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AFC North round-up: Breaking down Ravens, division 2020 NFL Drafts

By Richard Bradshaw

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 13: Grant Delpit #7, Joe Burrow #9 and Patrick Queen #8 of the LSU Tigers celebrate after defeating the Clemson Tigers during the College Football Playoff National Championship held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 13: Grant Delpit #7, Joe Burrow #9 and Patrick Queen #8 of the LSU Tigers celebrate after defeating the Clemson Tigers during the College Football Playoff National Championship held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 14: Jedrick Wills Jr. #74 of the Alabama Crimson Tide watches on during their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 14, 2019, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 14: Jedrick Wills Jr. #74 of the Alabama Crimson Tide watches on during their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 14, 2019, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Cleveland Browns:

2020 NFL Draft class: OT Jedrick Wills, S Grant Delpit, IDL Jordan Elliott, LB Jacob Phillips, TE Harrison Bryant, IOL Nick Harris, WR Donovan Peoples-Jones

2019 was supposed to be the Cleveland Browns year. After decades of disappointing seasons, Cleveland was supposed to be Super Bowl contenders and the favorite to win the AFC North. Unfortunately, they completely flopped and wound up with another top-10 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. They used that pick to shore up their offensive line in the form of Alabama tackle Jedrick Willis.

Willis played right tackle for the Crimson Tide, but he is more than athletic enough to anchor the left side of the line. The Browns also added Jack Conklin in Free Agency to be the team’s right tackle. On paper, Cleveland now has bookend tackles to go with a solid interior that features J.C. Tretter and Joe Bitonio. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has to be happy with this.

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Cleveland watched safety Damarious Randall depart in Free Agency and replaced him with the 2019 Jim Thorpe Award winner Grant Delpit. Delpit was considered a top-10 player headed into 2019 before having a rather disappointing season in spite of winning the prestigious college football award for being the best defensive back in the nation. He’ll have a chance to prove he was still a top-end safety in 2020.

The Browns also added some players who could carve out solid roles with the team, but none more so than Michigan wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. DPJ was viewed as a top-100 player but slipped to the sixth-round seemingly for medical reasons. If he’s good to go, he’ll slide into the slot and give Cleveland an unreal wide receiver trio of Peoples-Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., and Jarvis Landry.

The Cleveland Browns 2020 NFL Draft class doesn’t “wow” me personally, but they got some potential steals in guys like Grant Delpit and Donovan Peoples-Jones. If those two can make an early impact and Jedrick Willis pans out at left tackle, this is a draft class that can help them compete for the AFC North this year. Cleveland definitely has a lot of potential from this group.

Grade: B

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