CLEVELAND, Ohio – Scribbles in my Browns notebook after the first round of the NFL draft:

1. Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta said Alabama’s Jedrick Wills Jr. was the top tackle on their draft board. Teams often say something like that, even if it’s not true. I tend to believe DePodesta. It fits with the “tackles are tackles” comment made by GM Andrew Berry before the draft.

2. The 6-4, 312-pound Wills played exclusively right tackle in high school and college. He was the top-rated offensive lineman in the country in 2017 coming out of Lafayette High in Lexington, Kentucky. He continued to play right tackle at Alabama. With the Browns, he’ll be the left tackle.

3. DePodesta and Berry stressed the “best player available” approach to the draft. Certainly, filling a need is important. DePodesta explained how the need for a left tackle and the availability of Wills lined up to make this decision simple.

4. DePodesta and coach Kevin Stefanski stressed offensive line coach Bill Callahan was a significant factor in the decision to take Wills. If Callahan had said making the switch “was unlikely,” he never would have been on top of the Browns’ tackle board. The Browns talked about how Callahan helped Tyron Smith switch from right tackle in college to left tackle with the Dallas Cowboys.

5. ESPN’s Mel Kiper and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had Wills ranked as their top tackle. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah had Mekhi Becton as No. 1, Wills at No. 2. Brugler and Jeremiah are two of the most underrated draft analysts.

6. I disagree with Jeremiah on Becton, the 365-pound left tackle from Louisville. Weight could be a big issue with him. He also flunked a drug test at the combine, never a good sign when it comes to maturity. Becton went to the Jets at No. 11, right behind the Browns’ pick.

7. I wondered how the analytics site Profootballfocus.com (PFF) rated the tackles. This was their order: 1) Georgia’s Andrew Thomas. 2) Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs. 3) Wills. Those three tackles were rated between 8-and-11 on PFF’s big board overall rankings. What about Becton? They had him at No. 45.

8. Maybe Becton becomes a great player because of his physical gifts, but he’s a risk. The Browns say Wills fits their “tough, smart, accountable” mantra for players. Not sure Becton falls into that category at this stage of his football career.

9. Stefanski talked about how Wills was “coached hard” at Alabama. That’s the case with anyone in Nick Saban’s program. Not too many of the top players at Ohio State or Alabama in recent years have been a bust in the pros. Both places are like top NFL farm teams.

10. Wills said Joe Thomas reached out to him, and it was before the draft. The former great Browns tackle believes Wills can make the switch from right to left tackle. Wills said he will be sending Thomas some videos and they plan to talk. Now that’s a good start on being “smart and accountable.”

11. On April 19, Thomas tweeted that Wills is “the guy who is the most NFL ready and would be the #1 guy if the ceiling for Becton wasn’t so high. I see (Wills) as the most sure-fire offensive lineman in this draft.”

12. Wills also said most teams wanted him to switch to left tackle, the exceptions being the Bucs and Chargers. Alabama had a lefty QB the last two years in Tua Tagovailoa, meaning Wills covered his “blind side.” Or as Berry said: “(Wills) consistently matched up against the edge rushers in the most competitive conference in college football.”

13. Berry talked about the skillset of Wills, “his speed, his athletic ability and ability to pass protect ... all of those are top notch ... we think he can really play on either side of the line of scrimmage.”

14. The Browns talked about being “quarterback-centric” from the moment Berry and Stefanski teamed up in Cleveland. Spending $42 million for right tackle Jack Conklin followed by resisting the temptation to trade down (drafting Wills instead) shows they made the main thing the main thing.

15. I never thought the Browns were serious about trading for Trent Williams. As I wrote recently, he will be 32 by opening day. He missed all of last year because of a contract dispute with Washington and a cancerous growth on his head. He missed nine of 32 games in the previous two seasons. They want to build the line with younger guys.

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