BEREA, Ohio (92.3 the Fan) – Whether he wants to admit it or not [spoiler alert: he doesn’t], Cleveland Browns executive vice president of football operations Andrew Berry checked all the boxes this weekend during the 2023 NFL Draft.
Berry himself has admitted that finding immediate starters where the Browns were stuck picking – rounds three through seven – isn’t easy, but also isn’t impossible.
One thing is clear, the Browns got bigger this weekend, either by design or an odd coincidence. Berry wants us to believe that it is the latter, but we doubt it wasn’t strategic because everything Berry does is strategic.
“Even though we drafted some bigger bodies it's not just like they're big guys that can't move,” Berry said Saturday evening. “That's something that we will always prioritize because I do think the NFL is becoming more and more of a space game. If you have big athletic players at any position group you'll take them.”
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Here’s a look at how Berry accomplished his goals during the 2023 NFL Draft.
Add size and depth in the trenches. Check.
Baylor defensive tackle Siaki Ika in round 3, 98 overall and Missouri defensive end Isaiah McGuire 126 overall in round 4.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz told Ika, who is is 6-foot-3 and 335 pounds, he is now a Ferrari and not a dump truck during their draft call with him from the war room on the second floor.
“It means that he no longer has the two gap,” Berry said. “He just has to get up the field and disrupt, get off the ball, get off the ball, get off the ball, as opposed to just build a stone wall and hold up the offensive line.”
Ika and McGuire shore up a defensive front that Berry found himself investing significantly in this offseason after it got gashed 11 times for over 100 yards rushing in games last season and no one not named Myles Garrett being able to get to the quarterback with any semblance of regularity in 2022.
“His natural power, both in the run game and pass game, and then also, I think he's got what I would call slipperiness as a rusher,” Berry said of McGuire, who is 268 pounds and 6-foot-4 inches tall. “So those two things combined, we thought him to be highly productive and then the other thing is with his size and strength, we do think there's probably some inside outside rush appeal.”
Ohio State offensive tackle Dawan Jones in round 4, No. 111 overall and fellow Buckeye center Luke Wypler at No. 202 overall in round 6 deepen the offensive line ranks.
Jones is a behemoth of a man at 6-foot-8, 374 pounds and although he played primarily right tackle for the Buckeyes, he could move to the left side if needed.
“I mean he's not just big, he's human orca big,” Berry said. “Like a modern day goliath, you just don’t see humans that are that big. There aren’t very many people on Earth that are his size. Even in the NFL he’s a giant among giants.
“We think he is a young talented guy. A work in progress like a lot of the guys that come into the league. It's hard to find someone that has that rare of size and also his movement skills. He was very productive at Ohio State… We know we have the best offensive line coach in the NFL so we can't want to get him the building and allow Bill [Callahan] and Scott [Peters] to get their hands on him because we do think he's a lump of clay that we can really develop here.”
Coincidently, or so he’d like us to believe, Wypler is the third center drafted by Berry since 2020.
“I wouldn't say there's some grand overarching theme at receiver or center,” Berry said. “They all have different skill sets, strengths, or weaknesses that made them attractive at the time we made the selection. So I'd like to say there is some pattern or something there but honestly, there really wasn't.”
Another potential target for Deshaun Watson. Check.
Tennessee’s Cedric Tillman, their first player taken this weekend in round 3, No. 74 overall, is the fifth receiver drafted by Berry since 2020 and the third taken in the third round. Coincidence? Berry says, “It's a totally fair question, honestly yeah [it is].”
Tillman is listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds. Combined with his size, Tillman’s athleticism should give Watson a nice target to aim for down field.
Berry was thrilled Tillman, who was limited to six games last year because of a high ankle injury, fell to them Friday night. “We thought there could be some opportunity that he may go a little bit later than maybe he would have at this point a year ago because of the injury, but you're never really sure until you get into the actual draft,” Berry said. We were pleased to get him at 74.”
How about a developmental quarterback to sit behind Deshaun Watson and Josh Dobbs – and maybe Kellen Mond too? Check.
UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson came off the board to the Browns in round 5 at 140 carrying similar mobility traits as Deshaun Watson.
“We love his playmaking ability,” Berry said. “He's got a strong arm, he's really dangerous off schedule, he's had a lot of starts at UCLA and the other thing that stands out is he is very very tough and very very competitive. In terms of the style, I think that's a little bit overblown. We would largely just look for good quarterbacks or a good backup quarterback. The stylistic component is a plus, but we don't really subscribe to the notion that your backup has to have the same style as your starter.”
Thompson-Robinson not only has worked out previously with Watson in Los Angeles but he was high school teammates with Tillman.
Thompson-Robinson is also the first rookie quarterback selected by the franchise since 1999 who comes to town with zero pressure on him to save the franchise and fanbase. That’s Watson’s job.
There’s no such thing as too many cornerbacks.
Greg Newsome II, the Browns 2021 first round pick that recently denied a report that he requested to be traded, should be all smiles after his childhood friend and fellow Northwestern Wildcat Cameron Mitchell was selected in the fifth round, 142nd overall.
“We liked his ability to play press-man coverage,” Berry said. “We think he's very physical, very competitive. We also liked his versatility to play inside and outside. We have a number of guys in our corner group that we cross-train in that regard because it just gives us more flexibility in our sub packages and we feel Cam fills that role as well. The other thing I should mention on Cam is we did like his appeal in the kicking game on special teams as well.”
So there you have it. Mission accomplished for Berry.
Now Berry and the rest of us wait to see what diamonds in the rough he might have found this weekend in the coming years.
“I think any player that you bring into the organization whether it's through draft, whether it through free agency, whether it's through a trade or some other means, you are hopeful that you can easier raise the floor and/or ceiling of a position group,” Berry said. “We have the same aspirations for this class of seven players but we have to wait and see until they hit the grass.”