Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had one of the most surprising tumbles of the draft. Widely expected to be a first-rounder, he ended up falling to the Browns with the 52nd overall pick after Cleveland traded up to get him. Apparently, the Browns almost pulled the trigger a round earlier. Cleveland mulled taking him with their first-rounder, the 26th overall pick. “He was definitely under consideration,” exec Paul DePodesta said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal.
“We certainly didn’t expect him to be there when he was, but we’re fortunate that he was,” GM Andrew Berry added. “There was a lot of pacing going on upstairs once we got to about pick 42, 43, 44, just trying to figure out if there was a way we could make it happen,” DePodesta explained of the trade up. The Browns needed linebacker help, so it was the perfect situation. Not only was Owusu-Koramoah the ACC Defensive Player of the Year last season, he was also a unanimous All-American.
Here’s more fallout from this weekend’s draft in the AFC:
- The Jaguars reunited Trevor Lawrence with his college running back by drafting Travis Etienne 25th overall, but it sounds like they would’ve preferred someone else. On Friday head coach Urban Meyer said there was a player who “broke our heart” that they couldn’t draft, and on Saturday he revealed who that was. The team was hoping to pick Florida receiver Kadarius Toney, Meyer said, via John Shipley of Jaguar Report (Twitter link). It’s rare for a coach or GM to openly say something like that, so they must’ve really wanted him. Meyer called the Florida star a “human highlight reel,” and highlighted his relationship with current Gators coach Dan Mullen as to how he’d gotten close to Toney. Unfortunately for Meyer, the Giants nabbed Toney at 20th overall.
- The Broncos drafted a small school prospect a lot of fans were high on when they took Quinn Meinerz from Wisconsin-Whitewater in the third-round. Meinerz played guard in college, but it looks like Denver is going to switch him to the pivot for pro development. Meinerz will start out playing center, head coach Vic Fangio said, via Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link). As Klis points out, he’ll be behind 2020 third-rounder Lloyd Cushenberry on the depth chart.
Don’t know is true but aaron r. Is going. To Broncos. Cowboy up. Mvp. Yes we can
To much dead cap space for him to be traded.
Not after June 1st
Still don’t know why the Broncos skipped on Fields. Lock isn’t trustworthy and they just traded for a guy who was the QB of the team drafting one pick ahead of them. If they don’t get Rodgers this was a waste.
Maybe they have their eyes set on Spencer Rattler or Sam Howell next year?
Because there’s no guarantee Fields would be any better. If you don’t know for sure that a guy will give you better play than your current starter, it’s bad to use a first rounder on him. They’d be picking a quarterback just because he plays quarterback.
And people seem to forget that Bridgewater was on a rebuilding team with one good offensive lineman, no good tight ends and an All-Pro RB who missed 13 games.
What I think really killed the relationship in Carolina, though, and did a number on his reputation, was his 0-8 record last year when he had a chance to lead a game-tying or game-winning drive. That broke the narrative of his being a clutch player, which he needed.
Later this Summer Rodgers will be traded to Denver for Surtain and next year’s first and third.
Meaningless post
Why would the Packers waste a pick on Stokes then if that trade was happening?
Why is it wasting a pick? It’s been reported multiple places that GB really likes Surtain. They’ll cut King and run out one of the best trio of CBs in the league next year.
I highly doubt Denver trades Surtain if this trade ever happens. They could give up another player, like Ojemudia or Callahan who are a year removed from their acquisition, or one of their wideouts (Hamilton will be offered), or Melvin Gordon, or Lloyd Cushenberry, in addition to picks. Cushenberry would fill a need in Green Bay, and Denver just drafted Meinerz to play center. They signed Darby and Fuller to play corner, so Ojemudia and Callahan both could be on the table, and have a stable of wideouts that Hamilton hasn’t cracked yet. They could even offer any of those if they wanted to, or their backup TE in Okwuegbunam.
Hell, if they really wanted to throw a curveball, they could offer Von Miller or Courtland Sutton. I hope that they wouldn’t, but they could. Denver has a lot of options because they have depth in several areas, but I think Surtain is the last piece that they’d like to trade to Green Bay.
Perhaps the Broncos have finally learned that it is a mistake to try to fix their offensive line by throwing vast amounts of money at oft-injured and unmotivated free agents.