2018 NFL Mock Draft: Browns land Baker Mayfield

NFL Draft season is officially upon us and the 2018 draft could make for some of the most intriguing storylines in recent memory.

Is it the year of the quarterback? The year of the running back? While that will ultimately take years to decide, the debates among fans and NFL personnel are already underway in what will lead up to one of the most highly-anticipated events on the sports calendar: the NFL Draft.

Even though there’s just about two months until the Browns (or another lucky team) hand in their card for the first-overall pick, it’s still early in the draft process. The college all-star game circuit has come and gone, but next up is the all-important NFL Combine. Do athletic traits trump what a scout sees on tape or are they merely another piece to a complicated puzzle that make the NFL Draft one of the most difficult-to-predict events in all of sports?

Regardless of where we are on the timeline, it’s never too early to start piecing together what the draft may end up looking like. Such is the beauty of the mock draft. Always fun and always wrong.

Seeing how we still have the combine to look forward to and even more tape to watch, I’ve compiled a list of auto responses for you to copy and paste into the comment section if you take offense to this 100-percent accurate February first-round mock draft:

(My team) picking (that guy)?? What planet are you on, dude?

What a terrible article! I hope you’re paying this clown exclusively in depreciated Bitcoin! 

This is your mother. I’m so proud of you! 

Now that I’ve made your life even easier, let’s get to the first-round mock draft you’ve all been waiting for.

Once again, the Cleveland Browns find themselves with the top pick in the draft after a winless 2017 season. And once again, they use that selection for a premium pass rusher who many feel is the best player in the entire class.

Having two selections inside the top five all but guarantees the Browns its choice of college quarterbacks, but I’m not entirely sure they’ll end up using their top pick on a signal-caller. If new GM John Dorsey finds a solution to the perpetual Cleveland quarterback problem in free agency, it could free the club up to go with a best player available approach with their first two picks.

Chubb is an incredibly gifted pass rusher with great size and a tremendous ability to play the run. He also plays with an undeniable swagger and was one of the most productive players in college football over the course of his N.C. State career. Pairing him with last year’s top pick, Myles Garrett, would immediately give Cleveland one of the best pass-rushing duos in the NFL.

The free agent market for quarterbacks will have a lot to do with wherever direction the Browns choose to go with this pick. If they address the position in free agency, they could wind up trading out of this spot to the highest, quarterback-needy bidder. For now, though, Cleveland lands my top player in the draft with the first-overall selection.