you like ... Bryant improved his overall grade every year of his collegiate career and finished the pre-draft process inside the top-150 on PFF’s Big Board ... Harris ground out 2,921 snaps on the Huskies’ offensive line over the past four years. He improved in both pass protection and in run blocking, leading to a PFF overall grade that was among the 20 best FBS centers in both 2017 and 2018. The scary thing is that he’s just scratching the surface technique-wise ... Peoples was a 5-star high school recruit who languished in a run happy offense at Michigan.

Steal Of The Draft: Grant Delpit

Draft Grades: Playbook A

ESPN: B+... PFF: A+... SI: B+... Composite: A-