Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said Monday night the franchise has identified the player it’ll target with the eighth overall pick Thursday.
He also reiterated trading down again is an option.
“We’re set, locked in, know who we’ll be taking,’’ Brown said on the Browns’ draft preview radio special on 92.3 The Fan. “And if that player’s not there or if we get another offer that just blows our socks off, we’ll know how to react to that.’’
Only the Browns know exactly which players they’ll pursue, but some clues might be found in the list of prospects who reportedly had official pre-draft visits and/or private workouts with them. Each team is allowed to host 30 national prospects for visits until a week before the draft, which runs Thursday-Saturday. There is no limit on private workouts.
The list of visits and workouts below does not include meetings at the NFL Scouting Combine, pro days or elsewhere. Of course, not all of the visits and workouts became public.
Obviously, some of the players on the list such as the two top-rated quarterbacks, California’s Jared Goff and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, won’t be available to the Browns, who traded down from No. 2 overall to No. 8 on April 20.
Projections are from NFLDraftScout.com.
Visit and workout
First round — Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman and Goff. Second round — Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook.
Visit
First round — Wentz, Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa and Mississippi wide receiver Laquon Treadwell. First or second round — Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch and Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller. Third or fourth round — Middle Tennessee State safety Kevin Byard. Fourth round — Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright. Fourth or fifth round — Temple wide receiver Robby Anderson. Fifth round — Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan. Sixth round — UCLA linebacker Aaron Wallace and Kansas State fullback Glenn Gronkowski. Seventh round or priority free agent — Baylor wide receiver Jay Lee. Undrafted free agent — Miami cornerback Tracy Howard and Pittsburgh tight end J.P. Holtz.
Workout
Sixth round — San Diego State offensive lineman Darrell Greene. Seventh round or priority free agent — Boston College inside linebacker Steven Daniels. Undrafted free agent — Louisville linebacker James Burgess
Visit and/or workout
First round — Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson. First or second round — TCU wide receiver Josh Doctson. Second round — Ohio State safety Vonn Bell. Seventh round or priority free agent — Southern California quarterback Cody Kessler. Undrafted free agent — Southern Illinois tight end Adam Fuehne.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.