The Cleveland Browns are hard at work building their draft board during the all-star circuit. What are some of the team’s biggest needs? Who at the Senior Bowl could be targeted? These questions and more are in this week’s draft mailbag.
The NFL Draft cycle kicked into high gear over the past week, with the Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl practices taking place. Cleveland Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, the head coach of the American Team, is getting a great look at some of the best prospects in this year’s class. The Senior Bowl is always one of my favorite events of the cycle, and I love to see the small school prospects get their chance to prove they can hang with the big-name guys. The NFL Draft is now less than 90 days away, so let’s get into another edition of the Browns draft mailbag.
Aside from OL and QB what is the consensus major need? -Jake Lyons
The Browns need more playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the running back room. They will likely add a veteran running back in free agency, but Jerome Ford is the only good option under contract, and luckily for the Browns, this is the year to need a running back. This class is an absolutely loaded running back class, and it would make sense for the Browns to add a couple in the draft to fill out the room and make the quarterback, whoever that is, job easier with a strong run game like Cleveland had at the beginning of the Kevin Stefanski era.
Thoughts on Georgia guard Tate Ratledge? -Squirt511
Tate Ratledge is an older prospect—he will turn 24 in April—so he likely won’t be Brown’s target until later in the draft. Overall, he is a solid guard prospect and a powerful player who uses great leverage and quick feet to take control of reps. He plays a physical, in-your-face brand of football that has an old-school feel and would help improve any team’s run game immediately.
