Cleveland Browns: Grading the 2020 NFL Draft class, pick-by-pick analysis

Draft Grade: B

After addressing their biggest team need in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft with a tackle, the Cleveland Browns went with arguably their second biggest need, a safety, in round two. The Browns ultimately drafted LSU safety Grant Delpit, but not before trading down a few spots.

The Indianapolis Colts sent the Cleveland Browns the 160th pick in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft to move up from pick 44 to pick 41 in the second round to select Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor.

With the 44th pick, the Browns drafted a guy that was once viewed as a first-round lock and was voted “The Best Defensive Back in College Football” as the recipient of the Jim Thorpe Award. Grant Delpit certainly has the talent and potential to become a great NFL safety but will have to clean up his game in a couple of areas.

Delpit played through a high ankle sprain in 2019, likely playing a big role in his drop off from his 2018 tape to his play this past season. But the big flaw in his game is legitimate: He struggles to tackle, particularly in open space.

Although he is a very powerful hitter when playing downhill, his technique and ability to break down and make a tackle is suspect. Delpit shows that he is capable of being a solid tackler, he just has to be more focused, consistent and maybe healthy to be the tackler he has to be at the next level.

In zone coverage, Delpit has great instincts. He can play a single-high or two-deep zone safety with the ability to roam the field and make big plays. He can come up around the line of scrimmage and bang in the run game or be physical in man coverage against tight ends.

But even in coverage, Delpit is not a sure thing. He seemed to struggle in man coverage against faster receivers and as a single-high safety to cover the whole deep portion of the field. That lack of ability to keep up with high-end speed, especially in 2019 may have been caused by his ankle sprain, but he will have to prove that he is healthy and fully effective coming into the NFL.

After no safeties were selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns had the ability to go get any of them that they preferred. In my mind, making sure that they got Xavier McKinney via a trade-up was the smartest move.

Instead, the Cleveland Browns let the board come to them at 41, allowing Delpit and Antoine Winfield Jr. of Minnesota to be available to them at 41, as well as 44 after their trade back. McKinney was option one and Winfield was option two in my mind, so Delpit isn’t quite an A grade for me.

The other options available combined with the slight flaws in his game drop Delpit’s grade from what his promise and potential could make it. I say “B” when averaging everything out, grabbing a very talented player nonetheless.