Final Browns 2021 7-round mock draft
The 2021 NFL draft is less than 24 hours away. We’ve almost made it to the finish line, Browns fans!
It’s time for one last stab at what Browns GM Andrew Berry his staff will do in the draft weekend. Without further ado, the final Browns Wire mock draft for 2021.
No. 26: Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota
If Bateman is off the board, and he very well could be, shift focus to Georgia CB Eric Stokes or Penn State EDGE Jayson Oweh. Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley is certainly a consideration, but without knowing how the team feels about his medical issues–he’s had two back surgeries before turning 21–it’s difficult to project him. Farley would not be a surprise but neither would passing on him.
Why Bateman?
Reflect back on Andrew Berry’s press conference last week and he talked about building long-term through the draft. Bateman can get his feet wet for a year and then take over as a starter with high-end potential in 2022 when the team has some very difficult financial decisions to make on Jarvis Landry and/or Odell Beckham Jr.
The player availability after the first 40 or so picks is very unpredictable, so I’ll just stick with players I believe are on Berry’s list of 114 draft-worthy players and the approximate range where they’re drafted.
Having said that, I do not believe Cleveland is making all these picks. I expect at least one of the third-round picks to be traded, perhaps both of them packaged together to move up. But forecasting exact trades on Day 2 and 3 is crazy, so I just made the picks as if the Browns will be making them.
Second round
Payton Turner, EDGE, Houston
Third round
Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky
Alim McNeil, DT, North Carolina State
Fourth round
Cam Bynum, CB, California
Dayo Odeyingbo, EDGE, Vanderbilt
Fifth round
Jaylon Moore, OL, Western Michigan
Sixth round
Elijah Mitchell, RB, Louisiana
Seventh round
Tyler Cole, S, Purdue
