Why Cleveland Should Trade Down from 6 and Not Think Twice About It

It’s no secret how much offense Cleveland needs. The Browns have no weapons, and a shoddy offensive line jimmy-rigged in free agency using a career above-average tackle pushing 30, another aging lineman who was released for failing a physical, and an athletic project who has not one season in four where he wasn’t a liability. They also have great uncertainty at the most important position in football. In an ideal draft, a #6 overall selection could net the Browns their own Joe Alt, Penei Sewell, or Ja’Marr Chase. This is not an ideal draft. Let’s break down the two most popular picks for Cleveland at #6.

CARNELL TATE

On many levels, it does feel right: The best jump ball winner in Ohio State history, maybe even college football history, called upon to become “the guy” in the buckeye state, and step away from the shadow of Jeremiah Smith. Carnell Tate is an impressive athlete with some impressive highs, but we need to be asking whether or not he’s truly worth a top ten selection. This is where we chase after the Ja’Marr Chases and Julio Joneses of the world (sorry for the reminder), complete receivers who seem primed to become the future of the position, with zero weaknesses in their game. Tate is not that perfect prospect.

His route running has greatly improved this year, but it’s still incredibly inconsistent. He has many reps where he lacks deception in his eyes and will telegraph the break, and breaks with false steps or round angles. Ultimately, that began to materialize in lower volume in OSU’s big games this year against Miami and Indiana. Tate also hasn’t shown to be much of a weapon with the ball in his hands.

The reason Carnell Tate is beginning to fall now in some analysts’ eyes is likely because of how many have now finished their homework on him. I personally loved Carnell Tate during the regular season, but was well aware of how poor the competition was across from him, how limited the route tree was, and the kinks still prevalent in his game. According to many, he’s a great kid who loves football and is a hard worker. I think he’ll be a successful player in the NFL. Can I easily project he’ll be a top ten player at the position who deserves to be taken with the #6 overall pick? I cannot.

Round Grade: Mid-1st     Comp: Martavis Bryant

MONROE FREELING

Freeling is no doubt a very exciting athlete. He has incredible functional strength that’s well-dispersed across his body, strong bear claws for hands attached to nearly 35” arms, and a fantastic anchor ability. Not only that, but he has the explosiveness of someone much smaller than 6’7” 315 lbs. However, the fact remains: His tape is very sloppy.

His upper and lower halves don’t have a happy marriage, so when he goes to throw his punch he tends to stop his feet and lose his base. Plus, his initial punch is slow, and he has trouble keeping his hands inside. A guy with 35” arms shouldn’t have as much trouble reaching the chest as he does. He’s a bit of a lunger who has problems keeping a consistently low pad height, which hurts him in pass pro but arguably more so in the run game where he struggles with block sustain and finding proper leverage. Also, for as good of an athlete he is going north/south, he does seem a bit tight laterally, which is ever so important in the art of pass protection. When he lit up the combine, he neglected to test in the short shuttle or 3-cone, two drills designed to test lateral agility.

His upside is so tantalizing, and he’s only 21 years old, but there are many steps he has to take if he wants to become an elite franchise tackle. I’ll give you three ranges of outcomes for a player like this.

THE GOOD ENDING: KOLTON MILLER

Kolton Miller was essentially the exact same player entering the draft. The Raiders took a gamble on him at #17 overall, and were lambasted for it. It was considered a reach, and they had recently taken heat for other prior draft blunders. Lo and behold, Miller worked incredibly hard, and he became an elite franchise tackle.

THE OKAY ENDING: SPENCER BROWN

Spencer Brown was another similar prospect selected by the Bills in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft. He saw the field immediately and was a starter by week 4 of that season. His first two years, he was awful, and Bills fans were wondering why he was  still on the field. However, in his third season, he showed signs of life. Where there was once a blank canvas with no real prowess in any phase of the game, he began to weaponize his athleticism in the run game. By 2024, he became a mauler in that phase, and finally found some production in pass protection. In 2025 he has all but established himself as a top 10 run blocking tackle in the NFL, but his pass protection efficiency did dip lower than it has in the last two seasons. All in all, still lacking some consistency, but has found a role for himself as a versatile run blocking weapon, one that helped James Cook ascend to the fantastic production he’s found.

THE BAD ENDING: TYLER GUYTON

Tyler Guyton was recently selected by the Cowboys with the #29 overall pick in 2024. He was a player where draft grades were all over the place. Many scouts loved his background as a tight end, and his athleticism and strength combo. However, his technique was awful and his hands were idle. The jury is still technically out on Guyton, but all he has been for the Cowboys since stepping out of rookie camp and into a starting role is a leak in the boat. He has what feels like four to five Jedrick Wills moments every game, and he offers nothing as a run blocker. Cowboys fans are already talking about finding his possible replacement later in this draft.

MORAL OF THE STORY

You’re opening a mystery box with Freeling, and you don’t empty your savings account to buy a mystery box. Notice how out of all three given examples of similar prospects, not a single one of them was taken in the top half of the first round. Any similar prospect you can find will likely be taken outside of that range, and the similar prospects you do find in the top ten are guys like Evan Neal, another disappointment. The top ten is reserved for players you can easily project as franchise stalwarts, not your local gas station convenience store where you buy lottery scratchers.

Round Grade: Late 1st    Comp: Kolton Miller, Spencer Brown, or Tyler Guyton

MAKAI LEMON

Makai Lemon just doesn’t have the size and speed you can easily project to becoming a top ten receiver. Excellent route runner and excellent after the catch, but in the entire history of receivers of that height, weight, and speed in the NFL, the best of all of them is probably Doug Baldwin. Even Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 6’0”, and Amon-Ra St. Brown is at least 20 lbs heavier. Lemon measured in at 5’11” 192 lbs, but there have been measurement inaccuracies at the combine this year, short by up to 1” on arm length, and generous by up to 1” on height. There is a chance he’s actually closer to 5’10”. I love his tape, but I can’t confidently say that Makai Lemon will become the outlier of sub-6’0” sub-200 lb receivers who becomes elite. Plus, he lived in the slot. I’ve seen him flash the ability to beat press, but there is very little tape of it, enough moments I can likely only count on one hand. He’ll have to break a lot of molds to justify the #6 overall pick.

Round Grade: Top Half of 1st Round   Comp: Doug Baldwin

FRANCIS MAUIGOA

Mauigoa may not even be available when the Browns pick. Even if he is, he’s another prospect that warrants skepticism as a top ten selection. This is one of those drafts where offensive linemen talent is so scarce that many have been pushed up the board for so long that we’re beginning to equate them with prospects drafted in their range prior. Mauigoa is also no Joe Alt, no Penei Sewell, and certainly no Joe Thomas.

Mauigoa is another very good athlete. He has the power, the pad height, the grip strength, and the movement skills you want at the position. Unlike Freeling, he does have that lateral agility you want for the position. He also has some of the same technical pitfalls, however. He struggles to keep his hands inside and continue to work them throughout the rep. He has that same desync between his hands and feet at times. Similar to Carnell Tate, his playoff tape cooled me on him a bit. He looked far more lost in the run game against defenses that could actually defend the run, a stark contrast to the ACC front sevens he lined up across in the regular season. He struggled with his drive blocking to lock on with his second step, and had many moments where he let linemen infiltrate rushing lanes because he failed to latch on. He also looked less intentional about marrying up at the second level. All in all, the game looked very fast for him. I don’t like that from my potential top ten linemen.

His footwork was sloppier as well. In their regular season game against Louisville, I commended him for how he seemed to step up his technique and play with an edge on the handful of reps he had against their star pass rusher, Clev Lubin. However, a handful of reps is a very small sample size. Basically every other pass rusher he saw in the regular season posed zero threat to him. Once the competition heated up in the playoffs, the technique got worse. He was getting over his skis and lunging more, and struggled to anticipate moves more than he did against ACC pass rushers with shallow pass rush bags and more pedestrian athleticism.

He’s only 20 years old, and could have a bright future ahead of him. From what I’ve heard he’s a high character leader and hard worker as well. Again, I like the player and the potential, but I’d be hesitant to cash in the #6 overall pick for him.

Round Grade: Back Half of 1st Round Comp: Ereck Flowers (as a prospect)

The last remaining offensive players the Browns would likely target at #6 might be Jordyn Tyson, Jeremiyah Love, Spencer Fano, and Ty Simpson. I’ll spend less time on these four since they are less frequently being mocked in that top ten range.

Jordyn Tyson is an excellent route runner, but isn’t as physical as you’d prefer a receiver to be. He isn’t a major contested catch threat, and not much of a tackle-breaker after the catch. He has some athleticism he can weaponize in space, but all in all isn’t someone you’re worried about bringing to the turf. Plus, the injury history is an obvious concern. I like him in the mid-1st. He reminds me of Amani Toomer.

Jeremiyah Love rocks. He’s spectacularly fast and explosive. He processes developing rushing lanes quickly, and if there’s green grass near him, he will find it. He’s a fantastic receiving option who catches effortlessly in transition. He has excellent contact balance and attacks like a missile to pick up yards after contact. He has a great stiff arm and spin move to force missed tackles in space. He’s not a human joystick who will juke you out of your shoes like Jahmyr Gibbs, but he’s certainly not easy to take down. He has a tendency to bounce runs outside, and doesn’t quite have that psychic-level block anticipation to see lanes before they open, but really the case against him isn’t in the tape.

The knocks on him are really just nitpicks. He’s a great prospect who deserves to at least be mentioned among Bijan Robinson, Ashton Jeanty, and Saquon Barkley, but you do not take RBs in the top ten if you don’t have an offensive line that can support them, which is usually the case. Look at Ashton Jeanty. I doubt anybody is disputing his talent as much as they are the Raiders’ offensive line woes. Look at Giants-edition Saquon Barkley. He had some great seasons, but also down seasons from a production standpoint, with some injuries mixed in. All of a sudden his situation completely reverses with the Eagles, and he establishes himself as, without question, an elite player at the position. Do you think the Giants would have rather gone a different direction than Saquon at #2 overall? You don’t pick the drapes before you build the house, and there are enough exciting young players in Cleveland’s backfield already. I have a back half of the 1st round grade on love, and the best comp I could come up with is Deluxe Tony Pollard, an incredible compliment when you think about the kind of player Tony Pollard was in his prime, but better.

Spencer Fano probably has some of the best technique out of any lineman in this class. He has strong hands, good footwork, great mirroring ability, excellent run blocking tape, and the versatility to play tackle, guard, or even center. Frankly, he’s my favorite lineman in this class. The fact remains that he lacks some very important lineman traits: Length and strength. He’s a compact player with shorter arms, and he lacks that lower body strength to anchor down against power when pass rushers can reach his chest, which is easier for them to do considering his lesser arm length despite how proficient his hand usage is. He’s a great player, and my #1 lineman, but he has the same grade as I gave Mauigoa, a back half 1st rounder. My comp for him is Troy Fautanu, who the Steelers took at #20 overall a couple drafts ago, a similar prospect with similar versatility, and also similar trait deficiencies.

Lastly, the Ty Simpson discussion is very easy for me. Ty Simpson has a better arm than he gets credit for, as well as the arm talent to place deep balls on a dime and layer throws over the middle perfectly. However, the game feels fast for him. He can make full-field reads, but tends to get stuck on his first one for a tick too long before progressing through the rest, and by the time he does look at his next read, there are many moments where it’s too late. It doesn’t feel like he has that masterful understanding of how route concepts are designed to beat defenses, at least when he’s seeing live bullets. He doesn’t feel pressure well, nor react to it well. He certainly has pocket agility, you can see it, but too often he fails to navigate dirty pockets without taking the sack.

Who does this sound like to you? I wonder if we have the same comp after this brief description. Mine is Shedeur Sanders. I felt similarly about Sanders coming out of the 2025 draft. Excellent arm talent, but needs to slow the game down for himself somehow. I had a 2nd round grade on Sanders, the same as I do on Simpson. Why in the fresh hell should the Browns draft a prospect like this at #6 overall when they have someone so similar at home, now with one season of NFL experience under his belt? Obviously they’re different people, and maybe one will grow and progress better than the other, but it’s really anyone’s guess which one that would be, if either. The Browns would be better suited to continue the Shedeur Sanders experiment than start fresh with Ty Simpson.

All of this to say… With how the board looks as if it will fall, there will be high-end defensive talent still available at #6. Personally, I would rather the Browns draft Rueben Bain or even Mansoor Delane, who could fill that slot corner role they’ve needed filled, and work towards serving as the #2 corner post-Ward or post-Campbell. However, most Browns fans would agree that we would be disappointed if the team didn’t address the offense with the first pick. By that logic, I think it’s best if the Browns trade down.

Fano, Mauigoa, Olaivavega Ioane, even Freeling are all similar talents as offensive linemen. This wide receiver class is also clustered similarly among the top three. One of these talents is nearly guaranteed to still be available if the Browns simply trade down within ten picks or so. The Cowboys at #12 are rumored to be seeking a trade up for a defensive superstar. The Dolphins at #11 have a breadth of picks to play with, and a MAJOR defensive need at nearly every position. Even as far down as #16, the Jets have a cornucopia of draft picks to throw at someone. If the Jets were interested in moving back up into the top ten as the Texans did in 2023, when they selected both C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr., the Browns could even net themselves a first rounder next year.

From a value perspective, trading down and selecting the highest offensive player on the board is the best possible outcome. There are no offensive players in this draft truly worth a top ten pick. Cleveland’s defense lost its general, but is still slated to be a powerhouse in the coming season, and has had a recent injection of young talent in the previous draft. The Browns need this same injection on offense, but need to be smart about it. Reaching for need is a dangerous game.