Top Cleveland Browns Targets At DL and LB Who Impressed at NFL Combine

INDIANAPOLIS– The top DL and LB spoke to reporters on Wednesday at the Indianapolis Convention Center, two positions the Browns could target in the early rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Browns hold seven draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Cleveland has picks 54, 85, 134, 154, 204 207, and 227 in this draft.

On the defensive line, the Browns currently have Myles GarrettIsaiah McGuire, and Ogbo Okoronkwo under contract, but players like Za’Darius Smith and Mo Hurst are set to become free agents. The Browns would love to have both players return, but they need to see how the market will develop.

At linebacker, the Browns currently have players like Tony Fields and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, but players like Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker will be free agents in March.

Here are a few defensive linemen and linebackers who stood out during media availability at the NFL Combine on Wednesday who could fit in Cleveland.

JEREMIAH TROTTER JR., LINEBACKER

When Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is drafted in a few months, he’ll become the second Trotter in his family to play in the NFL.

His father, Jeremiah Trotter, was a linebacker for 12 seasons in the NFL, and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round.

“My dad, being in the league growing up, being around the game basically my whole life, he’s taught me a lot about playing the linebacker position,” Trotter Jr. said about his father. “He’s definitely helped me get to this position here and I give a lot of credit to him. I really thank him for everything that’s taught me.”

His father always knew how to keep a healthy balance while he was growing up.

“He found a really good balance of being tough when I needed it, but also patting me on the back giving me congratulations and telling me good job when I needed that as well,” Trotter Jr. said. “He balanced the coaching and also being a dad, which I appreciate him more.”

When asked what makes him the best linebacker in this draft class, Trotter Jr. said his wide variety of talent will come in clutch.

“I feel I have a lot of capability of being a three-down linebacker,” Trotter Jr. said. “I have a wide variety of talent and a lot of versatility in my game. A lot of linebackers in this draft class I tip my hat up to. They’re great linebackers, they’re great players, and guys I also watched and really respect their game.”

 

ADISA ISAAC, DEFENSIVE END

Another Penn State player who impressed during media availability was the 6’4 redshirt senior defensive end Adisa Isaac.

Isaac is one of the more versatile players in his position this year, and contributed that to his success in college.

“It’s helped me a lot, you know, just heightening my IQ, not being a one-trick pony, and just kind of just being versatile,” Isaac told reporters at the NFL Combine. “That’s kind of what, what separates, you know, good play from players, you know, not being able to put them in a box, they can always catch you from different angles.”

The Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama is a great way for upperclassman to display their talents a little early into the draft process, and Isaac was able to jump at the chance.

“I think I was just able to, you know, display my talents against the best,” Isaac said. “Just to do what l’ve been doing all year, and just do it at a higher level and really, you know, have that firsthand experience with, you know, NFL coaches this time, not just, you know, my personal coaches, so it was a great experience for me. I was just happy that I was able to display, you know, my talents.”

Isaac met with Cleveland at the combine and added he had a great conversation with new Browns defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire.

Robinson suffered an Achilles injury which required a lot of time to recover from.

“The challenge is figuring out your new body,” Robinson said. “Obviously, you’re not going to move the same right away. You think you can do certain moves but it takes time to get back in the groove of things. Just like football, the more repetition you do, the better you feel. The second year out from the injury helped me take another jump.”

CHOP ROBINSON, DEFENSIVE END

Penn State’s Chop Robinson impressed many at his media availability on Wednesday.

The 6’3 junior defensive end recorded 15 total tackles, four sacks, and forced two fumbles this season.

Robinson told the media that he models his game mostly after Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons.

“I like Micah,” Robinson said. “I’ve been watching Micha since I was in high school. He also played at Penn State, see how hard he played. He’s very relentless, very consistent with everything he does, so I just try to replay my game after him.”

Robinson is not the only nittany lion here at the combine that Cleveland could be interested in. Adisa Isaac, a defensive end at Penn State is someone Robinson said provided great competition in practice.

“It was great competition every day in practice, ” Robinson said. “When we do our drills, we’ll both be in front of the line trying to beat each other. Sometimes he’ll beat me, sometimes I’ll beat him. So it was a back-and-forth group. It was making each other better.”

 

 

BRADEN FISKE, DEFENSIVE LINEMAN

Braden Fiske, a defensive lineman from Florida State and Western Michigan was another player who was spoken highly about on Wednesday.

When asked what part of his game will translate best to the NFL, Fiske went with his effort.

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