These two would transform their respective position groups in Cleveland
With the Senior Bowl wrapped up and now just two months between now and the 2025 NFL Draft, mock drafts are being fired up yet again. The Cleveland Browns are in a uniquely great position ahead of 2025 and beyond, as they hold four picks in the top 100 of the draft and can reshape their team with some major talent throughout the class.
ESPN has released a new post-Senior Bowl mock draft, going through two rounds of the draft to project where the cards will fall come April. The Browns, Tennessee Titans, and New York Giants are the three teams in the same position – in great need of a starting quarterback – who also pick in the top three of the draft.
Whether or not all three take a quarterback is the biggest question this offseason, to which the answer is, probably not. That answer is supported by this ESPN mock draft.
ESPN’s two-round mock draft has Browns filling two other positional needs
Matt Miller, an ESPN draft analyst, wrote up a two-round mock draft that took into account what he saw at both the Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl. Miller has two pretty fun and bold predictions for the Browns in the draft with his mock, naming Travis Hunter to the Browns at 2, and Trey Amos at 33.
Hunter, as all football fans should know by now, is considered a potentially generational talent in this draft class. His two-way play with Colorado earned him the Heisman Trophy for 2024, and it literally doesn’t matter where Cleveland hypothetically decides to play him if they took him – he’s elite at both receiving and defense in the secondary. They’d be upgrading a positional group either way.
“The Browns are facing questions about quarterback Deshaun Watson’s future, so it’s logical to think they would be all-in on a passer here. But Cleveland isn’t a lock to draft a QB given the money ithas committed at the position. Instead, the Browns might go with the most dynamic player in the draft,” said Miller in his justification for mocking Hunter to The Land.
He added that he feels the Browns need help at “both receiver and corner,” which is true. Denzel Ward, while an All-Pro at corner for Cleveland, cannot do it alone. The league-leader in passes defended in 2024 could use another pressing corner in the secondary, and Hunter could provide that.
If Cleveland loses Elijah Moore in free agency, then Hunter can just slot in alongside Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman to provide an elite added layer in the air for whichever quarterback they start in 2025.
At 33rd overall, Miller has the Browns landing Amos out of Ole Miss. This signals that Miller was probably thinking of Hunter as more of a receiving option for Cleveland and not a corner, as Amos is a CB.
“The Browns will likely opt to find a short-term quarterback in free agency and prepare to draft one early in 2026. Amos, meanwhile, had three interceptions for the Rebels in 2024 and can start immediately opposite Denzel Ward with his press-man skills and great coverage instincts, checking another box,” said Miller about his selection of Amos here for Cleveland.
Amos is seen as one of the best cornerbacks in this draft class alongside Will Johnson, Benjamin Morrison, and Jahdae Barron. Hunter is, of course, the top CB coming out of this draft, but Amos would be an excellent consolation if the Browns don’t want Hunter slotting in at both positions he plays.
This sort of return for Cleveland would be excellent. They’d add a franchise player in Hunter to their offense to aid their future quarterback and take the load off of Jeudy, and they’d add some big help for Ward on defense. While it’d be nice for them to take someone like Abdul Carter at 2 to really boost their defense, their defensive line isn’t short-staffed the way their secondary was in 2024.
