Biggest remaining needs for each AFC North team

Cleveland Browns – Left tackle

I know I’ve been a little critical of what the Browns did in the NFL Draft (as you can read in my draft review), but there is no doubt that this team will be able to compete on Sundays. Their defense is ready to go now that they’ve added a young cover-guy on the outside (Ohio State’s Denzel Ward) and they have surrounded whoever goes under center with some true weapons.

I know we’ll have to see if Josh Gordon continues to stay clean off the field and a guy like Corey Coleman develops into a playmaker, but they definitely have potential. They built one of the strongest offensive lines on paper the last offseason, but Joe Thomas finally got hurt after more than 10,000 consecutive snaps and retired after a fabulous 12-year career.

So the one guy the Browns have been able to count on during that stretch is now gone and they haven’t found anybody to replace him. From the players they had on the roster before the draft, Shon Coleman looked like he might shift to the left side.

Being drafted in the third round two years ago out of Auburn, I liked him at right tackle last season, but that will be Chris Hubbard’s spot to lose since they brought him in from New England. When they worked on their roster in Dallas, they selected UConn’s Austin Corbett very early in the second round.

I was a big fan of the big man when I watched his tape, but I thought he projected much better to one of three interior spots, especially center. I know he’s 6’4’’ and had four excellent years on the edge with the Wolfpack, but his lack of arm length is a concern.

For me, putting a rookie out there at the most crucial spot, who already has a natural disadvantage against guys like Myles Garrett and Carlos Dunlap, who he will face twice per year, might not be the best thing to do.