In the end, Cleveland kept it easy.
Ending weeks of feverish questions, the Browns on Thursday night night made Myles Garrett the very first overall pick of your 2017 NFL Draft. For most across your league, selecting the edge rusher amounted to some comprehensive no-brainer(If you have questions about NFL 18 Coins, you can ask us) .
The Browns, though, kept everyone guessing intending into Thursday. Sashi Brown, the team's executive VP connected with football operations, and coach Hue Knutson never let on that the franchise planned to pick, leading some to feel that Cleveland was leaning toward Vermont quarterback Mitchell Trubisky over Garrett.
Instead, the Browns opted with the consensus top player with this year's draft. At a mighty 6-foot-4 and also 272 pounds, Garrett dazzled scouts with a monstrous scouting combine efficiency after logging a dominating career at Texas A&M. Boasting a wild 82 5/8-inch wingspan, the 21-year-old defender offers elite explosiveness and the chance to stand up or put his hand in the dirt.
Seen as one with the draft's true game-changers, Garrett gives the small Browns a blue-chip prospect to develop around for years to come. New defensive coordinator Gregg Williams may be handed an early Christmas gift to line up everywhere in the field come September.
Garrett joins a unit that also includes linebackers Jamie Collins as well as Christian Kirksey, promising second-year pass rusher Emmanuel Ogbah as well as big-bodied anchor Danny Shelton. The Browns still ought to address their woeful second, but Garrett alone gets the potential to change this unit for years into the future.
"When that guy came up down the assembly range, it was a wedding ceremony for the Almighty, " one scout told Bob McGinn in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He was feeling real good as to what he was doing. You do see a few lapses, but I do think he will surpass the A&M tradition regarding (Broncos edge rusher) Von Cooper. If (Detroit's) Ziggy Ansah is really a five on talent degree, this guy's a 6. We're talking a complete different level. "
The Browns traded his or her No. 12 overall pick towards Houston Texans -- exactly who selected Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
While the quarterback position remains a burning need for the Browns, Trubisky was never seen as an prototypical first-overall selection. Every passer in this kind of draft is flawed, leaving Cleveland ripe pertaining to criticism it had forced a signal-caller at No. 1. Instead, Cleveland chose a participant in Garrett who is seen as an Julius Peppers-level talent efficient at providing the Browns by having an instant identity on security.
"It's a no-brainer, " a second investigate told McGinn. "If Cleveland doesn't take him they should be kicked out of your league. "
The Browns, instead, will be allowed to stay in the NFL -- and so they now boast a gamer who might finally help pull them out of your long, dark night they've toiled in for decades.