Cleveland Browns Would Be Wise to Dabble in Supplemental Draft
By Erik Lambert
The NFL supplemental draft is fast approaching. For most teams, this isn’t big news as they may not believe in what the event offers. The Cleveland Browns do.
No surprise. Most of the time the supplemental draft is a wasted effort on players who failed their basic responsibilities to enter the actual draft. That makes them unreliable and unreliable players don’t typically have success in the NFL. That said, there are always exceptions to the rule. No team understands this better than the Browns.
They, more than any franchise in the league have made the most out of the supplemental draft. Twice they’ve used a high draft choice in the event and twice they came away with stars. In 1985 they spent a 1st round pick to secure quarterback Bernie Kosar from Miami. Then in 2012, they used a 2nd rounder to nab Baylor wide receiver, Josh Gordon.
Though Gordon became a massive headache due to his marijuana issues, he’s still been a success on the field. Given the projections for the 2018 supplemental class, it feels like the Browns might want to put that good luck to further use.
Supplemental class perfectly equipped for Browns needs
There’s a reason that the Browns drafted Denzel Ward 4th overall back in April. They had a bad pass defense last season, ranking a distant 19th. A big part of that was their depleted situation at cornerback. Trading Joe Haden certainly didn’t help matter and may have been one of the final straws that drove Sashi Brown out of power as GM. Drafting Ward was a way to correct that mistake.
Can he fix the problem by himself though? The arrival of E.J. Gaines also helps but if this team is going to get back to winning, they need quality depth at such an important position. So making an aggressive play for more help could be a big boost. Luckily the supplemental draft class appears ready to oblige. Arguably the two best talents available are Western Michigan corner Sam Beal and Virginia Tech corner Adonis Alexander.
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Both are considered draftable talents with the ability to eventually start in the NFL. Cleveland could easily get one of them and thus be not only more talented at cornerback but also much deeper going into this season. Coupled with a healthier pass rush, that defense could become something serious in the near future.