Cleveland Browns address secondary in 7-round 2021 NFL mock draft
By Kyle Edmond
Round 2, 56th Overall
2. player. Scouting Report. Paulson Adebo. Stanford. 53. Pick Analysis. CB
Greedy Williams hasn’t panned out in Cleveland, struggling to stay healthy, so the Browns might be able to hit the redo button here. The team has made moves to keep their head above water with players like Kevin Johnson and Terrance Mitchell, but they need another young cornerback opposite Denzel Ward.
Paulson Adebo has first-round potential, but with Stanford having yet to play this year, his stock could drop. Across 22 games with Stanford, being 13 in 2018 and nine in 2019, Adebo was able to snag eight interceptions while adding 27 passes defended. Ball-hawk ability is a huge draw to NFL teams and it remains an area that the Browns need.
Round 3, 87th Overall
87. player. Pick Analysis. EDGE. Joe Tryon. Scouting Report. Washington. 53
Adding Adrian Clayborn this past offseason helped the edge, but adding another youthful player to the position group is something the Browns should explore in the 2021 NFL Draft, especially with multiple picks in the third round.
Myles Garrett is turning into one of the best defensive players in the league, but the other side is a toss-up. Clayborn and Olivier Vernon have had their moments, but there hasn’t been consistent play from the spot.
Like Adebo, Joe Tryon hasn’t been able to play this season which is hurting his draft stock. During the 2019 season, Tryon logged eight sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Total tackles is a bit of a concern with just 41 last year, but his ability to make plays in the backfield would be a big grab in the third round.
Round 3, 94th Overall
53. Vanderbilt. Dimitri Moore. 3. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. LB. player
The Browns linebackers have been more impressive than many expected, but they have a few band-aid fixes that will need to be addressed. Malcolm Smith has been steady but isn’t a long-term answer while Mack Wilson has been a bit subpar from what was anticipated.
To add to the unit Cleveland needs to add a pure tackler to their linebackers and that’s what Dimitri Moore would provide. During his freshman season in 2018, he totaled 84 tackles, averaging seven per game. He increased his total to 99 in 2019 with his average jumping to 8.25. Now, this season he has 36 through six games.
Moore might not be an every-down player, but he’s another rotational linebacker with the potential to grow into a larger role in time.