Browns ‘won’t take’ Josh Allen at No. 1 in the NFL Draft

The 2018 NFL Draft is just a few days away from getting underway. Although, there still remains much mystery concerning what the Cleveland Browns will do at the first overall pick. The only thing for certain is that the team is eyeing a promising quarterback at the selection.

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Much of that chatter has centered around the Browns possibly leaning toward taking former Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. Allen would take the spot over USC’s Sam Darnold. However, Peter King of Sports Illustrated is reporting that the team will pass on Allen and select Darnold.

 And we’re all prisoners of the people we know in this league. And someone I trust, who is very often right and is very well-connected, told me Sunday it’s not Allen. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Science of the Mock. Darnold is safe, with strong potential. Most NFL folks think he can turn around the turnover bug (37 career turnovers in 26 USC games).

Through the entire process, Darnold has been long viewed as the safe selection. He brings to the table with a strong and accurate arm. He has also shown the ability to lead the team to success behind his arm. While he also possesses plenty of potential to translate that to becoming a franchise quarterback at the next level.

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Meanwhile, there have been many question marks around Allen’s skillset on the field. He certainly has the ideal body frame standing at 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, the largest hand size at 10 1/8″,  and arguably the strongest arm in the draft. However, he struggled to throw with accuracy over his collegiate career while his footwork in the pocket is still a work in progress.

The Browns have a lot of pressure to make this the right selection given their well-documented history of struggling to find a long-term solution under center. It simply comes down to Darnold being regarded as the safest selection among the bunch to lead the franchise to success.