Cleveland Browns mock draft season off and running

The Cleveland Browns own the No. 1 overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft and mock draft season is already hitting its stride.

In a little more than three months, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will step up to a podium at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to open the 2018 NFL Draft.

After the booing dies down, Goodell will announce that the Cleveland Browns are on the clock, and a few minutes later Goodell will reveal who the Browns have selected with the No. 1 overall pick.

Just who that player is will likely not be known until a few minutes past 8 p.m. on April 26, but there is a very high likelihood that it will be a quarterback from the group of Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, USC’s Sam Darnold, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Wyoming’s Josh Allen.

With the draft on the not-too-distant horizon, the silly season of mock drafts is upon us, which is always all kinds of fun.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper got the ball rolling this week with a mock draft that has the Browns selecting Allen with the No. 1 overall pick.

Kiper explained his reasoning in a conference call, according to Nate Ulrich of The (Akron) Beacon Journal:

"“I went with Allen for the fact that he finished strong, he had the big [bowl] game against Central Michigan and he’s got the physical capability to do the job in the weather conditions like Ben Roethlisberger [of the Pittsburgh Steelers] and Carson Wentz, quarterbacks he’ll be compared to for that size and the physicality and the arm strength and mobility and the toughness and the competitiveness for playing in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Baltimore every year.”"

Kiper hit all the popular talking points when it comes to projecting a quarterback to the Browns. He must be big (Allen is 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds), he needs to be compared to Roethlisberger, he has to be tough to hold up in the AFC North, and he has to be ready for the weather.

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That’s all well and good, but it overlooks that Allen only completed 56 percent of his passes in his two years as a starter for the Cowboys, which is worse that what current Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer accomplished at Notre Dame.

We’re also not sold on the idea that geography makes the quarterback, seeing as how Tom Brady grew up in California and seems to have done OK for himself in Boston with the New England Patriots.

Kiper’s opinion is not the only one, naturally, and Steve Palazzolo at Pro Football Focus came out with a mock draft that might be a bit more palatable to Browns fans. In it, Palazzolo has the Browns selecting Mayfield with the No. 1 pick and following that up by selecting Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick with the No. 4 overall selection.

According to Palazzolo, when it comes to Mayfield:

"There will be much debate as to which quarterback should go No. 1 overall, but Mayfield has been the nation’s most productive signal-caller for three years running, and he should be in the mix. Yes, the Oklahoma offense eases his burden compared to his peers, but he’s still shown outstanding accuracy and decision-making, while making enough “NFL throws” that should instill confidence that his game will translate to the next level. Mayfield has posted the top PFF grade in each of the last two seasons."

As for Fitzpatrick:

"Cleveland turns their attention to the defensive side of the ball where the secondary needs impact players, and Fitzpatrick can play multiple roles on the back end. He excelled in the slot at Alabama, ranking sixth among cornerbacks with an 85.2 grade against the run and allowed just 9.3 yards per completion in his three years. The big question is if he can hold up on the outside where he played just 13 snaps this past year, but at worst, he should be a versatile slot/safety hybrid capable of impacting the game in all phases."

That scenario could be a profitable one for the Browns on the opening night of the draft as Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy this year after leading Oklahoma to a 12-1 record and a spot in the college football playoffs.

A fifth-year senior, Mayfield completed 71.9 percent of his passes this season for 4,240 yards, 41 passing touchdowns (and five more on the ground) while only throwing five interceptions.

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Fitzpatrick, was a standout on the Crimson Tide’s national champion defense, finishing the year fourth on the team in tackles with 60, while taking home both the Thorpe Award (given to the nation’s top defensive back) and the Bednarik Award (top defensive player).

The evaluation process is far from over so no one, not even general manager John Dorsey, is sure who the Browns will select when draft weekend finally rolls around.

Which means we have three more months of mock drafts and the ensuing debates mocking those mock drafts.

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