Let’s Hope Andrew Berry has Better Luck in the 2024 NFL Draft
Feb 28, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks to the press at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
As things start to ramp up for the 2024 draft, the Cleveland Browns coaching staff and Andrew Berry are deep in their draft board preparation. And while there was a stretch where the Browns had a handful of picks in the top-100, this year they will only have five total picks because of recent trade activities for Deshaun Watson and Jerry Jeudy.
The good news for fans, this is the final year of not having a first-round pick, but Berry needs to be much sharper than he was last year. As we take a deeper dive into the 2023 class, Berry had one home run but missed several other picks.
Round Four, Pick No. 111 – Dawand Jones, Offensive Tackle:
I remember the second that Berry drafted Jones who played for Ohio State and I felt familiar with, and I wasn’t pleased. Jones was always a decent collegiate player but never lived up to his hype in my opinion.
But after the injury to Jack Conklin last season, Jones not only stepped up and filled in, but he also showed that he is a very capable player and likely the future of the Browns offensive line at tackle. Jones later dealt with a knee injury that sidelined him for the season and the entire offensive line took a blow.
In Jone’s first start with the Browns, he was faced against T.J Watt who has infamously become the Browns killer. Not only was Jones left on an island with Watt multiple times, but he held up as well as anyone I’ve seen in the last few seasons.
Jones showed his athleticism and strength in his few starts and has all fans excited for his debut in 2024.
Round Three, Pick No. 98 – Siaki Ika, Defensive Tackle:
Heading into the last offseason, there is no doubt that defensive tackle was the biggest need for this roster. Not only did Berry bring in multiple veterans including Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris, but he also took a big man early in the draft.
Ika is a massive body who had a lot of success at Baylor but also had some red flags. For his size, he grades as athletic, but you must remember that he is 335 pounds. And while we saw a little bit of Ika during the preseason, he was only active a few weeks and only played meaningful snaps vs. the Bengals in week 18 which was a meaningless game.
Again, it’s too soon to call Ika a bust, but without a first or second-round pick (Elijah Moore Trade) in 2023, it was a bummer to see Berry draft someone who wasn’t even active on most Sundays.
Berry hasn’t shown much confidence in his development either as he brought back both Harris and Maurice Hurst to be the second defensive tackles on the depth chart which will make it tough once again for Ika to be active on Sunday in 2024.
Round Three, Pick No. 74 – Cedric Tillman, Wide Receiver:
I have only seen one panic move from Berry during his tenure with the Cleveland Browns, but when Jalin Hyatt went at pick no. 73, he panicked and drafted his teammate, Cedric Tillman with the next pick.
Tillman put up decent numbers in 2021 with the Tennessee Volunteers where he racked up more than 1,000 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns. But missed half of the 2022 college season with an ankle injury. Tillman certainly has the tools to be a capable NFL wide receiver, but it always felt like a stretch taking him in round three.
Now that the Browns have Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, and Moore on the roster, it’s going to be tough sledding for Tillman to even see the field unless there is an injury in 2024. There is still time for him to develop, but based on last year’s production my hopes aren’t high.
Let’s hope that Berry does a little more homework with his picks in 2024 and can at least hit on two of his three first picks.
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