AFC Notes: Browns, Raiders, Colts, Steelers

Browns head coach Hue Jackson reportedly likes Texas A&M pass rusher Myles Garrett more than some members of the team’s front office do, but executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown made it clear Wednesday that he’s also fond of the possible No. 1 pick. “We’d be proud to have him,” said Brown (via Nate Ulrich of Ohio.com). Meanwhile, vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry downplayed worries that Garrett took too many plays off with the Aggies. “Sometimes those concerns are a little bit overstated,” Berry offered. “The reality is in college football the number of snaps these defensive linemen have to play on a down-in, down-out basis is usually greater than what they’ll have to play at the professional level.”

More from the AFC:

• The possibility of the Raiders drafting Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis is gaining steam, per Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). The Raiders are set to pick 24th overall, which is exactly where Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com ranks Davis among this year’s class of draft-bound players. Davis is especially strong against the run, which could intrigue an Oakland team that last season allowed 4.5 yards per carry – good for 25th in the league.
• The Colts aren’t ruling out drafting Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon or any other prospect with an iffy past, according to rookie general manager Chris Ballard. “Look, guys make mistakes,” he told reporters, including Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. “Tune out the noise. I don’t care what everybody else thinks and their opinions are. (We want to) make our opinions internally, do our work internally … it’s a case-by-case basis, and when we take a guy with issues, we have to have a plan for him to work. We have to have a plan for him to develop in-house, a plan for him to develop as a man.” Ballard also assured media that the Colts are going to take a best-player-available approach, saying, “Look, one thing we will not do: If there’s a player around (that we like), even if we’re loaded at the position, we’ll still take the player.”
• The Steelers’ top five cornerbacks are set to combine for a meager $9.22MM cap hit in 2017, leading Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com to wonder when they’ll make a greater financial investment in the position. They did show interest in corner Dre Kirkpatrick in free agency, notes Fowler, but he re-signed with the AFC North rival Bengals on a big-money deal. Landing him (or another available, high-profile CB) would have eliminated a draft need for the Steelers, Fowler writes. Now, they’ll have to take a corner for the third straight draft. Per a report from last week, Pittsburgh is poised to select a defensive back in Round 1.