Cleveland Browns: 2017 NFL Draft First Round Review

The Cleveland Browns ended up selecting three players in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. The initial reaction has a lot of good, and curiosity moving forward.

After securing Myles Garrett, the rest of the first round for the Cleveland Browns was a whirlwind. They ultimately traded twice and ended up with three players in the first round, picking 25th and 29th. There’s definitely a lot of good, but certainly some questions with the strategy, especially with the rest of the draft still to go to provide badly needed context.

The Good

The Browns got the best player in the entire class in Myles Garrett by a wide margin. He is young, freakishly athletic and was incredibly productive during his time at Texas A&M. It’s also clear he’s going to step in as a defensive end across from Emmanuel Ogbah immediately.

David Njoku is a mismatch and causes major problems for defenses from the word go. In a game where it’s incredibly difficult to defend 6-4, 240-pound players, the Browns got a tremendous athlete with upside at that spot. He moves like a wide receiver and he may not actually be done growing.

The Browns added another first-round pick in 2018. Right now, the team has an extra first-round pick, two extra second-round picks, an extra fourth- and sixth-rounder in addition to their full complement of their own picks.

The oldest player of this group is Jabrill Peppers, who is 21 years old and doesn’t turn 22 until Oct. 5. Njoku won’t turn 21 until July 10.

Dec 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes tight end David Njoku (86) reacts after a touchdown in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Russell Athletic Bowl at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /

In terms of what the Browns value, these three picks are fantastic examples. In terms of explosion, these three have it. Peppers is actually the least explosive of the three, but might be the most fluid, even though there’s no athletic testing data to support it.

Production; they all produced significantly. Again, Peppers is a little unique in terms for base statistics in coverage, but wherever they had him, he put up big time numbers in terms of tackles and tackles for loss, along with making things happen with the ball in his hands.

And on character, the Browns added three players that teams would love to have in their building. They’ve been great people at their respective college programs, appear to have fantastic competitive drive and appear trustworthy off the field (I’ll get to Peppers a little later).

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If any of these players has had surgery, I couldn’t find it. Peppers missed time as a freshman and junior with lower body injuries, but never had to have surgery. Garrett only suffered the high ankle sprain as a junior, and it doesn’t appear as though Njoku has ever been injured.

The Curious

At first blush, the Peppers pick has more questions than answers. I love the kid. Peppers seems to be a genuinely tremendous human being. He grew up with a father in jail and lost a brother to gun violence.

Despite that, the only things anyone has to say about Peppers are positive. He has a non-stop motor and plays with tremendous intensity. Peppers played out of position as a junior for the sake of the team, playing linebacker. He did it at his own expense and didn’t complain about it. Peppers also played offensive snaps as a rushing threat, giving the Wolverines everything he had. In a world where players sat out bowl games for their personal benefit, Peppers did everything he could for his team and teammates.

With all of that said, what’s the plan for Peppers? That’s what makes it curious. Is he simply a strong safety in a position group with Derrick Kindred and Ibraheim Campbell, who also presumably returns kicks and punts?

In his career of 27 games, Peppers had one interception and 10 pass deflections. All of those pass deflections came during his sophomore season. His on-ball production is pretty low, even keeping in mind that he was a linebacker as a junior. The Browns must see pass coverage ability in the limited number of snaps he played man, but it’s still a little bit of projection.

It’s going to be interesting to see exactly what Gregg Williams has in mind for him. Again, a lot of draft to go, but the other part that makes Peppers curious is that the secondary was already lacking players that could contribute in coverage and, at least from a metrics standpoint, they didn’t improve and might have gotten worse.

The other thing with Peppers is the diluted sample. Given the fact he did two days worth of drills at the combine, it’s at least possible that Peppers just drank an incredible amount of water to stay hydrated and avoid cramping. It’s also possible he was trying to flush his system of something illegal, be it drugs or something performance enhancing.

Part of the problem is the NFL system when it comes to governing this issue. In addition to not re-testing again when it comes to diluted sample, even if the player is ultimately innocent, they are entered into the NFL drug protocol.

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /

So, in the event Peppers were to be caught doing something down the line, he has a strike against him. Obviously the hope is that Peppers was innocent and has no interest in jeopardizing his future with drug-related suspensions, but the issue just highlights a flawed system and it’s one more concern with Peppers.

For all of the excitement that comes with adding three players and their tantalizing talent, when looking back at the first round, some thoughts are inescapable.

Okay, I love Garrett, I really like Njoku and I’m listening when it comes to Peppers. But the Browns leave Day 1 without a quarterback. And they also did not improve their ability to cover in the secondary. Those were the two biggest concerns for the team entering this draft. Now headed to Day 2, those are the two major concerns and the quarterback part of that equation may simply not happen this year.

The rest of the draft may find some answers, but the initial reaction looking back at the first round, in those two areas, the Browns are exactly where they started. Heading to Day 2 with picks 52 and 65, there are some opportunities to address some major weaknesses on the team. Clearly, there’s a lot of work to do with this team and roster, but the Browns still control seven picks in this draft and, with the talent available, they can make some improvements in the areas they failed to address on Day 1.

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