It is time once again for all football fans to gather around the TV and watch potential future stars get selected in the NFL Draft. These three days of selections can either help a team pave the way to a future championship or set them up to fall flat on their face. For the Cleveland Browns, this year it might be the latter half. As they continue to pay off the debt to get Deshaun Watson, they only have five picks for this year’s draft. Will these five draft picks make any impact?

Well, last year the Browns picked Cedric Tillman in the third round. He is currently a backup to Amari Cooper. For someone the Browns had high hopes for, Tillman fell flat with just 21 receptions for 224 yards and 0 touchdowns. David Bell, picked in 2022, has also not lived up to expectations. Given that, the team needed to seek out Jerry Jeudy. Along with Tillman and Bell, LDT Siaka Ika (third round pick), LDE Isaiah McGuire (fourth round pick), and RCB Cameron Mitchell (fifth round pick) are all third stringers. RG Luke Wypler (sixth round pick) is second string behind Wyatt Teller. The only players that had somewhat of an impact were RT Dawand Jones (fourth round pick), and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (fifth round pick). Jones did a great job filling in for Jack Conklin and Thompson-Robinson made do with what he had when filling in for Watson.

So, last year’s picks really didn’t pan out so well for the Browns. This makes it extremely difficult to think that this year’s draft will be any better. The picks the team has are 54, 85, 156, 206, and 243. If they can find a decent player given those picks, I would be surprised. Chad Reuter, from the NFL Network, believes the Browns need to be adding to O-Line, Linebacker, Defensive Line, Wide Receiver, and Tight End positions. I would agree with that assessment because the team just lost LB Sione TakiTaki, LB Anthony Walker, and TE Harrison Bryant. The biggest concern is the offensive line because of all the injuries sustained during the season. They lost Conklin and Jedrick Wills Jr. for the season while Joel Bitonio and Jones had minor injuries.

If I were making the pick at 54, I would try to go with the best available offensive linemen on the board. Knowing the Browns though, they might go in a different direction. As for tight ends, they have David Njoku, but his back up is Jordan Akins. No offense to Akins, but I thought Bryant was a better back up than him, and that’s why the Browns need to seek out another high-quality tight end. If they can’t do that, then expect a lot of playing time from Njoku - but remember he does get injured a lot.

Moving on to wide receiver, the team’s starters right now are Cooper, Jeudy, and Elijah Moore. I already talked about how Bell and Tillman have been disappointing, so what is the answer? Well, out of the five picks they have, there will be wide receivers to consider. To say who might be available and if they would be helpful is hard to know. You might as well ask a Magic 8 Ball what receivers will still be on the board since all the top tier wide receivers will be gone by the time the Browns make a pick. The same goes for linebackers and defensive linemen.

Now, the good news. Most of the defense stayed intact from last season. So, those positions will be competed for by last year’s rookies and veteran players that aren’t starters.

I don’t have high hopes for the Brown in this year’s draft, but hey you never know until it gets to the regular season. Given Watson’s susceptibility to frequent injury, maybe Matt Ryan will come out of retirement to be the new starter who gets us to the playoffs. If so, this draft talk won’t mean much. A man can dream.