CLEVELAND -- If Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden had been in this year's draft, he could've been the first quarterback taken, according to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.

Weeden, who used up his eligibility at Oklahoma State, went No. 22 to the Browns last year.

"Obviously you look at where the quarterbacks are this season,'' Kiper said on a conference call today. "There’s not one that there’s consensus on. So it’s possible he could’ve been the first quarterback taken this year. You look at (West Virginia's) Geno Smith and (USC's) Matt Barkley and Brandon Weeden, it would’ve been a tough call. It would’ve been a tough, tough call. Nobody right now is in this draft saying, 'if I’m Cleveland, I’ve got to take this quarterback even though I have Brandon Weeden.' There’s no quarterback that screams out, saying, ‘take me, even though you have Weeden because I’m that much better.’ There’s nobody. So I don’t think Cleveland’s going to be able to find that guy.''

Kiper added, "ironically, it might've been Barkley last year that went to Cleveland fourth overall (if he had come out as a junior). But now it’s a different scenario. It’s a different year. Things happen, things change. They have Weeden. They invested a first-round pick, even though it wasn’t this organization that’s in place now that did that. But I don’t think there’s another quarterback that you can say, 'boy, coming in as a rookie he’s going to be better than Weeden who already had one year on the pro level.' I don’t see that.''

Kiper, who conducted the call in advance of the NFL Combine next week in Indianapolis, does not believe that either of of the top two quarterbacks in this draft, Barkley or Smith, warrant the Browns' No. 6 pick, or even a top 10 selection. The Browns have said they'll bring in competition for Weeden.



"If (Barkley) would've come out last year, he could've been the fourth pick overall to Cleveland, but that's history,'' Kiper said. "Now you move on and unfortunately he didn't finish the process healthy, with a shoulder. He's not going to be physically imposing when they go through the numbers and the measurements and all of that type of thing. He's not the type of kid that's going to wow you over in a workout anyway. You just have to go back and look at him and evaluate him and I tell you, he's a pure passer, he's an accurate passer.



"He doesn't have a great arm, but he's got certainly good enough arm strength in the right situation which wouldn't be Buffalo, it certainly wouldn't be a cold weather environment. It would be more of a dome environment or a warmer weather environment like Arizona. It would certainly be a case where you'd have to protect him with a good offensive line, but he's a kid who's kind of a first one in, last one out of the building guy. He's definitely dedicated, he's definitely a respected team leader, highly regarded by his teammates and that coaching staff. I'd say more than likely right now second round, but if he has a good Pro Day -- evidently he's not going to throw at the Combine -- then somebody could jump back into that late first and grab him maybe.''

He believes Smith will go somewhere between No. 20 and No. 32.



"Some think top 10 and it's possible,'' he said. "We'll see how that all moves along as we go through Pro Days and Combines. Mike Glennon from N.C. State, I thought could be in the mid-first round range. He didn't play great against Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl. He didn't have a lights-out Senior Bowl week, but he's got talent and he's got ability and he also probably had the weakest supporting cast of any quarterback that we're evaluating here in terms of dropped balls by his receivers. Glennon could still emerge maybe late one, early two.''

He projected Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson to go somewhere between the early second round and early third, and Tennessee's Tyler Bray as a second-rounder.

Kiper has the Browns taking Florida State defensive Bjoern Werner at No. 6 in his most recent mock draft, but envisions him more as a 4-3 end than the outside linebacker he'd probably be in the Browns 3-4 scheme.

"I wouldn't want him playing on his feet, myself,'' Kiper said.



He said he could also see Texas A&M pass-rusher Damontre Moore going to the Browns at No. 6, or Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner if he lasts that long. But he thinks it will be Werner or Moore.

As for the Browns surrendering their second-round pick to acquire Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft, Kiper said, "I had no problem with it. Second-round was maybe a round stretch, but the kid's got an awful lot of ability. He showed that at Baylor. He did a heck of a job there and that talent was evident this year in a number of games. He's got a chance to be a very, very good player in this league. Would he be in the second-round this year? Yeah, possibly, but you already have a year of production with him too. A year of developing and coaching, so you're ahead of the game.''