The top three picks in the draft are expected to be Andrew Luck (Colts), Robert Griffin III (Redskins), and Matt Kalil (Vikings). The Browns pick fourth, and G.M. Tom Heckert stopped well short of tipping his team’s hand in a Thursday afternoon pre-draft presser.
NFL Network’s Mike Mayock held a pre-draft conference call of his own on Thursday. And he knows who the Browns’ pick should be.
“If you’re not gonna take a quarterback, I think you have to take Trent Richardson,” Mayock said, referring to Alabama’s Heisman-finalist running back. “I don’t think those receivers should be in this conversation [at No. 4]. ... I think Richardson’s the guy at four.”
Mayock has explained on Path to the Draft that the Browns simply must find a way to begin moving the chains on offense. Richardson would be their best bet.
“If you take [receiver] Justin Blackmon,” Mayock said on Wednesday night, “you might not even be able to get him the ball on a windy day in Cleveland.”