The Cleveland Browns hold the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and will, along with the Tennessee Titans, go a long way toward determining the direction the NFL's annual rookie selection process takes in late April. And while there's still plenty of time between now and the spring, it seems the Browns under new leadership and just about every level of the organization, are already honing in on a prospect - North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz.
The Browns and head coach Hue Jackson, Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown and Chief Strategy Officer Paul Podesta are enamored with Wentz's maturity, his size (6-foot-5, 232-pounds) and his athleticism, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report.
Does that mean the Browns are sold on Wentz in mid-February? No. Cal's Jared Goff and Memphis' Paxton Lynch are both viewed as potential first-round picks as well. How the quick-thinking Goff and the big-bodied Lynch perform at their Pro Days will go a long way toward determining the Browns' actual first-round selection.
So too will the choices made by the Titans at No. 1. Having selected Marcus Mariota second-overall last year, Tennessee is not in need of a quarterback. If another team falls in love with Goff or Lynch or becomes concerned that the Browns will select Wentz before they have the opportunity, they could very well leap Cleveland snag the big North Dakota signal-caller.
As a guy with "a body type that is as prototypical as they come and a background in reading the entire field and working through progressions," Wentz will have plenty of quarterback-needy teams after. The Browns, who haven't had a quality signal-caller on the roster in more than a decade, are sure to be among them.
But whether it's a fit or just a draft positioning smokescreen won't be revealed until the NFL convenes in Chicago two months from now.
