Patrick Peterson is getting stiff-armed above, but many consider him to be one of the best players in the 2011 NFL Draft next week. He’s big for a corner, has tremendous ball skills and runs a 4.3.
I think Tom Heckert will take him if he’s there at #3, barring some other big surprises. I suspect the have Marcell Dareus at the top of their board, and he wold be the easy pick if he slid to #6, but that’s not happening. The other big wild card involves the receivers. I suspect both A.J. Green and Julio Jones are high on the Browns’ draft board. If Green and Peterson are both there at #6 (highly unlikely), then the Browns will have a tough decision. Von Miller also has to be high on their board, but he’s expected to be gone as well.
All of the defensive linemen after Dareus seem to have question marks. Robert Quinn seems to be on their radar and Terry Pluto thinks he might be the pick, but I suspect the Browns think they can pick up linemen later and they can’t pass on stud talents like Peterson, Green or Jones.
That said, they might have a chance to trade down depending on what happens with the quarterbacks in the first five picks.