NFL draft: Browns have ignored the WR early the second longest of any team

Receivers can be found anywhere but the Browns haven’t drafted one in the first two rounds since 2016

The NFL draft is single-digit days away. For many years fans of the Cleveland Browns would be preparing for the NFL draft like the holiday that it was for the franchise. The NFL draft was the Super Bowl for us.

Now, the hope/expectation/plan is that the Super Bowl is the only thing that matters. To get there, the Browns need to use their five draft picks to continue to stock talent worthy of competing with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The wide receiver position is an area many think GM Andrew Berry should focus. Not since drafting Corey Coleman with the 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft has Cleveland selected a receiver in the first or second rounds:

Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in 2015, have gone as long without selecting a receiver.

Berry has ignored the problem but the third-round selections of Anthony Schwartz, David Bell and Cedric Tillman haven’t panned out. Tillman and Bell have a chance to change that but Schwartz was cut last year.

Under Berry, the Browns have also traded draft picks and/or pick swaps to acquire their top three receivers going into 2024: Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore. Berry obviously knows the value of the position but will he end the team’s avoidance of the position in the top two rounds?

This year’s draft is loaded at the wide receiver position but Cleveland’s roster may not have room for another player at the position and Berry could focus on a position of need. On the other hand, skipping on this draft class with Cooper and Moore headed to free agency next year could be a setup for failure.

Are the ghosts of Coleman haunting Berry who was with Sashi Brown in 2016 when that pick was made? Does the current roster construction make drafting a receiver a luxury that they can’t afford? Can Cleveland really ignore the position with such a great group of receivers?

We find out if this early-round drought continues in 10 days when the Browns are finally on the clock in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Are you surprised that the Browns have the second-longest streak since the drafting of Coleman? Do you think there is room for another WR this year?