Will Cleveland Browns Regret Drafting Corey Coleman?

The Cleveland Browns acquired additional draft picks and then selected wide receiver Corey Coleman. Did the Browns overthink things?

You have to give the Cleveland Browns credit: The Browns acted as most expected the team would on the opening night of the 2016 National Football League Draft, and yet the Browns still managed to surprise those following the draft.

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Once the Browns agreed to trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and move down to pick No. 8 in this year’s NFL Draft earlier in April, new head coach Hue Jackson and the team’s new front office had to choose the next step knowing that quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz would not be in play.

Would the Browns stay at No. 8 and take the best player available? Would Cleveland reach for a QB with pick No. 8? Would the Browns find a willing participant for another trade that would land the Browns additional picks and that would put Cleveland in a position to take a wide receiver later in the first round?

The Browns went with Option C, allowing the Tennessee Titans to obtain the rights to the eighth overall pick. Cleveland, meanwhile, moved down to pick No. 15 and added to what was already an impressive stockpile of future selections.

Ohio State fans who also cheer on the Browns may have been disappointed that OSU players defensive end Joey Bosa and running back Ezekiel Elliot were both off of the board by the time the Browns were ready to actually use a pick for something other than a trade. Neither of those players were ever going to be selected by the Browns for different reasons (i.e. “analytics”).

It also should be noted that picks 8-14 went perfectly for the Browns. Not a single player who should have been a realistic target for the Browns within that section of the NFL Draft was selected. The stars and fates had aligned for the Browns to select lengthy wide receiver Laquon Treadwell out of Mississippi, the young man believed by many to be the top wide receiver of this class and a play-maker supposedly coveted by the Browns.

Then came the surprise: Cleveland drafted WR Corey Coleman out of Baylor. Listed at 5’11” had a standout year as a junior in 2015. He reeled in 74 passes, scored 20 touchdowns and finished the season with 1,363 yards.

Cleveland fans looking for the positives on Coleman will love his speed, quick hands and his ability to be a vertical thread down-field. Those who were hoping that the Browns would have selected Treadwell will not love that Coleman is, on paper, undersized for a No. 1 wideout. They also won’t enjoy learning that NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock had issues with Coleman’s route-running inabilities on the air after the Coleman pick was announced.

Needless to say, the Coleman pick was polarizing among observers, fans and just about everybody watching the NFL Draft.

Coleman’s Cleveland career will forever be tied to several other to-be rookies in 2016. The list begins, of course, with the previously mentioned Wentz. One of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL over the past month was that the Browns were not in love with either Goff or Wentz. Coleman will first be tasked with proving himself to be a better value-pick for the Browns than Wentz will be for the Eagles.

The nightmare for the Browns — and for Cleveland fans — is that Wentz is a franchise quarterback in Philadelphia for the next decade.

Wentz being nothing special with the Eagles, if that happens, would not automatically take the pressure off of Coleman. While some may hope that Coleman will be similar to Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown because of the physical traits that the two share, Coleman may instead need to be Cleveland’s version of New York Giants superstar Odell Beckham.

The Browns began the 2016 NFL Draft without a true No. 1 wide receiver on the roster. One could make the argument that Cleveland barely had a second-tier wideout before Thursday night. Not only will Coleman be asked to immediately be a significant contributor for the Browns. Coleman will be required to be a fast learner and do so while playing alongside quarterback Robert Griffin III, who also went to Baylor and who is trying to resurrect his career with the Browns.

The biggest knock on the Browns drafting Coleman, when all is said and done, is that it could be considered to be an overdraft. Every other wide receiver remained on the overall board until pick No. 21. Is it possible that the Browns could have moved down a third time, acquired even more picks and then taken Coleman in the twenties?

And what about QB Paxton Lynch? The Browns passed on the quarterback out of Memphis with pick No. 8, and Cleveland did so again later on in the first round. Lynch’s draft moment came a little after 11:00 pm ET, when defending Super Bowl champions the Denver Broncos traded up to the No. 26 pick to acquire Lynch.

Lynch may be a work in progress. He could also evolve and become the real deal and an example of another stellar QB who the Browns didn’t take because those running the team at the time believed they were the smartest people in the league.

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Perhaps everything will work out for the Browns this time around. Maybe Cleveland will learn that Josh Gordon, another former Baylor WR and an athlete who remains suspended by the NFL up through at least the end of July, will be eligible to play before the start of preseason, and maybe RG3, Gordon and Coleman will spark an offensive revolution in Cleveland.