Cleveland Browns: Potential 2019 NFL Draft targets in the Shrine Game

The 2019 NFL Draft process and All-Star Games are getting underway with the East-West Shrine Game, and the Cleveland Browns should be watching these prospects.

The NFL Draft process is in full swing as All-Star games get going and potential prospects get to show off their talents for NFL personnel against better competition.  The Cleveland Browns have their head coach, almost have their coaching staff decided, so it’s time to get fully engaged in scouting players for the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft. And that starts with the All-Star games and in particular, the East-West Shrine Game.

This game has found produced quite a bit of NFL talent over the years and this year should be no exception. The 2018 edition featured P.J. Hall who was drafted in the second round by the Oakland Raiders and Phillip Lindsay, who was voted in to the Pro Bowl as an undrafted free agent signee by the Denver Broncos. The Cleveland Browns also drafted a player that participated in the Shrine Game last year. Unfortunately, it was Chad Thomas out of the University of Miami (FL) who doesn’t appear capable of playing dead.

The Shrine Game is also one of the rare opportunities a Zip (University of Akron), an Oredigger (Colorado School of Mines), a Dino (University of Calgary) and a Boilermaker (Purdue) can compete on the same field.

Based on production, there are 32 players that stand out as potential draft targets for the Browns. This doesn’t account for athleticism or anything else – it’s purely based on production. This also means that since offensive line production is not represented in a statistic that until there is athletic data for them, they won’t be included.

The result is the defensive prospects will naturally outnumbers the offensive prospects at this stage, but the Shrine Game’s talent pool is even more drastically in favor of the defense. There are just six offensive players that look promising based on production compared to 26 defensive players.

This doesn’t guarantee anything about these players and it doesn’t mean other players that didn’t hit the particular production measures are off the board. All it means is that in this stage of evaluation, given the data available, these 32 prospects stand the best chance to be productive NFL players. With athletic data combined with tape, that could change.

All heights and weights listed are taken from OurLads.com as the measurements done at the Shrine Game have not been released at this point. The prospects are not listed in any particular beyond their position.

Offense

Jesper Horsted, WR Princeton – 6’2 7/8″ 225

72 receptions for 1,047 yards (43.3 percent) and 13 touchdowns

Brady Oliver, WR Colorado School of Mines – 6’3″ 210

73 receptions for 1,339 yards (33.6 percent) and 21 touchdowns

KeeSean Johnson, WR Fresno State – 6’2″ 195

95 receptions for 1,340 yards (35.8 percent) and 8 touchdowns

Jonathan Duhart, WR Old Dominion – 6’2 3/8″ 219

74 receptions for 1,045 yards (29.3 percent) and 9 touchdowns

Cody Thompson, WR Toledo – 6’1 3/4″ 205

(2016) 64 receptions for 1,269 yards (30.2 percent) and 11 touchdowns

C.J. Conrad, TE Kentucky – 6’4 1/2″ 250

30 receptions for 318 yards (15.1 percent) and 3 touchdowns

Defense

Cortez Broughton, DT Cincinnati – 6’2″ 285

30 solo tackles (6.8 percent), 16.5 tackles for loss (20.1 percent) and 5.5 sacks (17.7 percent)

Daniel Wise, DT Kansas – 6’2 3/4″ 290

26 solo tackles (4.7 percent), 12.5 tackles for loss (18.9 percent), 17.5 sacks (23.8 percent)

Michael Dogbe, DT Temple – 6’2 7/8″ 280

36 solo tackles (5.6 percent),12.5 tackles for loss (15.4 percent), 7 sacks (19.4 percent)

Mathieu Betts, EDGE Laval – 6’3″ 250

16 solo tackles (6.1 percent), 14 tackles for loss (26.4 percent), 9 sacks (40.9 percent)

Markus Jones, EDGE Angelo State – 6’3″ 260

51 solo tackles (10.2 percent), 36.5 tackles for loss (33.4 percent), 17.5 sacks (48.6 percent)

Derick Roberson, EDGE Sam Houston State – 6’4″ 250

39 solo tackles (8.2 percent), 20.5 tackles for loss (21.8 percent), 15 sacks (40.5 percent)

Joe Dineen Jr, LB Kansas – 6’2″ 230

108 solo tackles (19.8 percent), 11 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, one interception, 2 pass deflections

Khalil Hodge, LB Buffalo – 6′ 3/4″ 238

(2017) 66 solo tackles (13.1 percent), 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions, 2 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles

Cole Holcomb, LB North Carolina – 6’1″ 236

59 solo tackles (12.7 percent), 8 tackles for loss, one sack

Sione Takitaki, LB BYU – 6’2″ 250

74 solo tackles (14.1 percent), 9 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 3 pass deflections, one forced fumble

Tre Watson, LB Maryland – 6’2″ 235

70 solo tackles (13.9 percent). 3 tackles for loss, one sack, 5 interceptions, 3 pass deflections, one forced fumble

Cody Barton, LB Utah – 6’2 3/8″ 226

68 solo tackles (12.6 percent), 10.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 6 pass deflections, one interception, one forced fumble

B.J. Blunt, LB McNeese State – 6’1″ 220

60 solo tackles (14.1 percent), 20 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 6 pass deflections

Derrick Baity, CB Kentucky – 6’2 1/4″ 191

(2017) 35 solo tackles (6.9 percent), 9 pass deflections (21.4 percent), 2 interceptions

Keisean Nixon, CB South Carolina – 5’10 1/4″ 200

42 solo tackles (7.2 percent), 9 pass deflections (19.1 percent)

Jimmy Moreland, CB James Madison – 5’9 7/8″ 174

28 solo tackles (6.9 percent), 10 pass deflections (27 percent), 5 interceptions

Montre Hartage, CB Northwestern – 5’11 1/8″ 191

40 solo tackles (6.9 percent), 13 pass deflections (23.3 percent), 2 interceptions

Ka’dar Hollman, CB Toledo – 6′ 192

32 solo tackles (6.4 percent), 12 pass deflections (24 percent), 1 interception

Donnie Nelson Jr, CB Tulane – 6′ 3/8″ 193

44 solo tackles (8.1 percent), 18 pass deflections (25.7 percent), 3 interceptions

Jordan Wyatt, CB SMU – 5’11 3/4″ 191

40 solo tackles (6.5 percent), 8 pass deflections (19.5 percent), 4 interceptions

Lukas Denis, FS Boston College – 5’11 1/4″ 181

(2017) 46 solo tackles (9.5 percent), 10 pass deflections (18.8 percent), 7 interceptions (38.8 percent), 2 forced fumbles

Saquon Hampton, FS Rutgers – 6’1 1/8″ 205

44 solo tackles (10.8 percent), 13 pass deflections (23.6 percent), 3 interceptions (33.3 percent)

Delvon Randall, SS Temple – 5’11 3/8″ 213

62 solo tackles (9.7 percent), 4 interceptions (22.2 percent), 6 pass deflections

Andrew Wingard, SS Wyoming – 6′ 1/8″ 209

(2017) 70 solo tackles (12.2 percent), 5 interceptions (25 percent), 3 pass deflections

Adarius Pickett, SS UCLA – 5’11” 201

77 solo tackles (14.1 percent), 2 interceptions (18.1 percent), 4 pass deflections

Evan Worthington, SS Colorado – 6’1 3/4″ 206

57 solo tackles (10.4 percent), 3 interceptions (37.5 percent), 6 pass deflections

Be sure to keep an eye on the Shrine Game and these players to see if you think the Browns could and should take any of these prospects.