The Browns on Saturday selected Florida Atlantic TE Harrison Bryant in the fourth round with the No. 115 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Bryant joins Alabama OT Jedrick Wills (No. 10), LSU S Grant Delpit (No. 44), Missouri DT Jordan Elliott (No. 88) and LSU LB Jacob Phillips (No. 97) as the fifth member of the Browns' 2020 draft class.
"His work ethic is great," Browns assistant scouting director Glenn Cook said. "He is going to bring really good leadership. As a football player, his pass-catching ability is probably what stands out the most. You will probably hear that a lot, but he is an athletic, natural sure-handed guy, really tough and competitive after the catch. It got to the point where we were staring at the board and you kind of couldn't ignore the fact that he was still up there."
Bryant was a first-team All-American and won the 2019 John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end. He led all players at the position with 65 receptions for 1,004 yards and seven touchdowns. As a junior, he was a first-team All-Conference USA selection after posting 45 receptions, 662 yards and four touchdowns.
Cook said Bryant first stood out to the team at the Senior Bowl and continued to impress throughout the pre-draft process. On film, his pass-catching ability proved to be one of top skills.
Bryant called his six-catch, 79-yard performance against Ohio State as one of the biggest games of his career because it proved he could produce against the toughest competition in college football. Cook expects it to carry over to the NFL.
"I think you really just have to hone in on the skill set," Cook said. "I think that is one of the things that we really liked about Harrison is from our coaching staff and our scouts, they both really appreciated his ability to get open in a multitude of ways. He is just pretty consistent at catching the football. He struggled a little bit early on this season, which was a bit uncharacteristic, but across his lifespan in college, catching the football is something that he did really well. We kind of expect him to carry that over."
Bryant, who hails from Gray, Georgia, was an offensive tackle in high school until his senior season. He initially committed to Samford University to play defensive end before ultimately picking Florida Atlantic. He gained 30 pounds during his time with the Owls.
"I feel like that can bring a lot of versatility to the team, lining up anywhere I'm asked and really lining up wherever I need to and whatever I need to do to win and help the team," Bryant said. "Really, just developing as a pass catcher on not playing tight end until my senior year of high school, it was really in my freshman and sophomore years [in college] that I really focused on developing, learning how to run routes and become a better pass catcher."
Bryant joins a Browns tight end room that added Pro Bowler Austin Hooper to the mix at the start of the league year. Former first-round pick David Njoku returns for a fourth season, too.
"They use a lot of tight ends," Bryant said. "Just knowing how Coach (Kevin) Stefanski and his recent play-calling years and the OC's (offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt) play-calling years how they use tight ends, just coming into that situation with some other great tight ends and being able to be in two or three two tight end sets with them, it is going to be a really cool situation and just ready to go to work."
The Browns have two more picks remaining in the draft: No. 160 in the fifth round and No. 187 in the sixth.
