Now that the NFL Combine has wrapped up, the 2026 NFL draft is upon us, and even though it’s still more than a month away, every day, teams get closer to their decisions on which players they’ll want to nab.
The Cleveland Browns are one of the teams hoping for a good run in 2026. Last year, of course, they drafted Shedeur Sanders, who ended up starting for the franchise later in the 2025-26 season.
The 2026 NFL draft is set for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Thursday, April 23, through Saturday, April 25, 2026.
“The annual NFL Draft gives the teams the opportunity to infuse their rosters with new talent,” the official NFL website states of the draft. “Some players will provide an instant boost to the team that selects them; others won’t. But the chance that drafted players will lead their new clubs to glory makes teams compete over talent, whether in the first round or the last.”
Shedeur Sanders Gets Relief in New Browns Prediction
If Sanders heads up the Browns in 2026, or even if he’s just a strong backup quarterback, one draft prediction as the offensive line getting a boost with the 2026 NFL draft.
In a Monday, March 2, feature for USA Today, Nate Davis gives his projections for the 2026 NFL draft. His roster of choices come out of the NFL Combine, where franchises were able to see the top 2026 NFL draft prospects in action.
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“In addition to eye-popping testing numbers and interviews that don’t raise red flags, front office executives and coaches are also looking at media interactions and, among other considerations, clean medical reports – perhaps the most critical, if underrated, aspect of any combine,” Davis notes in the feature.
For the Cleveland Browns, Davis has them going with offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa out of Miami for their No. 6 pick. Any help for the offensive line is good news for Sanders or any quarterback heading up the Browns.
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“A three-year starter for the Hurricanes at right tackle, the 6-foot-6, 329-pound mauler could be the perfect foundation for a team that needs to entirely rebuild its offensive line – which is the primary offseason priority, whether or not GM Andrew Berry and first-year coach Todd Monken revisit the quarterback position,” he notes in the piece.
Davis adds, “Monken indicated at the combine that improved blocking was paramount in Cleveland, and the team’s pending acquisition of Tytus Howard − he’s played every O-line position but center in the NFL − doesn’t preclude taking Mauigoa.”
Read the full article here
