NFL Draft rumors: Browns linked to Leonard Fournette

The Cleveland Browns have options with this year’s No. 1 overall pick, and Leonard Fournette could be on their radar.

The Cleveland Browns are in an ongoing state of rebuild, with failed quarterback draft picks and high picks at other positions that turned into busts. Armed with two first-round picks this year, No. 1 and No. 12 overall, the Browns have plenty of options.

Texas A&M edge rusher Myles Garrett looks like a slam-dunk first overall pick, though Cleveland could go back to the first round quarterback well with that pick or perhaps at No. 12. But another position, where the talent pool is deeper this year, could be on the Browns’ radar.

In a longer piece about the top running back prospects in this year’s draft class, and how high they might be drafted, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports opened with the following.

"If something shocking happens in to the top five picks of the 2017 NFL Draft, it very well might involve running back Leonard Fournette. I hear the big back out of LSU is increasingly being viewed as a best-of-breed player in this draft and a true blue chipper and he is being considered at the highest reaches of the first round."

At first glance, running back is not a top need for the Browns. But they did have the league’s 19th-ranked rushing attack (107 yards per game) last season, and they started the process of improving that by making significant investments in their offensive line in free agency. Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson look like role players at this point, but Fournette is an old school workhorse-type back that probably has untapped potential as a pass catcher.

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Fournette may be the first running back drafted later this month, perhaps as high as No. 4 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars or No. 8 to the Carolina Panthers. There’s chance he falls to No. 12 though, and that’s the only scenario where he should be on stage next to Roger Goodell holding up a Browns’ jersey.