NFL Network draft analysts Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks said they would be shocked if the Browns were to draft North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky first overall instead of Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, and they would also view such a decision as a colossal mistake.
Garrett has long been expected to become the top pick on April 27.
That’s still the case despite ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting late Tuesday night the Browns are split between selecting Garrett and Trubisky at No. 1. The franchise also could trade down from the top spot, something Schefter acknowledged as a possibility Wednesday on NFL Insiders and a logical explanation for an unnamed source providing the aforementioned information in response to a reporter’s question.
But the bottom line is the odds appear to remain in Garrett’s favor.
NFL Network reporter Michael Silver, a close friend of Browns coach Hue Jackson, tweeted Wednesday, “99 percent of NFL talent evaluators believe Myles Garrett is the best player in this draft. In the end I think he’ll go 1.”
Schefter said Wednesday on NFL Insiders he still believes Garrett “ultimately will be the pick.”
Count Jeremiah and Brooks among those who don’t foresee a quarterback-over-Garrett scenario unfolding for the Browns, who have five of the first 65 picks, including two in the first round (Nos. 1 and 12 overall).
“I’d have to pick myself up off the floor [if the Browns picked a quarterback instead of Garrett], and then my thought would be that they made a big mistake,” Jeremiah, a former scout for the Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles, said Wednesday during a conference call. “They definitely have a need at the quarterback position. There’s no question about it. I don’t think the team is very good right now. I think there’s a lot of other pieces that need to be in place.
“So I would rather continue to build up the rest of your roster, and then at the right time, insert the right quarterback and maybe you can find that guy [later in the draft]. I wouldn’t love it at 12, but I could at least justify it. But to pass on not only the best player in the draft, but the best player who’s also at a premier position, which you would put right behind quarterback in edge rusher, to push a quarterback all the way up the board I think would be a huge mistake.
“I’ve been advocating for a long time with the Browns in this draft at one and 12, just get surefire players you can plug in that got a chance to be Pro Bowlers. You get Myles Garrett and you team him up with somebody like [Alabama tight end] O.J. Howard, I think you know exactly what you get and you’ve got building block pieces to add to what you already have. I don’t get the idea of reaching, and that would be a major-league reach to me if they took a quarterback at one over Myles Garrett.”
Jeremiah said this year’s quarterback class lacks “top-tier talent.” He has ranked Clemson’s Deshaun Watson 28th, Mentor native Trubisky 32nd and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer 33rd on his top-50 list. Jeremiah didn’t include Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes in his top 50.
Brooks, a former NFL defensive back who worked as a scout for the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers, said he believes in time one or two of the quarterbacks who will be drafted later this month “can emerge as stars.” However, he said none of them is worthy of the No. 1 pick.
“I don’t think there is a quarterback that any of us would say is the best player in the 2017 class,” Brooks said during the conference call. “With Myles Garrett, you’re getting a guy that is solid. He plays a premier position. He should be able to play that position for the next eight to 10 years at a very, very high level in a division where you need to be able to get after the passer.
“Also, when you come down to 12, I think you still have to evaluate your board and see where do those quarterbacks stack up. But I’m not inclined to take a quarterback just because the public sentiment is that we need a quarterback to get to the next level. I think if you continue to build up the auxiliary pieces and just wait for the quarterback to show up, I think that is a better opportunity, a better plan for the Cleveland Browns.”
Appearing on NFL Insiders, Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage said the Browns shouldn’t force a quarterback at No. 1 and suggested they ought to consider trading ahead of the New York Jets at No. 6. The Jets have been linked to Trubisky for months.
“I think you take the best available talent, the best available player [at No. 1], and then you figure out what to do next,” said Savage, a former Browns general manager. “Could that be a move up from 12 into the top [five] in front of the Jets and take a quarterback there?”
If not, the Browns could target a quarterback at the beginning of the second round (No. 33 overall), in a trade-up scenario from there or with a later selection.
But Trubisky instead of Garrett at No. 1?
It can’t be ruled out because head of football operations Sashi Brown said two weeks ago at the NFL owners meetings the Browns were considering more than one player with the top pick. Still, it would be surprising.
Rendezvous revealed
Southern California cornerback Adoree’ Jackson told SiriusXM NFL Radio he made a pre-draft visit to Browns headquarters.
NFLDraftScout.com projects Jackson to become a second- or third-round pick.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.