Many people expect the Browns to add an offensive tackle in the first round of the draft and there was news about one of the top prospects at the position late last week.
NFL Media reported that former Louisville tackle Mekhi Becton’s drug test at the Scouting Combine was flagged and he will be in Stage One of the league’s substance-abuse program for 60 days. Browns General Manager Andrew Berry was asked about that development on Monday and said the team will “take all information into consideration” while adding that he didn’t think it was more difficult to get that information while working remotely.
“I do not think it really complicates matters that much for any prospect from a background perspective,” Berry said, via Cleveland.com. “The reason is a lot of the work that we do is with individuals who have spent the last three or four years with these guys on a day-to-day basis. In terms of the spring scouting process and not necessarily being able to have guys onsite, we are very fortunate to live in the age of technology where we have Zoom, FaceTime and things along those nature. We were able to sit with most if not all of these guys at the combine. I think there have been enough touchpoints where we get a really good sense of who these guys are as individuals.”
The Jets are also seen as a team looking for a tackle and General Manager Joe Douglas responded to a question about Becton by saying the team wants to know what led to him making a mistake. He said, via SNY, that “our guys are gonna be digging on background” right until the team is on the board Thursday night.