One Big Splash The Browns Could Make That No One Is Talking About

CLEVELAND - The Browns have not had a first-round pick since 2021 when they selected CB Greg Newsome with the 26th overall pick. This year will be no different as their first pick will come in the second round at pick no. 54. So, what will Browns GM Andrew Berry do at 54 or will the Browns be picking at 54?

Andrew Berry is known to be active in trading back in the draft and accumulating picks. Berry was asked at his pre-draft presser when he would know whether he would use the pick or trade down. 

"Good question. I will probably have a better feel once we get to ten picks out." Berry says "It really just depends on how the board falls, if I’m being truthful. So, I’m not sure as we sit here today, but we’ll see if we can break the trend of making it three years in a row without a second-round pick.”

Out of the 6 trades Berry has made on draft night, only one of them has been to trade up in the draft: 2021 when the Browns moved from 59 to 52 to select Pro-Bowl Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

While 1 out of 6 doesn't sound promising for fans hoping the Browns will trade up, 2021 proves how intricate Berry is in playing the board to get the best value at positions of need. 

The consensus is that the Browns will be looking at wide receiver. Keon Coleman from FSU, Troy Franklin from Oregon, and Ladd McConkey from Georgia have all been linked as potential draft targets. However, there is one name that some may be overlooking: Xavier Worthy. 

For years Andrew Berry has been looking for a speed threat to take the top off of defenses. It started in 2021 when he drafted Auburn receiver Anthony Schwartz in the 3rd round who ran a 4.25 at the combine and held the world under-18 best in the 100 meters for track. 

While Schwartz had world-class speed, he never translated well to the NFL and struggled with drops. In 2023 Berry decided to double down getting two speed threats in former Olympian track star and veteran wideout Marquise Goodwin and traded a second-round pick for Jets receiver Elijah Moore. 

Unfortunately, Goodwin dealt blood clots throughout the year and his time in Cleveland never truly worked out, while Moore failed to live up to the second-round pick he was dealt for. There is still time for Moore to be a pivotal factor in this offense, but he will not be the speed threat that Berry has been longing for. 

"Despite maybe how it's looked at times, I love speed," Berry said last offseason when talking to the media about the two acquisitions. "We love speed, and there's probably no general manager or head coach that says they want to be slow on the perimeter necessarily, but when you have an opportunity to add a good player who can really stress the defense with his ability to run, that's an opportunity that we're always going to look to take advantage of."

Xavier Worthy is projected in some mock drafts to go in the first round while some have him falling to the second. While trading up is not Berry's mo, if 2021 proved anything it is that if Berry sees substantial value falling down the board he will take his shot, especially if that value is a record-breaking 4.22 40. 

While Berry says he never sees any position group as complete, it would be hard to deny that this group would not be satisfied in all phases. Deshaun Watson would have a true number-one receiver in Amari Cooper, an elite possession/route runner in newly acquired receiver Jerry Jeudy, and a 4.22 speed threat in Xavier Worthy.