What’s gotten into Andrew Berry’s draft room?
Through two nights of Berry’s seventh Browns draft, there have been no real head-scratchers characteristic of previous years and more fist pumps following solid and popular, if not spectacular, moves.
After a first night that played to good reviews for addressing obvious needs with offensive tackle Spencer Fano and wide receiver KC Concepcion, the Browns’ GM followed with a splendid array of trades and selections that laid another auspicious piece to the foundation of a younger roster.
On a busy second night, Berry made three trades – moving up in the second round, out of the third round, and then back in – and added three players, two of whom were first-round projections.
Berry began the night by using the 39th overall selection in the second round on Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston, who was a popular choice among fans for the No. 24 pick on Thursday that was used on Concepcion. Back-to-back wide receiver selections, while warranted, was something nobody foresaw – even Berry.
After that, Berry went into full trader mode. He dealt with the San Francisco 49ers to move up 12 spots from No. 70 in the third round and selected rangy Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at No. 58.
Berry then traded away the No. 74 pick he acquired from Kansas City on Thursday in a pick swap with the Los Angeles Chargers. But just when you thought that transaction concluded the second night proceedings, Berry moved back into the third round in a trade with the New York Giants and tabbed Florida offensive tackle Austin Barber with the 86th overall selection.
The end result is that Berry heads into Saturday’s final day of the draft with four selections in the fifth round – he had five at one point! – and one in the seventh round. He also picked up the Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2027.
“We’re excited about today … and pleased with where we ended up,” Berry summed up at the end of the long night.
The picks of Boston and McNeil-Warren had national independent draftniks gushing that the Browns were “crushing the draft.”
Boston gives coach Todd Monken a skill-set diverse from that of Concepcion. Boston (6-3 5/8 and 212 pounds) does not have the speed or separation ability of Concepcion, but he is certifiably more sure-handed and gives his quarterback a bigger target, especially inside the red zone.
“I think he compliments KC,” Monken said. “He’s a different body type than what we have. We were looking at someone we thought could be a size matchup and especially in the red zone, which we did not have. And we certainly needed to just continue to upgrade that position, and we did.”
Berry, who had never taken a receiver higher than the third round, wound up picking two among the draft’s first 39 picks. The Browns had not taken receivers in back-to-back picks since Eric Mangini selected Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi in Round 2 in 2009.
The double pick at wide receiver has “zero impact” on Jerry Jeudy, Berry said.
“He’s our bell cow,” Berry said. “We feel like we have a nice, well-rounded room with speed, RAC [run after catch], contested catch ability, separation. So, we’re really pleased with the youth and talent in that group.”
Berry said he considered taking McNeil-Warren at No. 39, which is why he aggressively pursued a trade to move when the Toledo safety drifted downward in the second round.
McNeil-Warren (6-3 ½, 201) was universally considered the No. 3 safety in the draft after Caleb Downs (taken 11th by Dallas) and Dillon Thieneman (taken 25th by Chicago).
McNeil-Warren produced 13 takeaways (eight forced fumbles, five interceptions) in his last three seasons at Toledo and impressed NFL teams by staying loyal to the Mid-American Conference program despite multiple transfer offers from Power 4 conference schools.
“Eman wasn’t someone that we anticipated being there as late as he was,” Berry said. “So when he got within striking distance, we felt the move was appropriate. You know, to be truthful, he was in play for us at 39.”
In assessing McNeil-Warren’s potential, Berry cited versatile safeties Kyle Hamilton of Baltimore and Nick Emmanwori of Seattle. But he cautioned against putting too much on his plate too early. Early on, McNeil-Warren could fill the long-sought role as ball-hawking deep safety in new coordinator Mike Rutenberg’s defense.
“Ball hawk is definitely in the description [of McNeil-Warren’s toolbox],” said assistant GM Catherine Hickman, who repped the Browns at Toledo’s pro day workouts.
Barber is a towering lineman (6-6 7/8, 318) with 39 career starts at both Florida tackle positions. Monken said Barber would start off competing at tackle but could eventually move inside to guard.
“Certainly, we knew we had to address the offensive line,” Monken affirmed.
One position on the O-line the Browns have not addressed is center. Monken said the position has been discussed in the draft room.
“There’s a possibility we’ll still address that as we get further into the draft,” he said.
Berry has five picks left – four in the fifth round and one in the seventh. He quipped, “The fifth round is the new seventh.” Meaning, he’d like to be done in the fifth round.
“If there comes a situation where there’s a veteran trade that makes sense, we would explore that,” Berry said. “But our big thing is, how do we best maximize the assets?”
So far so good on that count.