Antonio Callaway release shows Cleveland Browns 2018 draft was largely a bust

While many lauded the Cleveland Browns for their 2018 draft, minus a few players, the overall selections they made draft weekend in 2018 have not been great — which is proven with the release of Antonio Callaway

The 2018 draft may be what ultimately gets the Cleveland Browns over the hump and from the cellar of the NFL to championship contender. A draft that netted them Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick, Nick Chubb in the second round, and a quality defensive back, one would think that the entire draft went great.

With the release of troubled wide receiver Antonio Callaway on Thursday, however, the team’s overall outlook on the 2018 draft class took a hit. Callaway came into the league with issues at the University of Florida, but John Dorsey took a chance on a character risk player for skill, something he has done his entire career in NFL front offices.

A look at the Kansas City Chiefs roster will show several of those character risk players that Dorsey took a flyer on when nobody else would, such as Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt, who was signed as a free agent for the Browns even after another incident this past off-season.

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When the news broke about Callaway’s release, it came as a surprise to some, but to most, it was expected at some point. His benching for being late to several practices and meetings in the week leading up to the Browns game against the Buffalo Bills comes along with other concerns from the team, including an apparent 10 game suspension that Callaway plans to appeal for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

The 2018 draft woes go deeper than Callaway, though. Not only did Dorsey give up two fourth-round picks to move up to obtain him, but he also took risks on players that are either not on the team anymore or not making any sort of production.

Dorsey drafted Austin Corbett to play offensive guard, a position he had not played before, in the second round. It’s fine to take a risk on a project player, but most teams don’t make those kinds of moves in the second round. While they were still able to get Chubb later in that round, they could have drafted a proven guard and gotten Corbett later as a project player they wanted.

The pick of Chad Thomas was also a peculiar one, as they kept him over several players that had provided talent and depth for the team for a few years. Thomas has yet to make much of an impact, while Dorsey decided to cut Carl Nassib to make room for Thomas. Nassib currently starts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has 9.5 sacks in his second season with the team.

While Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb were sure-fire hits with their picks, there were several swings and misses in the 2018 draft. Sure, it’s hard to perfectly predict how a player will perform in the league and if his talents will transfer over to the NFL. But several picks were questionable, not just the Antonio Callaway pick.

John Dorsey has made a good turnaround in the talent on the Cleveland Browns roster. But it seems more of it has been in trades than in drafting. While that may work short term, eventually you need draft picks to pan out to have sustained success in the league.

Next. Browns lost their Antonio Callaway gamble. dark

The 2018 draft class overall may end up being what helps turn the Browns franchise into winners, but for the most part, it looks to be full of a bunch of duds too. You can add Callaway to the duds list.

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