2015 NFL Draft Grades: Cleveland Browns' First-Round is Positive on Danny Shelton, Mixed on Cameron Erving

The Cleveland Browns stayed put at No. 12 and No. 19 overall during the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft Thursday night. When they were on the clock at No. 12, they had their cream-of-the-crop choice of either WR DeVante Parker or NT Danny Shelton, and they opted to go with the big nose tackle out of Washington. At No. 19 overall, fans were thinking the club might take OLB Bud Dupree or WR Breshad Perriman, but instead, they threw a bit of a curveball with OL Cameron Erving.

In the table below, you will find grades for Cleveland's first round picks from around the web. Each website is linked if you'd like to read more details about why the picks were graded the way they were, or if you want to see how other NFL teams compared with their grades.

*denotes grade for the entire first round

Chris Pokorny's Grades

• #12 - NT Danny Shelton - In my mock draft, I picked the Browns to take Shelton at No. 12, even with Parker still on the board. Our run defense was atrocious for too many games last season, and in a lot of cases, our line was getting pushed back several yards at the snap. Shelton has the stamina to play a lot of downs and is a complete player, one who will allow Phil Taylor to stay at defensive end this year as a rotational player, or see snaps at nose tackle when Shelton needs a breather. This is exactly who I wanted, so I'm grading the pick positively. Grade: A
  
  
• #19 - OL Cameron Erving - I started buying into the Erving hype a few days leading up to the draft. It made sense from both a short-term and a long-term perspective. I'm projecting him to start at right tackle this year, and then if Alex Mack leaves, he can slide over to center. Too many people are rating this pick negatively because they think Erving is solely an insurance policy, when that's not the case -- he's a quality player. It sounds like the Browns ideally wanted to move down a couple of spots, gain an extra pick later in the draft, and still take Erving. Because they were unable to do that, and because Erving is somewhat of a safe pick, I'll lower my grade accordingly. Grade: B-

We improved the trenches. If we had been better in those areas last year, our run defense wouldn't have been taken to town by the Alfred Blue's of the world, and when our quarterback situation went to hell last year, we might have still been able to actually run the ball.

How would you grade the Browns' first round?