The Browns have zeroed in on a unique player for their No. 2 overall pick in Thursday night’s draft, according to our sports commentator Terry Pluto. Pluto believes the team will pass on a quarterback and take Travis Hunter of the University of Colorado.
“When you draft Travis Hunter, you're taking what amounts to two players,” Pluto said. “He played both wide receiver on offense and defensive backs, specifically cornerback, on defense. He played an average (of) 110 snaps per game at Colorado.”
Pluto said that while Hunter has expressed playing both offense and defense in the NFL, the Browns will likely use him as a wide receiver.
“He caught 96 passes this past year and dropped only three," Pluto said. "That's a phenomenal rate. I was just blown away by looking at the different tapes of him in terms of how strong his hands are, even though he's like 6'2 and about 200 pounds. Then you roll in a couple of intangibles. He's been an academic All-American the last couple of years,” Pluto said.
Pluto believes the Browns will get a solid player in Hunter. As for quarterbacks, the Tennessee Titans are expected to draft Miami’s Cam Ward No.1 overall. The next-best available quarterback is believed to be Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
“When it comes to Shedeur Sanders, people aren't so sold on him that, ‘Oh, you've got to take him. He's that terrific,’" Pluto said. "I put together a list of quarterbacks taken at number two in the last 10 years. There was a list of six of them and four were average or well below average NFL quarterbacks. A lot of times what happens, the team with the second pick in the draft that says, ‘We need a quarterback. This is the best we could do. We're just going to take them.’ Where you would never say that about a player in another position."
After the No. 2 pick, the Browns have the 33rd pick overall, the first in the second round. Pluto believes that’s where the Browns could pick a quarterback.
“I like a guy named Jaxson Dart from Mississippi, Ole Miss," Pluto said. "He's an interesting quarterback prospect. You know, there's some other guys, a guy named Jalen Milroe from Alabama,” Pluto said.
New Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was Milroe's offensive coordinator at Alabama in 2023.
If the Browns pass on a quarterback at No. 2, it's likely 2023 season hero Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett will duel it out for the starting quarterback job this upcoming season. Flacco was signed midseason that year and led the Browns to the playoffs.
“Kenny Pickett was a first round pick a few years ago by the Pittsburgh Steelers," Pluto said. "It was just sort of so-so there...it's called a reclamation project. Sometimes there are quarterbacks who are drafted in the first round (and) they struggle with the team that originally takes them. And then a few years later, they have a good year or two somewhere else. If not, (they’ll) see if Joe Flacco has a little bit of that magic left over from in 2023 when he rescued the Browns."
Pluto said overall, the team has a lot of needs, especially on offense.
“This team was 3-14 last year," Pluto said. " (Quarterback)Deshaun Watson and his failure wasn't the only reason the Browns were 3-14. They had a bunch of problems in other areas. If you do it right, you could have a franchise changing draft. By that I mean, you take a team that was 3-14, doesn't mean you go 14 -3 the next year. But, if you nail a couple of those picks suddenly, you can go 9-8, which looks good after 3-14 and also do it with players that'll be around for a few more years.”
Pluto said the pressure will be on general manager Andrew Berry.
“Since he took over as general manager, he really has not had a very high draft pick, nothing like a top five pick or anything," Pluto said. "In fact, he only had two first round picks total, so we haven't seen him on this big stage of a high pick and how they'll handle it. So, now they get to see if they could build a new version of the Browns.”
