Cleveland Browns: 7-Round mock if they sign a QB
By Randy Gurzi
Round 1 No. 1 — Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
With a trustworthy quarterback under center, general manager John Dorsey and his staff start finding the best players available. They start with the No. 1 overall pick which they use on Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.
He’s far and away the best running back prospect in the 2018 NFL Draft, and some would argue the top prospect as well. While he’s a fantastic running back who has great speed, vision and agility, there’s more to his game.
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Barkley is just as good at running routes and catching the football as he was running. In 2017, he had 1,271 yards on the ground with 18 touchdowns. He added another 632 yards through the air on 54 receptions.
Should the Browns find a way to get someone under center, the addition of Barkley would instantly make them a dangerous offense. In recent seasons teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars made huge improvements by adding running backs early.
Dallas won 13 games in 2016 after drafting Ezekiel Elliott at No. 4 out of Ohio State. Jacksonville added LSU’s Leonard Fournette at the same spot in 2017 and they not only won their division, but just missed out on the Super Bowl thanks mainly to their strong defense and dominate running game. Maybe Cleveland can repeat the success.