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Ten burning questions heading into the 2017 NFL Draft

Browns, NFL Draft rumors, Mitch Trubisky

9. Defense heavy?

Let’s take a gander at the NFL.com big board for a second. Of the top-five prospects, four reside on the defensive side of the ball with Fournette being the only exception. Of the top-50 prospects, more than half are defensive players. This tells us a story of a draft that’s stacked with talent on that side of the ball.

None of this really matters in the grand scheme of things. Sure teams would love to draft value over need most of the time. And those organizations who have actually picked well in recent years will be able to do just that. Unfortunately, this list is limited to less than a handful of squads. The rest will surely have to find a happy medium between the two.

The real question here is whether teams like Cleveland, San Francisco and Houston will pass up on offensive needs (quarterback) in order to find value on the other side of the ball. Despite the Browns and 49ers boasting two of the worst offenses in the NFL last season, there’s surely a scenario in play where each team goes strictly defense early on. That would include Cleveland’s second first-round pick (12th overall) and the top two overall picks in the second round.

If we were to pinpoint how the top 10 might play out, Myles Garrett, Solomon Thomas, Jamal Adams, Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore all have to be considered locks on defense. After that, it wouldn’t be a major shock to see defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, pass rusher Derek Barnett and cornerback Gareon Conley all sniff the top 10.

Surely this will depend on what happens at both quarterback and running back. Though, as experts have said recently, the wide receiver position seems to be relatively weak in this class. That could push the likes of Mike Williams, Corey Davis and John Ross down to the late teens, early 20’s. Again, it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

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