Diving through all the latest Browns’ draft rumors: Trubisky vs. Garrett? Trading up?

We are just two days away from the start of the 2017 NFL Draft! Wednesday morning, we’ll have an all-Browns roundtable discussion for your reading pleasure, and earlier today, we already posted a bunch of big boards and mock drafts for you to digest. What about the latest NFL draft rumors pertaining to the Browns? Let’s dive into those now.

For this post, we’ll be diving through some insider notes from Todd McShay at ESPN, some nuggets that Albert Breer of the MMQB posted to Twitter today, and what Mike Silver of the NFL Network, who is stationed in Berea this week, is buzzing about.

Mitchell Trubisky or Myles Garrett at No. 1?

We’ve got a few different perspectives on this one. Personally, I have not even remotely budged on my confidence that the Browns are taking Garrett at No. 1, so most of the “Trubisky at No. 1” rumors are just noise to me. Nonetheless, here is what the media is saying, starting with McShay:

Are the Browns really waffling on taking Myles Garrett No. 1 overall? One person in the league told me you can bet as much as you want on Cleveland taking the Texas A&M pass-rusher. The biggest question facing the Browns: Do they sit patiently at pick No. 12 or try to move up for a quarterback? Everything I've pieced together is that they like Trubisky the best among the quarterbacks. There's some thought that Cleveland might have to trade ahead of the Jets at No. 6 if they really want the North Carolina QB.

Breer is continuing in to what Silver said earlier today (watch here), which is that Cleveland is legitimately considering Trubisky at No. 1 overall:

Trading Up from No. 12?

One of the wild theories I’ve been throwing out there is that perhaps the Browns want to strongly convey they like Trubisky so that another team trades up in front of the Browns at No. 12 to select him, thereby pushing a defensive prospect (and Cleveland’s actual target) closer to them. Funny enough, McShay discussed the same exact thing, except applying to the Jets:

I've been getting mixed reports on whether the Jets are really interested in Trubisky, or if they're just trying to making it appear like they are so some team (like Cleveland) trades ahead of them. The latter strategy would make sense. Think about it: If Jets know they don't want to spend the sixth pick on a QB, the best possible scenario is to have someone trade above them and take a passer, leaving one more non-QB for the Jets to choose from.

Silver said that he’s reached out to three teams in the Top 8 who have said that the Browns have contacted them about trading up.

Per Breer, there is not a shortage of teams in the Top 10 who are looking to move down:

McShay says the Titans, Bears, and 49ers are the three teams he is hearing are most interested in trading down.

Player-Related Notes and Nuggets

• McShay says that it is not likely that S Malik Hooker is picked in the Top 5. He believes Hooker will go between picks 6 and 13, and notes that the "Jets, Chargers, Saints, Browns, and Cardinals" all have a need for a safety.
• Breer says he thinks there is a chance that Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, and Patrick Mahomes all go in the Top 15. McShay would only say that all three should go in the first round. Both Breer and McShay hinted that Davis Webb could be a surprise pick near the end of round one.
• Players you might not expect to be first-round picks (in general, not by the Browns), but could very well be: CB Adoree' Jackson, DE Tyus Bowser, CB Marlon Humphrey.
• Everyone loves TE O.J. Howard.