The Senior Bowl offered the Browns an up-close look at some of the top players in this year's NFL Draft class. The league's annual combine later this month will serve as another opportunity for observation and evaluation.
But don't think this is the start of Cleveland's — or any team, for that matter — draft preparations.
"I would say this is the probably less the kickoff to draft cycle and really it's more like the final couple of laps, if you will," vice president of player personnel Andrew Berry said. "Because ultimately for any draft class it's a 14- to 15-month process and these are all pieces that help you fill in the gaps and a little bit of detail and a little bit of color to the current draft class."
Indeed, Berry and the Browns' personnel/scouting department are winding down what's been a year's worth of watching hours and hours of game film. In the meantime, the Browns will continue to organize their findings before setting off to Indianapolis.
"Our next big event as we exit the Senior Bowl, we'll have basically two weeks' worth of draft meetings where we set a preliminary board before we enter the combine," Berry said.
"Once we hit the combine and we get the medical information — we get verified measurables, we'll do psychological testing, more player interviews and then enter the spring where we have top 30 visits, private workouts and ultimately try and put the finishing touches on the class."
Like the Senior Bowl, the Combine and the hoopla surrounding it is just another piece to an otherwise thorough process of identifying talent and where it might fit on Cleveland's already youth-laden roster.
"It's a bit of a sprint," Berry said, "but it's a very exciting time period because ultimately it culminates in time at the end of April where we get to add a number of young players to the roster."
The combine is set to start Feb. 28 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
