Anatomy of a NFL Draft Pick – Cleveland Browns

The Anatomy of a NFL Draft Pick podcast series from Shane Alexander seeks to explore what all goes into making draft pick from an organizational perspective. There are numerous scenarios that teams must play out before deciding what to do with their draft pick. Shane and a guest discuss these scenarios in this series. First up, the anatomy of the Cleveland Browns #2 overall pick.

In the first episode of Anatomy of a Draft, Mark Schofield joined me to pursue every avenue the Cleveland Browns could explore with the #2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. This series isn’t designed to predict just one player, but to look at every option and possibility that the Browns have at their disposal. This draft isn’t something that will happen in a vacuum, the effects of it will resound for the next decade in that organization – it is no secret how desperate the Browns are to win, so they cannot get this draft wrong.

Mark and I looked at what Cleveland could / should do at #2 overall.

1. What I would do if I were sovereign over the pick.
2. What Mark would do if he were sovereign over the pick.
3. Ultimately, what we believe the Browns will do with the pick.

From that, we explored several paths:

1. Staying at #2 and drafting a quarterback or best position player available for their scheme.
2. Trading down, acquiring future assets and more assets in this draft, and taking the best player for their system.
3. The possibility of trading long time, All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas for a first-round pick.

From there, we also looked at Day 2 and Day 3 selections based on which path Cleveland decides to go down:

The main point that Mark and I drove home: The Browns cannot miss on these picks. If they marry themselves to a QB at #2, they can’t afford to be wrong. If they pass on a QB and take one of the perceived elite position players, they need to take a developmental QB in the middle rounds and have a plan in place for him, as well as newly acquired Robert Griffin III.

This is was fun exercise and I look forward to doing 3-4 more of these Anatomy of a Draft podcasts to highlight a few of the most interesting teams in the 2016 NFL Draft. Stay tuned to Inside the Pylon for more updates, and be sure to check out the Inside the Pylon Mock War Room series for even more NFL Draft talk.

Follow Shane on Twitter @Alexander1Great.

Inside The Pylon covers the NFL and college football, reviewing the film, breaking down matchups, and looking at the issues, on and off the field.

Please subscribe to our Podcast, view our Youtube channel, bookmark our site, follow our Twitter account, LIKE us on Facebook, buy 17 Drives (or anything else) from our Amazon link, see our Instagram, check out our Mock War Room episodes, and learn more in Glossary.