Thursday wasn't a big day at the cornerback position in the 2019 NFL Draft. Just one player at the position, Georgia's Deandre Baker, heard his name called, and that didn't happen until the 30th overall selection.
Friday promises to be different, and it wouldn't be far fetched to think the Browns could be participants during an expected run on cornerbacks during the second and third rounds.
This year's cornerback class didn't have a Denzel Ward type of top-end talent, but there's strength in its depth. There's also a variety of flavors, resulting in an even wider variety of opinions among draft analysts and general managers.
"If you really talk to a lot of people around the league, if you talked about the cornerbacks and how they had the cornerbacks rated, I bet you would have 20 different stackings at the cornerback position this year," Browns general manager John Dorsey said. "I think that goes with a lot of these positions, but I do think that there are some really talented football players that are going to come across this board here tomorrow and the next day."
The Browns don't necessarily have to select a cornerback with either one of their Day 2 picks, but it wouldn't come as a surprise if they did.
One year after hammering at the position with three free agent signings and the selection of Ward, the Browns are poised to enter OTAs with relatively minimal change to the group. The starting core of Ward, Terrance Mitchell and T.J. Carrie are in place, surrounded by the likes of Phillip Gaines, Tavierre Thomas and Juston Burris. There's room for more, and Cleveland will certainly have more bodies in place by this time next week, but it will be determined Friday whether one or more will be a Day 2 selection.
Dorsey acknowledged the Browns aren't locked into their 49th selection, no matter what position they're looking to target. Getting ahead of a likely run at cornerback might require a move up, and the Browns have the draft assets to make it happen, if necessary.
"You explore those options and then you see if you can get up there at the right price, you stay patient or you even kick back," Dorsey said. "Now we can really get into the exercise of moving up and moving back. We will be actively be working the phones all day and all evening tomorrow."
Three of ClevelandBrowns.com’s “12 Players to Watch” heading into Day 2 are cornerbacks. There are many others, including a Cleveland native, who could make sense at some point Friday.
Top 10 remaining CBs
Greedy Williams - LSU
Byron Murphy - Washington
Rock Ya-Sin - Temple
Justin Layne - Michigan State (Cleveland native)
Julian Love - Notre Dame
Sean Bunting - Central Michigan
Amani Oruwariye - Penn State
Lonnie Johnson - Kentucky
Trayvon Mullen - Clemson
David Long - Michigan
