Browns Pick Greg Newsome II, CB Northwestern

With their first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns select Greg Newsome II, corner from Northwestern.

With the 26th pick, the Cleveland Browns have selected Greg Newsome II, corner from Northwestern.

Throughout the round, it seemed like the Browns might want to move up to get their man, but the board kept falling the way they wanted and opted to sit tight to make the selection.

Newsome fills a major need for the Browns, giving them another corner with length in their secondary to compete for a spot across from Denzel Ward.

Newsome will step in and compete with Greedy Williams, the second round pick in the 2019 draft.

Newsome excels in playing off man coverage, playing downhill to make plays on the football. He has excellent feet, the length to run with taller receivers and has the ability to poke the ball out from receivers trying to catch passes. In many ways, Newsome played in a scheme that is exactly what the Browns are going to ask him to do with the Browns, which makes it easy to project him operating in their defense.

The biggest questions with Newsome are injuries, a problem not unfamiliar to the Browns corners, and the fact he can be a little grabby. He's not someone who is likely to generate many interceptions, but he's going to prevent passes from being completed.

Newsome tested remarkably well and is young, which are all things the Browns love about players.

In a conference that features the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, who have an unending amount of receiving threats are the teams that sand out as the biggest threats in the conference. Newsome can help them play far more man coverage and improve their secondary to compete.

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