Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter was the choice for No. 1 Tennessee in my mock draft simulation on Pro Football Network's Website. That would leave Miami quarterback Cam Ward for the Browns at No. 2.
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
I’m hooked on mock draft simulators.
In the span of, oh, 10 minutes, I ran the first two rounds of the Browns’ draft through Pro Football Network’s free draft simulator three times and came up with the following couplets for the No. 2 and No. 33 overall picks:
1. Cam Ward and Ashton Jeanty (yes, he fell out of the first round).
2. Travis Hunter and Jaxson Dart.
3. Abdul Carter and Jalen Milroe.
Which couplet would make you happiest?
None of the above? How about Shedeur Sanders and Omarion Hampton?
The Browns haven’t had a first-round pick in the draft since 2021. In that time, the mock draft simulator has been the greatest thing to happen to the gigantic NFL draft industry since Mel Kiper.
“I can tell you it is the most popular item on the site,” said Ian Cummings, one of Pro Football Network’s draft analysts.
“It's always active and it's crazy to see how consistent people are with what we're doing, with trying out those outcomes.”
According to Cummings, there have been over 84 million user selections this draft season on the PFN mock draft simulator.
The top five teams put through the simulator: 1. Bears (8.095 million), 2. Cowboys (7.073 million), 3. Patriots (5.709 million), 4. Giants (4.679 million), 5. Browns (4.554 million).
Making the sausage
The process is user-friendly. You select your team and how many rounds you want to simulate. When you start, selections peel off instantaneously for the teams in the draft order and it stops for your team.
You’re provided the players available based on the PFN rankings and you select who you want.
Cummings is in charge of ranking the players. Other variables are factored in by the tech nerds, such as team needs. Higher priorities are given to the team’s top five needs. Cummings said the team needs are constantly adjusted after free agent signings and trades.
“The Browns’ top needs on the site right now are quarterback, wide receiver, offensive tackle, running back, defensive tackle,” Cummings said.
One of the coolest things about the simulator is that occasionally a trade will be offered for your team’s current selection. Or you can offer a trade to another team and the computer will accept or reject it.
I tried trading the No. 2 pick to the Giants for the No. 3 pick and a third-round pick. It was rejected.
But in another simulation, the Giants offered to move up to No. 2 for an unbelievable package of picks that included their No. 1 in 2026.
Why the inconsistency?
“I'll have to look into that because that does sound like something that could be a disconnect,” Cummings said. “It's a lot easier to accept a trade than if you're the Browns at number two and propose a trade down.”
A four-round Browns simulation
The Browns have four picks in the top 100 selections. Let’s run the simulator on them.
First, the computer selected Abdul Carter for the Titans at No. 1. What a gift.
I chose Miami quarterback Cam Ward at No. 2.
At No. 33, I was offered a trade by the Chargers for No. 55 + second- and third-round picks in 2026. I rejected it and selected North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton.
At No. 67, the Steelers offered No. 83 plus a third-round pick in 2026. (Of course, a trade with the Steelers would never happen.) I chose Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins, ranked No. 63 by PFN.
At No. 94, I rejected another trade offered by the Steelers and chose defensive tackle Darius Alexander of Toledo, PFN’s No. 66-ranked prospect.
So, my top four Browns picks were Ward, Hampton, Higgins and Alexander.
Would you take that?
Back to real life
For the record, Cummings believes Ward will be taken by the Titans and he would pass on Shedeur Sanders at No. 2.
“I think the optimal route is to get Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter at number two, and then trade back into round one if a quarterback falls far enough,” Cummings said. “Ideally, Shedeur, because he's still QB2 for me. Jaxson Dart doesn't really move the needle. I think guys like Quinn Ewers, Jalen Milroe have talent, but again, they’re more of a Day 2 guy. So, you know, after Cam Ward, the quarterback group really takes a dive.”
Even the computer can’t manufacture a franchise quarterback for the Browns in this draft.