Sometimes in the NFL Draft, a player will fall based on physical measurements or testing that fall just below the prototype for a particular position. That tends to ignore what that player can actually do on the field.
The Cleveland Browns may have benefitted from such a scenario in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. There, with the No. 146 overall pick, they selected Alabama center Parker Brailsford.
Despite starting 40 games in college, with his final two seasons at the traditional power, Brailsford was not a top prospect due to his 6-foot-2, 289-pound size. However, Browns head coach Todd Monken knows someone built like that can play at a high level in the league, based on his time spent with Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum on the Baltimore Ravens.
Monken has been raving about the Browns’ rookie offensive lineman, saying the team was “jacked to get him when we did.”
“If you get beyond the size [of Parker Brailsford], that’s the sticking point for some teams. For us, I don’t see it that way. Tyler Linderbaum was not the biggest center, and he just got $27 million per year. We like athleticism. We were jacked to get him when we did,” Monken said.
“If you get beyond the size, that’s the sticking point for most teams. For us, I don’t see it that way. We like athleticism. We were jacked to get him when we did.”
🏈Todd Monken on #Browns 5th round pick, center Parker Brailsford pic.twitter.com/wf7V0wqiyq
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) May 1, 2026
Brailsford began his college career at the University of Washington, where he played both center and guard, before following head coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama. There, he started all 27 of his games at center. At his size, playing in the highly regarded SEC, he allowed just one sack and two quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus.
Linderbaum was a first-round pick by the Ravens in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Ravens out of Iowa. In three seasons with Monken as his offensive coordinator and new Browns assistant George Warhop as his offensive line coach, Linderbaum made the Pro Bowl three times. Now listed at 6-foot-2, 305 pounds, he reportedly was a target of the Browns as a free agent this offseason, but the contract he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders was likely more than Cleveland was willing to spend.
Instead, the Browns signed free agent Elgton Jenkins to presumably be their starting center. But that was before they drafted Brailsford, who could provide the versatility to move Jenkins to guard, where he was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Green Bay Packers.
Brailsford has a very good opportunity to have a role on Cleveland’s rebuilt offensive line, which is all a fifth-round pick could ask for.
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