The NFL draft is just over one week away. As this is my first year writing about Cleveland sports, I put together my final mock draft of what I think the Browns should do in the 2024 NFL draft. Much like the last mock draft I did for the Cleveland Browns, I followed a system in which I used the mock draft simulator from the Pro Football Network’s website. I ran 5 different simulations to see what players would fall to the Browns at each pick.

After these drafts were run, I looked at who would fall to the Browns most often. Then, I took the player I liked the most from my research into the prospects in this year’s draft so far. The reasoning for this setup of multiple simulations is to eliminate any prospects who may coincidentally “fall” later in the draft but most likely will not.

In this draft, however, let’s take a shot in the dark and add trades into the mix for this final draft. I decided this because Andrew Berry is the king of trading back in the draft for more capital, and I expect nothing to change this year as the Browns have a mostly filled-out roster already.

TRADE! ROUND 2 PICK: MICHAEL HALL JR., DT, OHIO STATE

In my scenarios, I was able to trade back 3 out of the 5 simulations to pick up a day 3 pick in next year’s draft and still select Michael Hall Jr. in the second round. Andrew Berry is the king of trading back in the draft for more capital, and I expect nothing to change this year as the Browns have a mostly filled-out roster already.

Michael Hall Jr. has taken a prospect visit with the Cleveland Browns, which already shows that the team has an interest in adding the young defensive tackle. Hall, a northeast Ohio native, is seen more as a 3rd down and pass situation tackle who is undersized for a full workload in the NFL. Despite this, Hall is a young player and fits the mold of a defensive tackle the Browns and Andrew Berry tend to go after. Under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, I would expect Hall to become, at the very least, a skilled interior pass rusher and a solid fit with the Cleveland Browns.

PICK 85: JA’TAVON SANDERS, TE, TEXAS

Okay, I know Ja’Tavon Sanders has a possibility to go higher in the draft than 85, but in my simulations, he fell to me 4 out of 5 times. I think Sanders is a perfect fit to be the Browns’ new backup tight end. NFL.com even has his pro comparison listed as David Njoku, and I could not agree more. Much like Njoku in his younger years, Sanders needs to work on pass blocking, something that Njoku has gotten much better at as he has blossomed into one of the better tight ends in the league. Letting Sanders learn behind Njoku could eventually turn into a scary 1-2 punch at tight end for the Browns, and I am all here for it. Sanders is as close to a must-grab for me as you can get, and I want to see the Browns get him, even if they have to trade up for him.