The NFL draft is just eight days away, and I have lots of questions about it this week. Let’s dive in …
From Joe McCarthy (@JMcCarthy86): Browns take Hunter at 2—what do they do with him?
Joe, the beauty of Travis Hunter for the Cleveland Browns is that he can fill two needs. Denzel Ward’s been banged up a bunch, so Hunter can provide injury insurance and be a more than solid No. 2 corner on defense while complementing Jerry Jeudy in packages on offense. So, while with other teams, there might be one need that supersedes the other in how to deploy Hunter, for Cleveland, it feels like the level of need on one side of the ball mirrors the other.
That puts the Browns in a spot to slice this anyway they’d like, and my guess is that they’d follow the Colorado blueprint—having Hunter put most of his early practice and meeting time into defense to give Cleveland an airtight bookend to Ward, while building out packages for him to contribute offensively.
From Billy Conway (@bonescon): What was your impression of [Julian] Sayin in the OSU spring game?
He looked calm, poised and confident. I feel really good about him, but Lincoln Kienholz looked really good at a practice I went to Friday, too. It should be a fun competition.
From Mike Small Pockets Brown (@browns_fan76): Will there be a “QB run” in this draft. Which domino kicks it off?
Mike, I’d say that the “run” likely would be somewhere between 25 and 45.
Cam Ward is the only one certain to go in the first round. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart could go top 10 or fall out of the first round altogether. Louisville’s Tyler Shough’s combination of size, speed and arm talent has helped mitigate age and durability questions. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe has athleticism you can’t teach, and is a great kid—even if he has a ways to go as a passer. Texas’s Quinn Ewers, Ohio State’s Will Howard and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord have a shot at landing on Day 2 as well.
So I could see a scenario where Ward is the only one off the board early in the first round, and a couple of teams jump from the top of the second round into the bottom of the first round to get the fifth-year option. Or, there could be some movement atop the board Friday if they’re all there after Thursday night’s Round 1 concludes.
From Jason Kroulik (@crowlick): Albert, any guesses who the Detroit Lions are aiming for in the draft?
Jason, I’d say there’s a good chance that we see Detroit dip into the deep supply of edge rushers in this year’s class to find a bookend for Aidan Hutchinson long-term, and give the team a little insurance as Hutchinson works back from last year’s injury.
Who could be there? A bunch (Abdul Carter, Jalon Walker, Shemar Stewart, Mykel Williams, et al.) will be long gone before the Detroit Lions get on the clock at 28. I’ll be interested to see whether they’d roll the dice on someone such as Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. or Marshall’s Mike Green, who have character flags, rather than maybe going with a safer play such as Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku. Detroit’s been disciplined with this stuff over the past four years. As a result, they have the infrastructure in place that may allow for a gamble.
From STΞVΞ (@RacingDFS): I haven’t seen the #Jets linked to a single QB in this draft. Is there the potential they don’t take one at all?
Steve, I think they might take a quarterback. I don’t think it’ll be with the seventh pick. I know when Justin Fields was looking for his 2025 home, he was trying to find a team that would give him runway to play and grow, and by extension, pass on taking a quarterback high in the draft. I don’t know whether the Jets gave Fields a promise on that. But factoring in that piece of the puzzle, with the work they’ve done (or have been a little light on) this spring, I think a right tackle or Penn State TE Tyler Warren is more likely at seven.
And if that’s the way it plays out, it’ll be interesting to see what Fields does with the runway.
From Matt Williamson (@willy4412): What does Ben Johnson see as the biggest need for the Chicago Bears at 10?
Matt, I can’t climb into Johnson’s head. I would say finding help on the interior of the defensive line would be good. Ditto for the idea of difference-making running back. But if Mason Graham and Ashton Jeanty are gone, I’m not sure there’s a guy at either of those spots worthy of going at 10. So, that leads you back to … the offensive line.
Yes, the Bears dealt for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signed center Drew Dalman. But left tackle Braxton Jones, a nice find for the Bears in the fifth round in 2022, is heading into a contract year and has a new set of coaches evaluating him. If he’s not seen as the answer, tackle would be in play. That’s why I think 10 is the floor for LSU’s Will Campbell, and could be a landing spot for Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr.
From Jandro (@JandrooAlex): Are the Atlanta Falcons a team to watch out for to move up for a pass rusher?
Jandro, I definitely wouldn’t rule it out, given everything the Atlanta Falcons have done to try and fix those spots, trading a third-round pick for Matthew Judon last summer, and signing Leonard Floyd in March. And while my guess would be they wouldn’t want to give up picks to move up in this particular year, because of the relative weakness of the first round. But if the supply in the first wave of edge rushers starts to run thin, a short jump is possible.
Who’s in that first wave? That, of course, would be a matter of opinion. But I’d say the first cluster would probably consist of Carter (who’s a notch above the pack), Walker (who’s a hybrid), Williams and Stewart. It’s possible they’re all gone at 15, and if they are, and Atlanta’s locked in on taking one, then you’re looking at guys such as Ezeiruaku and Green. So, I think much of their strategy will ride on the difference between those groups of guys.
From Greig (@Scots_Patriot): Will Campbell is not a reach at 4. That is all.
Greig, in this year’s draft, he wouldn’t be. But he’s not a Joe Alt, Paris Johnson Jr. or Penei Sewell—who are prototypes for the position, and elicit no questions about their ability to play left tackle (even if Sewell wound up on the right side because of the presence of Taylor Decker in Detroit). Those questions, fair or not, are there on Campbell.
From Studio7 (@Studio7Inbox): Gun to head, who is the week 1 QB1 for the Indianapolis Colts?
Studio, I hope you wouldn’t put a gun to my head on that question. But if you did, I’d say Daniel Jones. Anthony Richardson has gotten a lot of leash over the past two years, as he should have, coming into the pros as a fourth pick with just 13 college starts on his record. And he hasn’t done nearly enough with the chances he’s been given. Which makes me think the leash will be considerably shorter this time around.
As such, I think there’ll be a natural curiosity about what Jones can do with the team Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen have assembled—and my guess is a starting opportunity comes with that.
From Cody Wirth (@codyrwirth): So much smoke on Mason Graham for JAX. Does that feel like close to a lock to you at 5?
Cody, I wouldn’t call anything a lock. But I think you can do some dot connecting here. Liam Coen and James Gladstone cut their NFL teeth working for the Los Angeles Rams, where a defense, and something just shy of a dynasty, was built around an ox-strong, undersized, hard-playing defensive tackle. I’m not saying, to be clear, that Graham is Aaron Donald. But, just last year, Gladstone followed that path to a trade-up for Braden Fiske in Los Angeles.
If you want to extend this with Coen, he was in Tampa last year, and coached in practice against another guy like that, in young 3-technique Calijah Kancey.
So, with the clear need that the Jacksonville Jaguars have, and the quality of prospect that Graham is, it all adds up.
From Kent Schrag (@TheBlockO): Did you get Adriatico’s this weekend?
Kent, I actually did—Ohio State’s wonderful journalism professor, Nicole Kraft, had me in to talk to some students, and brought Adriatico’s. And I took some of it back for my sons and my buddy Spencer’s sons. It’s really tough to find good pizza in the Midwest. But Adriatico’s, two decades after we got it every Friday at the frat house, pulls it off.
From Brett2point0 (@Brett2point0): Do teams use "30 visits" as smoke screens, with zero intent of drafting the player?
Brett, this is a great question that I like to answer every year.
A “30” visit for those who don’t know is one of 30 visits allotted to each team to bring draft prospects into their facilities, where the team can have its coaches and front office meet with a player, give him a physical and have him meet with doctors, and get him around potential future teammates. A lot of times, these meetings will start with a dinner to get the prospect a little more comfortable, with a full agenda to follow the next day.
So what do teams get out of it? Well, if a team is picking in the top 10, or is honed in on finding a quarterback, it can be a sign of real, genuine interest. In a lot of other cases, the visits are used to tie up loose ends, often relating either to injury or character questions. Which is why I always think it’s funny to see people go crazy over them. They’re significant, of course, because you only get 30. But there are a wide range of reasons for them.
From Dan in the 916 (@DanAbsher): How big is the gap between Jeanty and the next tier of RBs?
Dan, I’d say it’s relatively big. I think it’s Jeanty, then a gap, then Omarion Hampton, then a smaller gap, then Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins and Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson (in some order), then the field. And that’s with the acknowledgment that these guys are going to be stacked different ways by different teams. This is just what I figure the consensus would be.
From Ramblin' Fan (@RamblinFan): How many quarterbacks can you envision being selected in Round 1 if all the dominoes fall that way? (realistically and optimistically speaking)
Ramblin’, it’s a moving target. But I’ll say if I had to guess right now, I’d go with one quarterback in the top 20, with things opening up thereafter—and maybe a small cluster going between 21 and 45. Which means it could be two or three guys at the end of the first round, or those guys could go at the top of the second (which was kind of how 2014 went).
From Outsidezonepod (@outsidezonepod): With Tyler Shough seeming ready to start right away, of the teams that need an answer at QB, who’s the best fit?
I like the idea of Tyler Shough going to the Browns. I just see the physical ability there, and some skill-set similarities to presumed starter Joe Flacco, where you could just slide that piece into the offense you’re already building. But that’s just me talking …
From Jimmy T (@jimmy_tomredle): How likely is it that Shedeur Sanders slides and if he does, will the Giants make a trade up back into the first round to land him?
Jimmy, if the majority of the league doesn’t see Shedeur Sanders as a first-rounder, is it really a slide? I’ll bring up the Bo Nix thing again—if he goes in the first round, as was the case with Nix last year, I think it’ll be because there’s a team that views him as a fit, rather than there being the widespread thought that he’s a first-round talent.
I’ve been saying this for a month. I wouldn’t be floored if he slides into the 20s or 30s.
Maybe Pittsburgh is his landing spot at 21. If not, I think he could get to the second round.
From Parker Butchy (@parkerbutchy): If Deshaun Watson never plays again for the Browns, does he have to stay on the 53-man roster given how much cap money he takes up for the next several years or does it not matter if he plays or not, CLE is still on the hook for the money.
Parker, they could certainly walk away from him, but not the money, and we can take you through the logistics here. They already converted him for 2025, so he’s already earned a $44.745 million signing bonus. His base salary is $1.255 million, the veteran minimum. So if the Browns cut him now, and he signed somewhere else, they’d be responsible for the $44.745 million.
So, yeah, it makes sense for them to keep him now on the chance he turns things around.
From JJ LaPlante (@JJLaPlanteeee): With the draft class having such a scarcity of blue chip prospects, is it absolutely insane for the Bears to trade up to 5 for Ashton Jeanty? Do NFL teams see him in a tier of his own and that much better than the rest of this years deep RB class?
JJ, yes, like I said earlier, Jeanty is on another tier. But worth trading up for? I’m not sure about that. I still get the sense he’s a cut below where Saquon Barkley, Zeke Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey were in their draft years. So I’m not sure I’d give up assets on top of the 10th pick to go get him.
From BuffaLowDown (@BuffaLowDown): Do you believe the Bills are more likely to stay put at No. 30 or trade up?
Well, the Bills have shown they’re open to a big swing this offseason, making calls on Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby before signing Nick Bosa. So, just conceptually, I wouldn’t rule out something aggressive —I’m just not sure this is the draft year to do something like that.
From Frankie from Flatbush (@FlatbushFrankie): What's the New York Jets’ plan for TE? They let Conklin walk for cheap and didn’t opt for Mo Alie-Cox for less than 3 mill. Pick 2 in the draft and pray?
Frankie, the good news is this is a good draft to need a tight end. For now, they have an athletic former third-rounder who’s played with Fields in Jeremy Ruckert, and I wouldn’t rule out multiple tight ends. I sort of love the idea of taking Warren at No. 7 and someone such as Texas’s Gunnar Helm at 110—kind of like how, if you remember, the Baltimore Ravens took Hayden Hurst in the first round, then Mark Andrews in the third round in 2018.
From Charlie (@cmsinclar): Los Angeles Chargers first-round target?
Charlie, a little early on that for me, but I have a hard time getting it out of my head that it’s going to be Michigan’s mammoth defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, who I know some at the school have told teams they believe will grow into a better pro than Graham. If Jim Harbaugh, who coached him for two years in Ann Arbor, feels that way, then it’d be pretty good value to get him in the 20s. And it would fill a big need for the Chargers, too.
From Joe (@ClutchMstr88): What’s the outlook for the New York Giants at 3? Do you see them selecting Carter or Shedeur?
Joe, I think it’ll be Carter or Hunter, whoever’s left. I’m also not positive how high Brian Daboll is on Shedeur Sanders.
From Darren T. (@nerrad206): Any rumblings on what the Seattle Seahawks want/would like to do at 18? OL help is common knowledge, but also wouldn't be surprised to see a defensive pick in that range.
Darren, I love the idea of North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel. If not, I could see an offensive skill guy such as Michigan TE Colston Loveland, Texas WR Matthew Golden or Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan. This is another one that’s a little deeper in the first round, so I should have a better handle on it next week. Stay tuned!
From Mike King (@MikeKing00): How much pressure is there on Joe Schoen to land a QB from ownership? Does that pressure sink in next Thursday when they’re on the clock at #3? Trading back up into RD1 for a QB is easier said than done.
Mike, I don’t think John Mara will pressure the New York Giants’ football folks to take a quarterback. But I do think he’ll want them to be sure about the guys they’re passing on if they do, as I think they will, pass on the position at the third pick.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mailbag: Browns Would Likely Follow Colorado’s Blueprint for Travis Hunter.