The Cleveland Browns currently own the fourth overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft following their loss to the New York Jets, along with the 19th selection courtesy of the Jacksonville Jaguars. In this seven-round mock draft, the team takes a swing at a franchise quarterback and spend their first six picks on offensive players.
We'll be using NFL Mock Draft Database's simulator for this mock, and the rule is that for each selection, a player must be ranked at or below ten spots higher than the pick slot on the big board, so for the 69th overall pick, player #59 would be fair game, but player #56 would be off-limits. This is to create some level of intrigue and variety with each selection, but to also add some degree of reality.
Round 1, Pick 4 - Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
Simpson's physical traits will be under scrutiny throughout the pre-draft process, as teams try to determine how high of a selection he is truly worth. However, his performance this year his difficult to argue with, as he's displayed excellent efficiency, throwing 21 touchdowns to only one interception. He's not elite in any area, but he's solid in just about all of them. He has enough arm strength to make all the throws, accuracy to fit the ball into NFL windows, solid athletic ability to manuever around within the pocket and to create outside of it, and is lauded as a highly intelligent player.
Simpson is a one-year starter, which is certainly concerning, but the fact that he'll end up having a larger sample size to work with due to the College Football Playoff is a positive. He has a great chance this weekend to further solidify his stock, as the Crimson Tide face a top-10 defense in the Oklahoma Sooners. Simpson may not have the natural talent of a typical top QB prospect, but he's played great football this year, and if the Browns aren't picking first overall, they may not have much of a choice at the position. Billing Simpson as "better than nothing" is selling him short - he's a good prospect with an NFL future. Whether or not he's a true top-five prospect remains to be seen.