Cleveland Browns: 5 NFL Draft prospects to replace Sheldon Richardson

1. Jonathan Marshall, Arkansas

One of Cleveland’s team guardrails is that “age is important”. The oldest player the Browns drafted last year was Jordan Elliott, who turned 23 in September. Age is important because older players are more physically developed, and therefore theoretically have less room to improve after being drafted.

There’s also the concern that they performed well in college because they were much older than their competition; BYU’s Khyiris Tonga, for example, had a great 2020 season and some extremely fun tape. The problem is he was a 25-year-old beating up on 18-22-year-olds, so it would have been an issue if he weren’t manhandling his opponents.

Jonathan Marshall will turn 24 in September, which is a negative. However, perhaps the team will be willing to relax the age guardrail in the later rounds for a player like Marshall. He wasn’t very productive on the stat sheet, but he’s extremely explosive and disruptive. At the right value on Day 3, he could be a great option and could end up as perhaps the best tackle from this class.

The defensive tackle room will be fine this season as long as there aren’t any significant injuries. Regardless, there is a big need moving forward, and perhaps the team will address it relatively early in the draft.