Cleveland Browns: Final 7-Round 2018 mock draft (Vol. 7)
By Peter Smith
Round 2 (via PHI): Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon –- 5-10.875, 227 lbs.
- 6,435 total yards (23.9 percent) and 64 total touchdowns (22.6 percent) in four seasons. 5,621 rushing yards (5.55 yards per carry), 79 receptions for 814 receiving yards.
Age: 22 years old (Born Feb. 24, 1996)
Height: 5-11.5
Weight: 229 lbs
40 Yard Dash: 4.54s
Broad Jump: 9’10”
Vertical: 34″
3-Cone: 6.9s
Shuttle: 4.16s
Bench: 17 reps
As the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, John Dorsey selected Kareem Hunt in the third round out of Toledo, who went on to have an incredible rookie year. After trading away their third round pick to the Buffalo Bills for Tyrod Taylor, 64th pick stands out as a possible pick for the Browns to add to their stable of backs with Duke Johnson and the recently signed Carlos Hyde.
Royce Freeman, both on tape and from data analysis, looks to be an absolute stud and it’s odd how quiet things are when it comes to him. He’s a 230-pound back with the ability to make opponents miss and run through them. Freeman is also a really good back in the screen game and is pretty unstoppable in short yardage.
Oregon ran a straight zone scheme, so he’s got vision and understands how to cut off blocks. It shouldn’t be a huge adjustment for him to go to more gap concepts, but the Browns may decide to operate a more zone based scheme, since Duke Johnson is also really effective being able to choose his own path.
The Browns would have two bigger backs that can grind out drives and maybe close out games in the fourth quarter while having Duke being the weapon he’s always been. The other name that stands out for the Browns is Nick Chubb from Georgia, who looks more like Hyde, but is substantially better on a more nuanced level. In either case, the Browns would have a running back with franchise talent.