Apr 25, 2018 4 min read

With the first pick in the NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns …

Will probably blow the pick.

Not many football teams are sitting as pretty as the Browns are for tonight’s draft in Dallas.

The worst organization in the history of professional sports holds the No. 1 and 4 picks, and will determine the direction of the draft. That’s the payoff for an 0-16 season and a bad deal last year with Houston.

For most teams, it would be a sweet situation, especially with a quarterback-strong draft. But these are the Browns, and by one count, they have started 46 quarterbacks since returning from exile in 1999.

This is a team that that passed on Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson for such duds as Robert Griffin III and Cody Kessler. This is a team that had one quarterback get caught under a giant American flag (Brandon Weeden), another flame out to drugs and alcohol (Johnny Manziel) and a third who was benched late in the season despite winning seven games (Brian Hoyer).

So there should not be great confidence in this organization being able to distinguish the better quarterback among this year’s crop.

Wyoming’s Josh Allen or USC’s Sam Darnold?

Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield or UCLA’s Josh Rosen?

It’s all so mystifying to the Browns but the football people for the team with the No. 2 pick, the New York Giants, are probably waiting to pounce after the Browns follow tradition and pick the one quarterback who will flame out.

The guess here is Darnold to the Browns – pray for him – and the Giants should grab Allen. Mayfield should be a New York Jet after the third pick, and the Browns should take North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb.

But. …

Suppose the Browns take Allen. The Giants will run to the commissioner with the card selecting Darnold and the Jets will still end up with Mayfield.

However. …

There is the Saquon Barkley dilemma. Many believe the Penn State running back to be the most talented player in the draft. If new Browns GM John Dorsey doesn’t have a preference at quarterback, Cleveland could make Barkley the top pick and take whoever falls to No. 4. Or the same scenario could develop with Chubb as the top pick.

If Dorsey wants to be a risk-taker, and pick the undersized Mayfield, the Jets will be pleased because either Allen, Rosen or Darnold will be available at No. 3.

It’s enough to make one completely confused.

And we haven’t even talked about trades.

Cleveland could work deals for future picks with the Giants and-or Jets, fall no further than No. 3 and still get a quarterback and Chubb, or Barkley. Or the No. 4 pick could be traded to Denver at No. 5 or to Buffalo possibly for the No. 12 and 22 picks.

When a team has won one game in two seasons – that’s 1-31 if you struggle with math – the confidence level is low.

Not so with the Steelers.

While Browns fans look to the draft as their Super Bowl, the Steelers actually play in them occasionally. One of the most successful NFL teams since the 1970s, the Steelers sit at No. 28 in the draft order, thanks to a 13-3 regular-season record in 2017.

GM Kevin Colbert’s strategy in these drafts is more conservative than most. The Steelers rarely trade out of their spot. But there are needs, even if Colbert doesn’t like to use that word.

The Steelers need an inside linebacker. A spine injury has probably ended the career of Ryan Shazier, leaving a major hole in the middle of the defense.

Problem is, the two best inside linebackers in this draft – Tremaine Edmunds of Virginia Tech and Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State – will be gone before pick 28.

So the Steelers look to the outside spot and take Rashaan Evans of Alabama. Bud Dupree had his option picked up so he’ll be around for two more seasons. But you can’t have enough linebackers in Pittsburgh. Evans could move to the inside for now but it’s a tough switch.

Josh Jackson, a slick cornerback from Iowa, could be the pick at No. 28 and Malik Jefferson, an inside linebacker from Texas, could be available in Round 2.

Stay tuned.