6 players Cleveland Browns should scout at East-West Shrine Bowl
By John Suchan
The East/West Shrine Bowl is set for this Thursday and there will be several players the Cleveland Browns will be scouting. Here are a few to watch for.
The 97th Annual East/West Shrine Bowl will be held in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 3rd and there will be several Cleveland Browns coaches on the sideline helping to coach the next group of talented college athletes about to enter the 2022 NFL Draft. Jeff Howard, the Browns defensive backs coach, assistant offensive lines coach Scott Peters, Ashton Grant, a wide receivers coach, and Ryan Cordell, a running backs coach, will all be in attendance and working with the players this next week.
Many players will get a good look by NFL scouts and coaches during this week of practices and then the game on Thursday. The Cleveland staff will be looking for that next big talent to join them in Berea. The Shrine Bowl Game is the longest-running event of college football players in the history of the game.
The Shriners have supported the needs of children with special needs and this game is a big part of the Shriners’ commitment to them. The game will be broadcast on Thursday on the NFL Network. Players like Tom Brady, John Elway, Gale Sayers, and coaches such as Dick Vermeil and Don Shula have all been part of the big event in past years.
So, who should Cleveland fans be looking at during this game and could become part of the Browns team next season? Let’s take a look at a few players that might be on the Browns radar.
Cleveland Browns Player to watch No. 1: Jaivon Heiligh, WR, Coastal Carolina
Jaivon Heiligh had a very solid career at Coastal Carolina. He racked up 66 receptions this past season for 1128 yards and he scored seven touchdowns. One of his best games was against Big 12 team Kansas Jayhawks where he had a touchdown on six catches for 122 yards.
When you start to look at how he matches up against other wide receivers entering the draft he’s ranked anywhere from 15th to the 20th best receiver in the bunch. Some projections have him being drafted anywhere from the third round to the fifth round. The summary of his play on the field suggests he’s a sure-handed receiver and best friend of the quarterback. If you throw the ball in his direction, he’ll grab the ball. He stands at 6-foot-2 so he has good size for a wide receiver.
The Browns have many avenues to take during this draft. They have the No. 13 pick in the first round and many around the league are projecting that they will take one of the top-rated wide receivers at that position. However, it seems likely that the team will take at least a second wide receiver in the later rounds and Heiligh could be a nice addition to a team trying to rebuild a very important part of the team.