Welcome to 2023 NFL draft eve. And while the draft may not carry as much luster for those who follow the Cleveland Browns as it once has given their lack of early picks for the second straight season, the team still possesses eight picks to add young talent to their roster on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. To celebrate, I reached out for mailbag questions specific to the draft. Doing my best to answer them all, I was able to hit the majority of them. Baylor defensive tackle Siaki Ika was a talking point, as was the wide receiver and linebacker class.
With plenty to discuss, let’s dive into this mailbag!
What are your thoughts on Purdue CB Cory Trice?
From: @Boilermakers4er
I am wildly high on Trice as he sits 48th on my board. His combination of size, speed, and twitch is going to be coveted. And if he gets drafted later than I think he should, Trice is going to be one of the sleepers of the draft. The health of Trice, however, has been hit or miss, which could cause him to slip a bit.
However, as a willing participant in the run game who missed just two tackles this past season and four in his entire career, it is hard to find a deficiency in Trice’s game.
Who is your 4th ranked linebacker and would you take him at pick no. 74? If not would you trade up from pick no. 98?
From @_JCle_:
While I am lower on him than most, Arkansas linebacker Drew Sanders is my fourth-ranked player at the position. He will be long gone before the Browns have a chance to trade up for him as the NFL views him as perhaps the best in the class given his traits. If we want to incorporate the consensus big board into this conversation, the fourth-ranked linebacker would be Washington State’s Daiyan Henley.
Given his age, the Browns will not have much interest in Henley, especially not in a trade-up scenario. The only linebacker who fits the bill as a potential target for the Browns at pick no. 98 is Tulane’s Dorian Williams.
If the Browns wait until day-three, Oregon’s Noah Sewell checks all of their analytical boxes. Cincinnati’s Ivan Pace also fits the mold here.
Who are the five best fits at DT for the Browns?
From @EricProduce:
There will not be many defensive tackles that fit the mold the Browns look for by the time they will come on the clock. At the range we are looking at, Wisconsin’s Keeanu Benton is realistically the only one that checks all of the boxes of what this front office looks for. However, Benton is estimated to be off the board by pick no. 74.
Gervon Dexter is athletic and explosive, but his motor runs hot and cold, resulting in stretches of invisibility on the field. Getting into late day-two or early day-three, Alabama’s Byron Young is a favorite of mine but falls just under the athleticism cutoff. Texas’ Moro Ojomo and Keondre Coburn could be day three targets as well.
Refer to the next question for my thoughts on Baylor’s Siaki Ika.
What are your thoughts on Baylor DT Siaki Ika?
From @CleSportsRant13:
Ika has gotten plenty of love throughout the pre-draft process but has begun to sink after his subpar combine showing. However, Ika has been a player that I have been low on throughout the process. His 2023 tape was quite disappointing, and he did not look like a three-down player.
Finding himself on the sideline on a healthy amount of snaps against teams that ran a plethora of 11 personnel, Ika did not offer much against teams that sought to spread it out. I have my concerns about how he translates to the NFL level as a pass rusher.
There is reason to doubt whether or not a two-down plug is worthy of a day-two pick and what the significant difference between Ika and the likes of a Keondre Coburn is.
Is Minnesota RB Mohamed Ibrahim worth a late pick?
From @rraiidss:
There is significant doubt the Browns would have any interest in Mohamed Ibrahim.
Running back is the position with the shortest shelf life, so using a draft pick, even a late-rounder, on one who will be 25 years old in September and who ruptured an Achilles in 2021 seems highly unlikely. I do, however, expect the Browns to draft a running back this weekend!
But we will talk about that next.
Do you think the Browns will address RB early? If they wait who are some targets in the 5th and 6th round?
From @SCowley75:
It will not be the popular answer, but the Browns will look at running back earlier than expected if the value adds up. Ole Miss’s Zach Evans has already been a name that has been floated, and Texas’ Roschon Johnson is a favorite of mine if the Browns look at the position in the third round.
However, if they wait until the fifth or sixth round, there is still some fun talent to keep an eye on. Pitt’s Israel Abanikanda is likely off the board, but East Carolina’s Keaton Mitchell is an explosive playmaker to watch for. Syracuse’s Sean Tucker is another name that fits the bill, as is potentially Auburn’s Tank Bigsby as his average draft position is hard to pin down.
If the Browns wait until later to take a running back, however, they have to ask themselves, “What does this back bring that Jerome Ford does not?” That can be an easy answer for Johnson and perhaps Abanikanda, but the rest feel a bit redundant to Ford.
If Marvin Mims and Tyler Scott are both gone, who is your next WR target?
From @15kyran:
It is no secret that landing the Cincinnati wideout Tyler Scott would be the best possible scenario for pick no. 74. Oklahoma’s Marvin Mims would also leave me quite happy if he were to land in Cleveland.
However, if both are off the board I am inclined to pass on wide receiver until pick no. 98. There are a couple of receivers who could fit the bill though if the Browns still go in that direction with Scott and Mims off the board.
The author of this question poses Ole Miss’s Jonathan Mingo as the next receiver on the board. While it sounds like Mingo will be long gone, I tend to think that would be an overdraft. If it pushed Mims and Scott down the board, however, no harm and no foul.
Other receivers to keep an eye on are Michigan State’s Jayden Reed, Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson, and Houston’s Tank Dell (even if they are a bit older). While they are a bit lower on my board, Penn State’s Parker Washington and SMU’s Rashee Rice check a ton of boxes that the Browns have historically looked for.
