NFL draft season is upon us and so is the season of countless mock drafts and articles surrounding what each of the 32 NFL teams should do with their selections. I’d like to throw my hat in the ring as a Cleveland Browns commentator as I see two players available at both of the browns’ first two picks, 54 and 85  that make sense for the Browns’ current roster holes. to speak on these roster holes, the Browns have multiple Defensive linemen who are leaving for free agency, the biggest names being Za’Darius Smith, Shelby Harris, and Jordan Elliott who all held above 40% snap percentage in the defensive line rotation for the 2023 season. The other hole in the Browns’ roster I’d like to address is arguably the biggest, Wide Reciever. The Browns have a star receiver in Amari Cooper, and the young and promising Elijah Moore, however, past those two there has been a lack of stability in the receiver room as previous draft picks have yet to show any true flashes of potential.

Before I go over the two players I’d like to see be selected by the Cleveland Browns with their first two picks in the draft, I’d like to go over how I concluded that these players would be available at spots 54 and 85 respectively. I used the mock draft simulator from the Pro Football Network’s website, in which I ran 5 different simulations to see what players would fall to the browns at each pick. After these drafts were run I looked to who would fall to the browns most often and took the player I liked the most from my research into the prospects in this year’s draft thus far. The reasoning for this setup of multiple simulations is to eliminate any prospects who may coincidentally “fall” to later in the draft, as if something like that were to happen it would tend to be a no-brainer for the Browns to select that player, much like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah did for the Browns in the 2021 NFL draft.

 PICK 54: T’Vondre Sweat, DT, TEXAS

T’vondre Sweat was at the Browns’ 54th pick 3 times during my simulations, in which I took him all three times. Sweat, nicknamed meatloaf or loaf for short, is a massive 6’4″ and 362 lbs. Sweat played in all 13 games in his final season, posting the best stat line of his college career, totaling 45 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and four pass breakups. Sweat is my favorite prospect for the Browns at the 54th pick, his ability to eat up double teams, and disrupt the run on top of his size is exactly the type of defensive line prospect I want to see the Browns add to the rotation for the 2024 season. Sweat’s experience in the game of football is also nothing to scoff at, as he has played in over 60 games for the Longhorns. Sweat would be the perfect rookie to replace players such as Shelby Harris and Jordan Elliott especially because I do not see the Browns resigning both of them. I am so high on Sweat that I would even be comfortable for the Browns to trade up for a higher second-round position to jump other defensive tackle needing team such as Cincinnati to ensure he wears Brown and orange in the 2024 season.

 PICK 85: Devontez Walker, WR, NORTH CAROLINA

Devontez Walker was at the Browns’ pick in all five of my simulations and I selected him three times.  Some may know Walker from his scary hit against Georgia Tech in October which saw him get carted off the field. Walker is a Redshirt Junior from North Carolina who stands at 6’2″ and weighs 200 pounds and played with Drake Maye at North Carolina, but also has played for NC Central University, an FCS program, and Kent State University, a non-power five school down the road from Cleveland. During his final college season, Walker played in 6 games, receiving the ball 35 times for 600 yards and 6 touchdowns. I love Walker’s size and ability to beat zone coverages. The Browns need a true deep-threat wide receiver which Marquise Brown was supposed to be in the 2023 season. The young and promising Walker can seamlessly fill this role with his size and skill and with a hope for a return to form for the Browns quarterback, Deshaun Watson, Walker could find himself contributing early into his career.

Regardless if the Browns select the players I mentioned and have faith in, I want to communicate to all Browns fans and Cleveland sports fans in general, that I have full faith in Andrew Berry and this Browns front office to make the best choices for us to win, and you should too.