April 27, 2017
Because the Philadelphia Eagles have their franchise quarterback (or at least they think they do) in Carson Wentz, there's a zero percent chance they'll draft one at pick No. 14.
Therefore, the more quarterbacks that get drafted before the Philadelphia Eagles make their selection at pick No. 14, the better the chance that a prospect of interest to them will be available.
According to Mark Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, the Cleveland Browns will be selecting Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett with the first-overall pick. However, the Browns will try to trade up from pick No. 12 to trade to get into a position to draft North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky thereafter.
Heading into the big day, there had been rumblings that the Browns might surprise the football world and take Mitch Trubisky No. 1, but that won't be the case.
ESPN's Adam Schefter even said on Wednesday that he wouldn't be surprised if Garrett is still the first player off the board, but "I have got very smart, very well-connected people telling me over the last 24 hours that they think Trubisky's going to be the No. 1 pick."
Instead, the Browns have been working the phones and will continue to try to trade up for Trubisky from No. 12. They also have the No. 33 and No. 52 overall picks.
Obviously, based on that report, Trubisky will go no later than pick No. 12 if the Browns are unable to move up.
As we noted earlier this month, eight of the 12 teams (the Browns pick twice) have needs at quarterback. According to Cabot, if the Browns are unable to trade up to get Trubisky and some other team drafts him instead, they might take a different quarterback at pick 12.
If they don't draft Trubisky, they will consider Clemson's Deshaun Watson and Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes at No. 12. The Browns could also trade back up into the late first round from No. 33 to draft a QB.
If two quarterbacks were to be taken in the first 13 picks before the Eagles' spot at 14, that would help ensure the Eagles will get a good player at pick 14, rather than a potential reach.
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