Cleveland Browns build for future in 7-round mock draft
By Randy Gurzi
Scouting Report. BYU. MattBushman. TE. 7. player. 861. Pick Analysis
Cleveland has some talented tight ends on the roster in David Njoku and Ricky Seals-Jones — you could also consider Stephen Carlson in that discussion if he were to play the Pittsburgh Steelers every week.
However, Seals-Jones (and Carlson) will be a free agent at the end of the season. As for Njoku, he’s missed the majority of the season due to injury but doesn’t seem to be in John Dorsey’s favor when he is healthy.
With him entering the final year of his contract in 2020, the Browns could look for someone in the draft to start developing. They do that here as they use their final pick in this mock on Matt Bushman out of BYU.
Bushman looks the part at 6-foot-5 and 245-pounds and has put up some impressive numbers in his three seasons with the Cougars. Overall, he has 119 receptions for 1,628 yards (13.7 per catch) and nine touchdowns.
His most impressive attribute is his catch radius as his long arms are able to haul it in even when the passes aren’t perfect. He’s also capable of lining up as an H-back, which is something Freddie Kitchens has been a fan of — look at how Orson Charles was used in 2018.
On top of that, Bushman has flashes of being a solid blocker when used in-line. He’s not consistent in this area but it could be argued that he’s already better than Njoku is here — and Dorsey has already called the current Cleveland tight end out for not shining in that aspect of the game.
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He likely won’t be more than a second tight end for the Browns but that’s not a bad thing at all for such a late pick.