The New York Jets desperately need a quarterback and believed even with their sixth pick, they wouldn’t get one of the top ones. Cleveland Browns, NY Giants and Denver Broncos pick before the Jets and all are considered to need a quarterback. This makes the Jets trade their sixth, 37th and 49th pick and their 2019 second rounder to the Indianapolis Colts’ for the third overall pick. This trade might have caused the Browns to rethink things.
Browns made moves in free agency taking Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry, Packers cornerback Damarious Randall, 49ers running back Carlos Hyde and Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. What’s interesting is that the Browns replaced Deshone Kizer with Taylor who played in 14 games last season and averaged one touchdown per game. Compare that to other quarterbacks like Texans’ rookie Deshaun Watson who had 19 touchdowns in six games. Wouldn’t say Taylor is something to be too excited about.
Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield are seemingly the top quarterbacks in this draft. The best football player in this draft, however, is running back Saquon Barkley. Initially, the Browns were projected to get Barkley at number one and get a quarterback at four. Now, they might have to reverse that since the Jets are using the third pick to get a quarterback and it may be the quarterback they want. This would leave Barkley available by the second pick.
Many Giants fans want to get a quarterback since Eli Manning is on the decline. Others disagree and suggest Manning needs help at the line. The best pick is Barkley. Why? The Giants won the last two Super Bowls with great running backs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, defense and athletic receivers. Since the Giants have the defense and receivers already, adding Barkley makes sense.
The Giants have picked up players in free agency to help their struggling line who were ranked 26th in the NFL last year. None of the Giants running backs reached 800 rushing yards or score more than 5 touchdowns. Last season, Barkley destroyed defenses resulting in 1,903 overall yards and 21 touchdowns. This is behind a C+ offensive line.
Why would you pass on a running back who CBS Sports compares to Barry Sanders?
Reporter from Cleveland.com confirms that the Browns more than likely will pass on Barkley at the number one pick. Browns better hope they make the right quarterback decision this time around.