KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The pick is in, and the Browns have decided to add to their growing receiver core.
Due to trades for Deshaun Watson and Elijah Moore, Cleveland did not have a 2023 NFL Draft selection until the third round. With the 74th overall pick, the team chose Cedric Tillman, a 6-foot-3 wideout from Tennessee.
A native of Las Vegas, Tillman became a starter for the Volunteers during his redshirt junior season of 2021, and responded by catching 64 passes for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns. He returned for his senior year, but tallied only 417 yards and three scores in six games before being lost for the season with an ankle injury.
At the NFL combine, Tillman placed in the upper half of receivers with his vertical leap (37 inches) and broad jump (10 feet 8 inches), although his 4.54 40-yard dash time ranked on the slower side. Pro Football Focus rated him as a late second to early third-round prospect and called him "the most physical receiver in the draft class" who dropped only five passes during his college career.
The Browns' receiving core improved in 2022 with the arrival of former Pro Bowler Amari Cooper (78 receptions, 1,160 yards, nine TDs), but reports indicated the club was still seeking to bolster the unit this offseason. They did that last month when they acquired Moore from the New York Jets and signed veteran Marquise Goodwin, and Tillman will likely start by competing with 2021 and '22 third-rounders Anthony Schwartz and David Bell for reps.