The Browns finished the season with 4 straight losses and a 5-11 record but for the first time in a long time, there are rays of hoping coming out of the dog pound. The team had a great draft last year with franchise corner in the making Joe Haden from Florida and then Colt McCoy in the second round, who surprised everyone, especially Browns fans, by actually looking at times like he might be a franchise quarterback. Their running back, Peyton Hillis, a cast-off from the Broncos, tore up the NFL with his bruising, downhill running style. In short, they have building blocks, and with another good draft in 2011, the Browns might be able to compete in the fierce AFC North division.
Every year, there is one pick in the top 10 that seems to come out of nowhere. Last year the Jacksonville Jaguars, picking at #10, snatched up Tyson Alaalu out of Cal, who literally no one had ever heard of. There was a stunned, awkward silence in Radio City Music Hall after his name was announced. That could be because there’s like 12 Jacksonville Jaguars fans in the world, but more likely because Alalau was such an under the rader prospect that it was a shock for everyone present. This year I think the Browns make a similar sneaky move and hush the crowd with a pick that everyone has heard of, but no one really thinks will go this high.
(INSERT OFFENSIVE NAME) #6 OVERALL MOCK DRAFT PICK:
JULIO JONES - WR, ALABAMA
Jones was the top recruit in the nation coming out of high school and became the first true freshman wide receiver ever to start the season opener for the University of Alabama. He went on to a dominant career at Alabama and then had an awesome combine in Indianapolis, raising eyebrows by outperforming A.J Green and the other top prospects with a partially broken foot. The Browns are certainly going to take a long, hard look at Von Miller out of Texas A&M in this spot, one of the defensive studs remaining in the draft, but really, this isn’t what they need. The Browns defense, though not great by any standard last year, wasn’t the big problem, they actually only gave up 20.8 points per game last year, which was the 13th best total in the league. Their offense, which lacked any semblance of big play potential aside from the occasional Josh Cribbs kick off return, scored a shade under 17 points per game, only one team was worse than that. Quick, can you name one Browns receiver aside from Cribbs who is more of a specialist than a wide receiver? That guy with the African name maybe? Is he still on the team or did he actually get killed by James Harrison last year? I don't know, the point is, Colt needs a big time target, and one is sitting right there for them at #6.
The other reason they don’t target Miller or Fairley here is because this draft, almost everyone agrees at this point, is one of the deepest in the defensive end/outside linebacker crop in the last 10 years. However, in terms of skill positions it is not terribly deep, so the Browns make the move on Jones, come away with the guy some people think will end up being the best receiver in the class, and between Peyton Hillis, Colt McCoy, Kick Returner Josh Cribbs, and Julio Jones be set at the skill positions for years to come.
Entire Mock Draft:
- Carolina Panthers - Marcell Dareus
- Denver Broncos - Patrick Peterson
- Buffalo Bills - Cam Newton
- Cincinnati Bengals - A.J. Green
- Arizona Cardinals - Blaine Gabbert
- Cleveland Browns - Julio Jones
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