Left tackle and wide receiver are far and away the two most obvious needs for the Cleveland Browns heading into the 2026 draft. With the sixth and 24th overall picks, many fans are begging GM Andrew Berry to go the obvious route and take two players to fill those two spots with those selections.
From what most mocks and analysts have revealed, all signs would point to that being the most likely outcome. However, there is a lot of time to kill before the draft, so why not think about the possibility of getting a little bit crazy?
One big name that has been thrown around quite a bit during this pre-draft process is Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. The Browns should be happy with their current running back situation, but during a recent episode of The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, Jason Lloyd noted that if Love is as good as many are saying, the Browns have to at least think about taking him with the sixth pick if he is available.
“Love does look like one of the best players in this draft, and if you’re going to put a (Christian) McCaffrey comp on him, I think you’ve got to consider long and hard about taking him,” said Lloyd.
Love’s status as a prospect is being likened to that of recent high draft picks such as McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley, and others. It’s rarely ideal to select a player at a position like this with such a high pick, but once in a while you see a prospect like Love come along who challenges all the common belief systems.
Berry didn’t dispel these rumors when he spoke about how much he loves Love. The problem is the aftermath of a team like the Browns using a sixth overall pick on a running back right now.
Cleveland selected Quinshon Judkins in the second round and Dylan Sampson in the fourth round last year. To then turn around and use a sixth overall pick on a running back just a year later would deem both of those picks a waste, and it would require the Browns to look past their two biggest needs of receiver and tackle.
Judkins showed a lot of promise as a rookie and nobody should be eager to replace him as the franchise RB. His presence alone makes this a hard pick to justify, but if the Browns feel that they can still get a receiver at No. 24 and land a promising prospect from a deep tackle class early in Round 2, taking Love is at least worth a conversation.
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