After taking a look at Mel Kiper Jr.'s pre-NFL Scouting Combine mock draft for ESPN, a few things can be gleaned from it from a Georgia perspective. The first is CJ Allen is as much of a first-round lock as Monroe Freeling is. The second is Christen Miller and Zachariah Branch both have some work to do to potentially crack the top 32. As for the third, where Allen and Freeling land in the first round matters!
Kiper has Allen coming off the board first of the Georgia first-round hopeful contingent. He lands with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are picking at No. 15. A handful of picks later, Kiper tabs Freeling as a possible solution in the trenches for the Cleveland Browns. While Allen seems to fit the Buccaneers' needs like hand in glove in potentially a post-Lavonte David world, Freeling will be thrown into the fire.
Kiper touched on this as much in his blurb about Freeling going to the Browns with their second first-round pick by way of the Jacksonville Jaguars. "The Browns went with Carnell Tate earlier, but their entire starting offensive line from last season is unsigned: Cam Robinson, Joel Bitonio, Ethan Pocic, Wyatt Teller, and Jack Conklin." He believes pairing Freeling with Dawand Jones is the right call here.
Of course, it may take more than Georgia connection for Freeling to flourish on Todd Monken's team.
Monroe Freeling goes to Cleveland Browns at No. 24 in NFL mock draft
The biggest thing working in Freeling's favor as an NFL Draft prospect is his range and upside. He is every bit 6-foot-7. While he only started 18 games in a Georgia uniform, he appears to have made a wise decision to turn pro a year early. He seems to be every bit the first-round lock as his former UGA teammate Allen is over at linebacker. What may be working against him has to be the Browns of it all...
Although Monken does know offense, this will be his first stab at being an NFL head coach. More importantly, he never sticks anywhere for very long, outside of a pair of four-year runs with Eastern Michigan in the 1990s and on Jack Del Rio's Jacksonville Jaguars staff in the 2000s, Monken never works anywhere for more than three seasons. That may be all he needs to get the golden parachute.
The good news is Cleveland did retain its general manager in Andrew Berry. Alongside his former colleague Kevin Stefanksi, the Browns did a great job over the last half-decade or so in accumulating offenisve line talent. This has been a pillar of many Browns teams in recent memory. The bad news is this team has not been anything close to a playoff team the last two seasons, as Stefanski was let go.
Overall, Freeling will be left with no choice but to sink or swim if he were to go to Cleveland. Getting presumably Shedeur Sanders a weapon in the receiving corps inside the top 10 in former Ohio State star Carnell Tate certainly is a choice. In reality, Cleveland will be lucky if it does not finish in last place in the AFC North next season. Freeling will have to play so well to prevent any of that from happening.
Ultimately, there are better landing spots for Freeling in the first round than Cleveland. Detroit has better offensive weaponry. Houston has been a playoff team the last few years. Even a team like the San Francisco 49ers could use his upside to help sustain whatever it is they are building over there. To be quite frank, Freeling's promise and shortcomings will be fully on display if he goes to Cleveland.
Going No. 24 will be great for Freeling's finances, but that team being the Browns is less than ideal...