NFL Draft news roundup: Cleveland Browns GM knows his QB

New Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer hasn’t been on the job long, but he already knows what quarterback he’d take in the draft.

The who and when remain mysteries, but Farmer told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that “I currently have somebody in front.”

Farmer has held off on telling his front office his top player to as to not sway their opinion before the Browns finalize their draft board. In the interview, Farmer shot down the notion he was fond of Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, who opted to return for his junior season. But he did say there was no sure thing the Browns would draft a quarterback with the No. 4 pick in the draft.

“I’d say that No. 4 is not necessarily where I would take the guy that I like,” Farmer said. “Again, it may not be the name that everybody thinks is the latest, greatest, and the easy one to spot. There’s definitely an art to selecting people in the draft and it’s finding the right name that fits who you want to be.”

If anyone wants to try and decode what Farmer told beat writer Mary Kay Cabot, feel free to do it in the comments. Here’s another nondescript quote from Farmer, but still eerily interesting.

“The charge is to get it right regardless of which position. (But) there are players in this draft who can help us at (quarterback) and dependent upon where they’re at and where we’re at, if the two can match up, we can be in good shape. I just don’t know if we’re going to have the opportunity to take those players.”

When you don’t play for in a BCS conference, sometimes you have to speak up for yourself to make people pay attention. Colorado State’s Kapri Bibbs did that recently.

“I think if I was at an SEC school, I’d be first round hands down,” Bibbs told FOXSports.com. “I think I really didn’t have any control over who I played or where I played.

Bibbs was a one-year star for the Rams, rushing for 1,741 yards and 31 touchdowns last season.

Mel Kiper of ESPN has updated his position rankings. This is a few days old, but may have been overlooked since Kiper put out a new mock draft. This is ESPN Insider content, so not too many of the rankings can be republished, but here are a few highlights:

Kent State’s Dri Archer is Kiper’s No. 9 overall running back. Josh Huff of Oregon slides in at No. 10 among wide receivers. Kiper seems to be much higher on South Carolina’s Kelcy Quarles than most, rating him as the No. 4 defensive tackle. He has Virginia Tech cornerback Antone Exum listed as a safety and Florida State safety Lamarcus Joyner as a cornerback.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel caught up with former Louisville defensive coordinator Vance Bradford (now at Texas) for a profile of Cardinals safety Calvin Pryor. At Louisville Pryor gained the reputation of knocking players out of the game.

“He had three games in a row where he hit somebody and they did not finish the game,” Bedford told the paper. “He doesn’t want to injure anybody, but he brings a certain physicality that if you’re going to throw the ball down the middle of the field, you’re going to pay a price.”

That physical nature is one of the things teams will love about Pryor, and partly why he might be the first safety picked in the draft.

Despite still playing professionally, Chicago Bears quarterback Jordan Palmer is coaching top quarterback prospect Blake Bortles, among other signal callers. Palmer told the Chicago Tribune he still wants to play in the NFL, and this is helping him get more reps in the offseason.

Palmer came away impressed with the Central Florida product Bortles.

“He is a very, very good player and he is going to be able to do whatever he wants in the league,” Palmer said. “He’s got all the intangibles. He is big. He is a way-above-average athlete for being 230 pounds and has a big arm.”

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