McKenrick earns third 2017 AllAmerica nod

ESPN’s Todd McShay has the Browns taking USC quarterback Sam Darnold in April. Plus, GM John Dorsey has the scouting staff busy looking at all the top passers the team is considering.

Nothing gets Browns fans pumped like mock drafts, and with the 2018 draft more than four months away, there will be plenty of them to examine before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on April 26 announces: “The Cleveland Browns are on the clock.”

Todd McShay of ESPN issued his first mock draft for 2018 and is going out on a very strong limb in assuming the first pick will belong to the 0-13 Browns. He has them choosing Southern Cal quarterback Sam Darnold. For him, it boiled down to Darnold or UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen.

“I believe Rosen is the more polished quarterback right now, but Darnold has the higher ceiling at the next level,” McShay wrote. “We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on Darnold’s questionable decision-making and poor footwork (as well as his being turnover prone), but that was behind a porous offensive line and with a pass-catching corps with a lot of youth.

“Darnold played very well down the stretch, with nine TDs and only two INTs in his final five games.”

McShay left open the possibility of Darnold, a redshirt freshman, returning to USC in 2018. Darnold has to announce a decision to declare for the NFL draft by Jan. 15. He will know after Dec. 31 whether the Browns have the first pick.

“It isn’t easy to turn down guaranteed money and the potential of being the No. 1 pick. But most talent evaluators think he’d benefit long-term from another year at USC,” McShay wrote. “Darnold will have to make a difficult decision after the Cotton Bowl (between Ohio State and USC).”

McShay has the Giants (2-11) taking Rosen with the second pick.

“Rosen outplayed Darnold in their recent matchup, and I came away impressed from watching him from the sideline,” McShay wrote. “Rosen is the most NFL-ready QB in this class. The biggest challenge for him will be selling teams on his love/ need for the game and his ‘coachability.’ ”

McShay’s sidekick at ESPN, Mel Kiper Jr., ranks Penn State running back Saquon Barkley as the best player in the draft followed by Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick. Kiper ranks Rosen ahead of Darnold.

The Browns also own the Texans’ first-round pick from the draft-day trade last year that allowed Houston to draft quarterback Deshaun Watson with the 12th overall pick.

The Texans are 4-9. They are 1-5 since Watson was injured in practice on Nov. 2. McShay projects the Houston pick will end up USC quarterback Sam Darnold runs during the second half Oct. 14 against Utah in Los Angeles.

sixth overall. He has the Browns using it on Barkley.

“Barkley is a far superior player to (Browns running backs Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson),” McShay wrote. “My No. 2 overall prospect, Barkley is clearly the best running back in college football. He’s also the best running back to come out of college since Adrian Peterson (Vikings, 2007), and he would do well behind Cleveland’s strong offensive line.”

Crowell will be an unrestricted free agent in March without a new contract.

• Browns new general manager John Dorsey is dead serious about finding a quarterback.

During a radio interview on Cleveland Browns Daily on WKNR-AM 850, Dorsey revealed what he told the Browns’ college scouts.

“Sometimes you have different systems and try to bring them together,” Dorsey said. “I took the college scouts who were in town this week and had them take the top 12 quarterbacks in the draft and told them to watch them as a group, have discussions, and see what your rankings are in two days.

“I want to get a feeling, not only for their ability to scout, but also to see and feel what these quarterbacks are. There are some positive and legitimate prospects here that would make any Browns fan happy if we went in that direction.”

Other highly rated quarterbacks in the 2018 draft include Baker Mayfield from Oklahoma, Josh Allen from Wyoming, Mason Rudolph from Oklahoma State and Luke Falk from Washington State.

• Dorsey as the Chiefs former general manager considered drafting Browns current starter DeShone Kizer in 2017. Instead, he moved up to the 10th pick and drafted Patrick Mahomes.

Dorsey said he had three quarterbacks rated

ahead of Kizer — Mahomes and presumably Mitchell Trubisky (second overall to the Bears) and Watson. Kizer was the fourth quarterback off the board when the Browns selected him 52nd overall.

“(Kizer) still has a lot of work to do,” Dorsey said on WKNR. “He has some mechanical things he has to work with, but I like the growth. I thought last week (against Green Bay) you take four or five plays out of there, he played pretty well.”

Kizer threw a seasonhigh three touchdown passes and completed a season-best 71.4 of his passes (20 of 28) against the Packers, but his interception in overtime cost the Browns the game.

• What must it be like to be Kizer and be bombarded daily in print, on radio and on television with the message getting a quarterback is the Browns’ top priority?

“This is the NFL,” Kizer said. “There’s going to be a great quarterback in front of you; there’s going to be a great quarterback behind you. If there’s a new young face, that’s what it is. If there’s an older guy, then I’m going to try to learn as much as I can from him and continue to develop my game and do whatever I can to focus on myself to develop into one of the better quarterbacks in this league.”

Coach Hue Jackson said Kizer is blocking out all the quarterback talk.

“When you’re on the team and playing quarterback, I don’t think you can worry about those things,” Jackson said. “Just me knowing DeShone, he would tell you he can only worry about what he can control. What he can control is playing well against Baltimore, finishing the season strong.”

Kizer played the Ravens in the second week of the season. He threw three interceptions in a 24-10 loss. He meets them again Dec. 17.

Always gracious LeBron

LeBron James says he does not think about personal statistics, but when he reaches another milestone he will talk about it.

James posted the 59th triple-double of his amazing career Dec. 14 when the Cavaliers beat the Lakers, 121-112, matching Larry Bird for sixth all-time.

“He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game,” James said. “And one of the few guys to ever be in a 3-point contest and shoot with a warmup shirt on. He played until he couldn’t play anymore. He gave everything he had.”

Bird retired after 13 seasons because of back problems. James is in his 15th season.

“For young guys that don’t know him, they think of Larry Bird as a jump shooter,” James said. “But he was so much more than that. He was a passer. He averaged double-digit rebounds (10.0). He defended. He took charges. And just a straight-up complete basketball player.”

Wilt Chamberlain with 78 triple-doubles (points, rebounds and assists) is next on the ladder. The alltime leader is Oscar Robertson with 181.

I didn’t know that

… Until I read my Snapple bottle cap:

Blackboard chalk is not made of chalk. It is made of gypsum . ... A person inhales about 13 pints of air per minute . ... A kangaroo cannot walk backward . ... If you stretched out a Slinky until it is flat, it would be 87 feet long . ... Approximately 9,000 taste buds are on your tongue . ... The letter “J” is the only letter that does not appear on the periodic table of the elements.

Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider

KELVIN KUO — ASSOCIATED PRESS