The pre-draft buzz around the Cleveland Browns has been impossible to ignore, and it’s rightfully leaving fans a bit wary.
After addressing key needs at right tackle, guard and potentially center, depending on how head coach Todd Monken plans to deploy Elgton Jenkins, GM Andrew Berry has checked a lot of boxes early in this 2026 offseason, while leaving one of the most important ones empty.
Left tackle remains one of Cleveland’s top roster voids, after the team surprisingly passed on top free agent Rasheed Walker at the bargain price of $10 million on a one-year deal. The swing tackle spot will also need to be addressed. Dawand Jones should be in the mix, now entering the final year of his rookie deal, but the Browns will be adding offensive tackles, most likely early in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest first-round mock for ESPN tabbed Cleveland with a pick Browns fans are all too familiar with at this point.
With the first of their two first-round picks, No. 6 overall, Kiper has Cleveland selecting Monroe Freeling, the left tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs (Monken’s former stomping grounds) whose stock has been on the rise since last month’s scouting combine.
“Freeling could be the final piece of the puzzle,” Kiper wrote. “His decision to declare for this class was originally a little bit of a surprise, considering he had 18 college starts. But I see franchise left tackle traits; he's quick and alert in pass pro, using his long 34¾-inch arms to his advantage.”
The part that has Browns fans uneasy is baked into Kiper’s analysis. Freeling, 21, opted to forgo his senior season to declare for the 2026 draft, likely looking to capitalize on a class that’s thin at the top at left tackle. Prior to the combine, he wasn’t viewed as a top-10 prospect.
That changed after he tested off the charts in Indianapolis, but should the Browns really make him the first offensive tackle off the board, passing on potential studs like wide receiver Carnell Tate and linebacker Sonny Styles? It’s still extremely early in the pre-draft process, but Freeling at No. 6 overall feels like a reach.
The more surprising part of Kiper’s latest mock comes later in the first round, when the Browns come back on the clock at No. 24 overall, the pick they acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars during Day 1 of the 2025 draft. In that spot, Kiper has Cleveland landing an incredible value at wide receiver, a name that other analysts have had firmly in their top-15 overall prospects.
Mel Kiper Jr.’s Makai Lemon projection could be a game-changer for the Browns
While the Browns have a clear need at left tackle, they don't need to overextend to fill that void at No. 6 overall. They hold three selections inside the top 40, and in a perfect world, they’ll add at least one young tackle to the pipeline along with a wide receiver capable of contributing out of the chute.
If Kiper’s projected draft fall for Makai Lemon carries any weight, there could be more late-Day 1 value at the wide receiver position than expected.
The USC star is one of the consensus top-three receiver prospects in this year’s class, along with Tate and Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson. Kiper had Lemon going No. 14 overall to the Baltimore Ravens in his debut mock draft back in January, but with the Ravens getting gutted in free agency, he sees Lemon slipping into Cleveland’s range in the 20s.
“I'm a huge fan of Lemon, and he could go earlier than 24th. The board just sort of fell this way in this mock draft," Kiper said. "Cleveland wouldn't be complaining, though. … He has a slot receiver's build at 5-foot-11 and 192 pounds, but he plays as if he's much bigger, with a fierce approach to the game. Coupled with Monroe Freeling at No. 6, this would be a good first round for the Browns.”
This is one of those classic mock draft season twists, where early projections have Lemon going around the top 10, and Freeling on the Day 1 borderline, and then everything flips a month later.
No one would be surprised if the Browns look to land their offensive tackle of the future at No. 6 overall, when they could have their choice between Freeling, Utah’s Spencer Fano, and Miami’s Francis Mauigoa. If Berry’s brain trust believes a high-end skill position talent like Lemon or Tyson could be available around their next pick at No. 24, going with the less sexy approach up top could become the play.