Browns Stuff

Less than a week until the NFL draft, so here's an update on the Browns.

CDub's Sports and Entertainment has a very good position-by-position overview of where the Browns stand a week before the draft. CDub has prepared four part profiles of the Browns offensive and defensive players, that include his own list of the Browns' top offensive and defensive needs. He's also done a special teams profile. To make these profiles a bit easier to find, I've done a search of his website. You can access all of his previews by clicking this link. I've seen other position-by-position previews, but CDub's are the best. They're definitely worth reading.

Dawghouse Blog has some draft-related musings. I generally agree with where he thinks the Browns are heading with their first round pick, although a lot of the gurus are apparently saying it's Kamerion Wimbley, not Ngata or Bunkley. (Of course, that information comes via Roger Brown, so consider the source.) The more reliable Terry Pluto still holds out hope that the Browns will be able to finagle a deal for A.J. Hawk, and is attracted to Vince Young like a moth to a flame.

The idea that the Browns may be able to fill their needs at LB in the second round is also supported by Dawgs by Nature, which has this post suggesting that the Giants' signing of Lavar Arrington may have increased the pool of quality linebackers who will be available after the first round. If the Browns do wait until the second round to draft a linebacker, the Lake County News Herald suggests that the guy they pick might be Iowa's Abdul Hodge or Maryland's D'Qwell Jackson.

Speaking of linebackers, Steve Doerschuk's Browns Team Report for The Sporting News has lots of interesting stuff in it, including speculation that if the Browns decide to convert one of their OLBs to the ILB position, it's likely to be Matt Stewart and not Chaun Thompson.

If you're interested in later round speculation, check out Steve Doerschuk's Canton Repository column from last Friday, reprinted here. While Doerschuk names several wide receivers as potential later round picks, Len Pasquarelli's report that the Browns are shopping Lee Suggs indicates that another running back is likely to be on their shopping list. Of course, the prolific Doerschuk thought of that too, and identified some possibilities in this column in Saturday's Repository. Tony Grossi came up with his own list in yesterday's Plain Dealer.