Cleveland Browns: Checking on the moves that have not worked at the bye
By Randy Gurzi
Drafting Austin Corbett instead of a tackle
John Dorsey did great in the draft. He hit it out of the park with picks like Baker Mayfield at No. 1, Denzel Ward at No. 4, Nick Chubb at No. 35, and Genard Avery in the fifth round. These aren’t just players who could become contributors either, these are certified stars in the making, and they’re being recognized for it.
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In Week 1, Ward won the NFL Rookie of the Week award and he did so again in Week 5. His selection in Week 5 was their third in a row as Mayfield had the honor in Week 4 and Nick Chubb did in Week 5. Mayfield added two more awards, getting the nod in Weeks 7 and 9 — and now he and Chubb are up for the honor in Week 10.
However, not all their picks have been great to this point. With the first pick in the second round, Cleveland took offensive lineman Austin Corbett out of Nevada. He was a tackle in college but has to convert inside. Originally, the team tried playing him at left guard and kicking Joel Bitonio to tackle, but that plan didn’t work.
Corbett was slow to transition to guard and needs to play a season on the bench. While there’s still a lot of time in his career, this selection seemed like it was a reach. Cleveland is strong on the interior of the line and needed a tackle more. Yes, Corbett could prove to be a solid player down the road — and probably will — but the Browns would have been much better served to try to find someone who can play on the edges of the line where their real issues are.