Cleveland Browns draft profile: Billy Price

The Cleveland Browns shored up their offensive line over the past two seasons. Drafting Billy Price would add depth and a piece for the future.

Fans have been clamoring for the Cleveland Browns to draft more Ohio State players. Even though Denzel Ward may be the pick at No. 4, center Billy Price could be an excellent addition in the second round.

The Browns are set at center with last year’s free agent addition of J.C. Tretter. Tretter finally put to rest what was a black hole of death for the Browns. Before Tretter, it seemed that the center position would suck in players and they seemed to never emerge or be heard from again.

Even though the Brown are set at the position, interior offensive line depth is an issue for the Browns. Left guard Joel Bitonio has a history of injuries and the center position is one where there can never be too much depth.

Related Story: Browns Draft Profile: Marcus Davenport

Thus, if Billy Price is still available for the Browns in the second round, they would need to take a long hard look at drafting him. Helping make this a possibility for the Browns was the recent injury Price suffered at the NFL combine just over a month ago.

While performing the bench press, Price suffered a partially torn pectoral muscle. Before the injury, Price was considered a lock first round pick. But Price’s misery may be the Browns gain as he may fall to round two.

Run Blocking

Billy Price played both guard and center during his time at Ohio State. He is an very athletic player who can snap the ball and pull. Once he is pulling, he takes proper angles and has good vision downfield to find someone to block.

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In the running game Price does what can be asked of a center. He plays with good leverage and can induce a stalemate at the line of scrimmage with the defender. It may sound patronizing to say he induces stalemates, but for a center a stalemate is a win.

He does an excellent job in both double teams and angle blocking back to fill for a pulling guard. The angle blocking aspect of his game is excellent. He can crash back on a defender and dig him out of the hole. Add another blocker and Price can get good vertical movement on the double team.

He does struggle at times with overextending himself. Sometimes he leans out at the defender and loses his balance. In these cases, the defender can easily use his lack of balance against him. It happens more than it should and will need to be cleaned up at the next level.

Pass Blocking

Here again Price’s athleticism is on display. As a part of their play action package, they will have Price pull around to create a run look. They will also have him pull when uncovered to help with an outside or blitzing defender. The fact that he can pull his off is a real credit to him as a center.

While pass blocking, Price has what scouts call “heavy hands”. All this means is that he has a good initial punch to stop the defenders forward momentum. They also allow him to engage the defender and hold him at the line of scrimmage. This is a real asset in the passing game.

His pass blocking will sometimes suffer from the same thing as his run blocking. Sometimes he will lunge and get off balance. When this occurs, the defender will easily put a move on him exposing the quarterback to a big hit. He will need to be more consistent at the NFL level.

Overall, Price has the talent and position development to merit a first round pick. Should the torn pectoral muscle push him to the second round, the Browns may be able to get a first round talent early in the second and add some much-needed depth to the interior offensive line. In a year, he could even take over for Tretter.

Next: Browns draft profile: Courtland Sutton

This would be a pick where the Browns could get a good lineman cheap.