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The one thing fans will no doubt remember about Day 2 of the Cleveland Browns’ 2017 NFL Draft? They drafted their next attempt at a “quarterback of the future.” After an impressive Day 1 haul of three first-rounders, here are the two players the Browns landed on Day 2:
- No. 52 - QB DeShone Kizer (View Report)
- No. 65 - DT Larry Ogunjobi (View Report)
After Hall of Fame RB Jim Brown helped deliver the good news to DE Myles Garrett in Berea on Thursday, he was on stage in Philly on Friday to do the same for Kizer:
“With the 52nd pick, the Cleveland Browns select … DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame.“
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 29, 2017
Watch #NFLDraft on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/NssufISIVp
This has been a wild offseason with respect to the quarterback position. We’ve seen rumors about tons of veteran quarterbacks (Jimmy Garoppolo, Kirk Cousins, A.J. McCarron). We released Josh McCown and Robert Griffin III, but traded for Brock Osweiler and kind of still have him. The team scouted the top quarterbacks in the draft left and right with fans each picking a favorite. When they weren’t able to land any in the first round, there was a disheartening feeling among some.
But then Kizer remained available, and at No. 52, the Browns truly ended up letting a quarterback come to them. I like the pick because he has a lot of potential, but the team did not have to break any bank or mortgage any assets for him. If Kizer is a complete 100% bust, then guess what? The Browns will still have two first-round picks and three second-round picks in 2018 to do something about it.
WATCH: @Mr_Ogunjobi is @Charlotte49erFB's 1st ever NFL draft pick! Congratulations to the newest member of the @Browns! #NinerNation pic.twitter.com/49jzuSFLPq
— Charlotte 49ers (@Charlotte49ers) April 29, 2017
As for Ogunjobi, he’s a good depth piece for now who will hopefully be much better than a guy like Xavier Cooper was. Some are speculating that it could also signify that the team will be in a 4-3 look a lot more this season. We already know that Gregg Williams won’t really have a defined defense in terms of alignment. Here is a video of Ogunjobi working intensely this past week:
.@Mr_Ogunjobi is Cleveland through & through— NEVER stops working hard!
— FOX Sports: PROcast (@PROcast) April 29, 2017
Check out the DT the @Browns just took! pic.twitter.com/fuTPCbmFLa
The DBN Big Board
I personally did not have Kizer nor Ogunjobi on my Top 50 big boards, but that doesn’t mean I despise the picks. With those exercises, after the Top 40, it’s really hard to predict things. And with all of my preferred defensive backs already gone by No. 52, I was open to Kizer.
Kizer was actually the No. 34 ranked player on our cumulative big board heading into the draft. He was as high as No. 14 on Matt Wood’s big board. Only one of us had Ogunjobi on our Top 50 big board (Josh Finney), but that still counts.
Going by the Browns pre-draft interest tracker, Kizer was on there but Ogunjobi was not. That means 3/5 picks so far have been on the tracker.
Late Quotes from Sashi Brown, Hue Jackson, Andrew Berry
#Browns exec Sashi Brown said we did our diligence on all QBs and were surprised when DeShone Kizer was there at No. 52
— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) April 29, 2017
#Browns HC Hue Jackson said it's early to say how he'll handle QB situation, wants to get DeShone Kizer here, give him chance to compete
— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) April 29, 2017
#Browns Hue Jackson said Kizer took instruction from him, implemented it and saw improvement in workout."That's outstanding. Very coachable"
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) April 29, 2017
Shashi Brown said they wanted to give Gary Barnidge time to be able to find a new team, confirms release was b/c of pick of David Njoku
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) April 29, 2017
Andrew Berry says fourth-round pick DL Larry Ogunjobi shined at the Senior Bowl, gives Browns physical player inside
— Patrick Maks (@maksimuspatrick) April 29, 2017
#Browns Jackson said the drafting of DT Larry Ogunjobi with No. 65 pick means the Browns might play some 4-3 and multi-fronts
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) April 29, 2017
Best Talent Still Available
The price of moving up from No. 33 to No. 29 for Njoku on Day 1 was the Browns’ fourth-round pick. Therefore, on Saturday, their first pick will not be until the first pick of the fifth round. Right now, the Browns have three fifth-round picks and two sixth-round picks. Only 8 players remain from our DBN big board:
1. DE Caleb Brantley
2. DE Carl Lawson
3. OL Dorian Johnson
4. RB Marcus Sanders-Williams
5. TE Bucky Hodges
6. QB Joshua Dobbs
7. S Desmond King
8. TE Jake Butt
At this point of the draft, it’s actually better to look at who remains from the team’s interest tracker:
Offense: QB Davis Webb, QB Sefo Liufau, QB Garrett Fugate, RB Devine Redding, WR Dede Westbrook, WE Malachi Dupre, WR Jamari Staples, WR Kaleb Moore, TE Bucky Hodges, TE Jordan Leggett, TE Blake Jarwin, TE Andrey Avgi, OG Avery Gennesy, OG Sean Harlow, OT Mason Zandi, OL Gavin Andrews.
Defense: DE Caleb Brantley, DL Treyvon Hester, DE Keion Adams, DL Glen Antoine, DT Casey Sayles, OLB Darius English, OLB Ryan Wilson, ILB Tanner Vallejo, ILB Ben Boulware, S Chuck Clark.
Special Teams: K Zane Gonzalez, LS Colin Holba.
Miss Our Day 2 Coverage?
We did live blogs for 12 hours straight across two different posts. You can re-live them all here if you missed anything: