The 2025 NFL season is officially over, and now, all attention is shifted to the Combine and the 2026 NFL Draft. The draft represents an amazing opportunity for teams to add young players to their roster, hoping to build a much brighter future for themselves.
The Cleveland Browns are in a unique position this year, as they have two first-round picks. Pending any trades or shake-ups, they have picks 6 and 24, giving them two opportunities to add blue-chip players to the team.
Fans and analysts alike have spent lots of time trying to figure out the best course of action for this organization. Many have indicated the Browns should go all-in on offense in the first round, which has been their biggest struggle lately. However, analyst Tony Grossi made an argument for a defensive player.
“You could justify taking Caleb Downs to go along with Grant Delpit,” Grossi said, adding, “He could be a top 10 pick… To me, it would probably be Caleb Downs or nothing.”
Caleb Downs has been a standout player at Ohio State, and he was one of the best safeties in college over the past few seasons. Downs’ prospect profile has only been talked about more as the draft gets closer, and many seem to believe that he could be a top-five pick, if not the No. 2 overall selection.
If he fell to the Browns at No. 6, they would be left with a difficult decision, but it might be hard to pass up a player with that much athleticism and raw skill on the football field. The offense has plenty of holes that need patching sooner rather than later, but as Grossi mentioned, pairing him with Grant Delpit could be a match made in heaven.
The NFL continues to be an offensive-centric league. Without a strong quarterback, without the right tools on that side of the ball, it’s gotten increasingly difficult for teams to make it to the playoffs at all, much less make a Super Bowl run.
While that may be true, there’s also something to be said about a dominant defense, and while the Browns were solid in this area last year, they can always get better, which is what makes Downs such an interesting point of discussion.
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