Cleveland Browns draft: Shop for corners early, DTs and LBs later

Defensive tackles are found in all rounds plus UDFAs

In contrast with cornerbacks, defensive tackles are represented in all rounds plus one UDFA.  What that says is that they can be drafted with late-round picks. There are some major stars drafted in Round 1, but after that, the playing field is rather level.

It’s difficult to scout defensive tackles because they are always banged up and going against someone else who is banged up, and you don’t know the relative health of each player. I have a friend who is a football coach in Texas who I truly respect. He was telling me how great Myles Garrett was.

So I studied some film of him versus Cam Robinson of Alabama, and I came away thinking that the Browns should draft Cam Robinson, because he did a terrific job against Garrett. What I did not realize was that Garrett was playing on a badly sprained ankle and was not his normal Garrett self.

It was only at the Combine when his scores came out, and my friend sent me a link to his results. My eyes about popped out of my head, and I realized that my friend was not making excuses, that Garrett really did play on a sprained ankle.

Anyway, the point is that scouting these players is not easy, because they are different from week to week. Hence, defensive tackles were found in Round 1 (30%), Round 2 (25%), Round 3 (15%), Round 4 (10%), Round 5 (10%), Round 7 (5%) and UDFA (5%, which is listed as Round 8 on the graph). The value function shows that the value of Top 20 linebackers was lower by about a million dollars for each round of the draft that they were taken, or not as severe a decline as the cornerbacks.

If the Browns need a defensive lineman, then yes, it’s worth taking a flyer on a late-round pick or UDFA at this position. Given the choice between a UDFA defensive tackle or UDFA cornerback, the team should probably make the first offer to the defensive tackle.

It’s generally the wrong move to draft a defensive tackle in the first round and cornerback later on. Instead, it would be much better to get the cornerback in Round 1 and the defensive tackle in the later Round.

As readers of this space know, this fan is not a big proponent of Round 6 and Round 7  picks anyway. It’s better to sign UDFAs in those roster spots, try them for a few weeks, and if the organization doesn’t like them, cut them and try some other ones till they get it right.

By having multiple opportunities with UDFAs every two to three weeks, the chances of success are higher than taking only one chance with the Day 3 pick and living with it for two or three years. But that is a sub-point.

Let’s turn our attention now to linebackers.