5 small school studs Cleveland Browns should target in 2022 NFL Draft

Sometimes you can find a needle in a haystack and these small college prospects could certainly be on the Cleveland Browns radar for the NFL Draft

Like most NFL teams, when you start looking back at previous draft picks, in this case for the Cleveland Browns, you start to see almost always the team takes players from primarily the Power 5 conferences. Finding athletes that were drafted from smaller schools like Charlotte, Kent State or Florida Atlantic is harder to find. Finding that future NFL player that sticks around more than a training camp can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

The Browns have chosen several players from smaller schools in the past, however, most in recent years haven’t been able to sustain any type of success. There are a few though that have managed to progress and are still in the NFL today.

In 2020, with general manager Andrew Berry in charge, the team took the tight end, Harrison Bryant, out of Florida Atlantic in the fourth round. He’s had a very respectable first two seasons with the team and I suspect an even bigger leap in production this upcoming season.

In 2019, there were two players, tackle Drew Forbes, from S.E Missouri St., and cornerback Donnie Lewis, out of Tulane that were picked in the late rounds. Forbes has been on the Browns practice squad and actually played in two games with the team last season. Lewis was last seen with the Cincinnati Bengals but was cut by them in 2021.

Some might remember offensive lineman Austin Corbett, out of Nevada, who was drafted by the Browns in 2018. He is now with the Los Angeles Rams and won a Super Bowl. And then there’s a cornerback like Pierre Desir, out of Lindenwood, a Division II school outside of St. Louis, who was the last pick of the Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft and is still playing in the league. We all remember that draft because quarterback Johnny Manziel was drafted by the team.

I always thought Desir’s game was great. He has good length and seemed then to have great instincts. To date, Desir has played in 85 NFL games and has 10 career interceptions. Last season he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and started two games and had two interceptions.

All of this is to remind us and the Browns that there are some really talented players from smaller schools that can and will succeed moving forward. Hopefully, Cleveland is targeting these following players who look to have all the intangibles to make them good competitors in the NFL.