Saquon Barkley may be the best overall athlete available in the 2018 NFL Draft, and it appears that the former Penn State running back may be taking his talents to Cleveland.
Of course, the Cleveland Browns have the No. 1 and No. 4 overall picks in the upcoming draft, and will likely draft a quarterback with one of those picks. But what about the other pick?
In this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback by Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, King writes that a friend of Browns general manager John Dorsey believes that the Browns will choose quarterback Josh Allen and Barkley with the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the draft, respectively.
Here’s what the King wrote:
“FOD (Friend of Dorsey) thinks Browns will go Allen-Saquon at 1 and 4. What would an April MMQB be without another draft rumor?! This friend of Cleveland GM John Dorsey believes he’ll go Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen over Sam Darnold with the first overall pick, keep the fourth pick, and take Penn State running back Saquon Barkley. ‘I would be surprised if he traded down,’ FOD told me. ‘This would be his chance to take his two offensive cornerstones for the next eight or 10 years.’ The most interesting thing there? That FOD thinks Dorsey will not trade. I think that’s great. Cleveland’s been very good at trading and stockpiling, and not very good at drafting, in the last few years. I hope Dorsey’s more about the (relatively) sure things instead of Cleveland leading the league in draft picks.”
While this is just a rumor, it would make a lot of sense for the Browns to go this route. The team has lacked a franchise quarterback since it returned to Cleveland in 1998, and has not had a consistent running back over the last couple seasons.
In past drafts, Cleveland has traded down in the draft in order to accumulate more draft picks. This, unfortunately for Browns fans, made the team miss out on players like Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles and Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, among several other players.
We will have to wait and see if Barkley is still available for the Browns at No. 4, or if they decide to take Barkley No. 1 and Allen at No. 4. There’s also a chance the Browns end up choosing a different quarterback with one of those picks, such as Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold.
We will find out where Barkley ends up on Thursday, April 26, when the 2018 NFL Draft officially begins.