One has to be impressed with the 6 athletes the Cleveland Browns drafted in the 2024 draft. The only issue I have with the Browns draft is in fact, that total number of 6. In the AFC North, the Browns have 3 rivals who all draft well. The Bengals drafted 10 athletes, the Ravens drafted 9, the Steelers drafted 7 and the Browns came in last with 6. Therein lies the problem. Unless the Browns hit on all 6 picks, it's highly likely they lost ground in the draft to their rivals because all the Bengals et al have to do is bat around .500 and they will add more talent than the Browns did.
The pain of the massive price of trading for Douche-on Watson to this point has been minimized by excellent drafting. The Browns scored big with first round talent drafted after the first round. Martin Emerson is going to be a Pro Bowl player for years to come and Dawand Jones was an absolute steal in the 4th round last season. Jones has Hall of Fame level potential and he showed it last season against the best possible competition with his amazing shut down of TJ Watt.
So, will the lack of early draft picks and the lack of draft picks in general in 2024 finally sting the Browns? Only time will tell however one has to be impressed with the Browns strategy. They scouted and drafted specific skills in the hopes that their draft picks can immediately fill roles productively and I believe they may well have hit the skills jackpot.
A great strategy combined with great scouting, may just yield a perfect score of 6 players who contribute in 2024. Unfortunately, because the Browns had 6 picks, 4 of which were in rounds 5, 6 and 7, a Lenny Barker like Perfect Draft, is probably what it will take to view the 2024 Browns draft as a success. Did the Browns have a "perfect draft"? As difficult as that is, I think there is a chance they may well have hit 1.000 or at least .830 in this draft.
Let's take a look at the new athletes drafted by Cleveland:
- Michael Hall Jr - His skill is explosiveness at the interior line of scrimmage. It's easy to imagine Jim Schwartz squeezing plenty of pressures out of Hall this season.
- Zak Zinter - A steal whose value slipped because a late season injury prevented Zinter from participating in the combine, Zinter's skill is his size and mobility. He can get out in space and put a body on speedy linebackers, he will contribute on the kick off return team in 2024 and be an able back up to Bitonio and Teller
- Jamari Thrash - The ability to separate deep. Douche-on and Jameis Winston will need this guy on the field 10 to 15 times a game.
- Nathaniel Watson - Experienced big body linebacker whose skill is tackling and he has the potential to be great in the new kick off format immediately.
- Myles Harden - Hard to draw any conclusions about an athlete from South Dakota, but i do trust the Browns scouting process. Harden is a depth player whose skill is his tracking ability and his path in 2024 might be the practice squad but I can imagine Harden being a punt team asset in games during the 2024 season.
- Jowon Briggs - off the charts strength and character. I listened to an interview with Briggs prior to the draft on the Bengals Booth Pod and was totally impressed. Given that the Browns had a rare miss in 2023 with Siaki Ika, who had trouble staying on his feet even when nobody blocked him, it is not a stretch to imagine Briggs seeing quality time in 2024 in the interior D line. Briggs skill is more that of a traditional tackle, he can occupy and control space and unike Ika, he will stay on his feet.
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