It never ceases to amaze me at what lengths some NFL franchises will go to in order to conceal their intent. And without a doubt the Cleveland Browns have misguided and given misinformation beautifully this off-season leading up to the 2012 NFL Draft. But it is safe to say that the organization has got their man and due to information publicly admitted by some General Managers I am comfortable in concluding that the Cleveland Browns will either select Alabama running back Trent Richardson, or USC offensive lineman Matt Kalil.

Why do I feel confident in this determination? I would like to introduce exhibit A into the court of public opinion. On Thursday Minnesota Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman had announced that the Vikings will select one of three players. According to Spielman, Minnesota will select either LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne, offensive tackle Matt Kalil, or Oklahoma State’s receiver Justin Blackmon. This decision was announced by Spielman as he met with the St. Paul press on Thursday afternoon. This does not rule out a possible trade, Spielman has stated that the team will be open to offers, however I would imagine that the decision to announce who the Vikings will select is because they have not had much inquiry about trading up. Specifically the mention of Blackmon may be a smoke screen to generate any trade possibility particularly from the Rams who are very high on Blackmon.

Exhibit B is in regards to some things that Cleveland Browns General Manager Tom Heckert said during his press conference also on Thursday. Heckert had noted that the Browns front office has a “unanimous” decision on who they will draft with the 4th overall pick. He also went on to say that there are two players they want and they are guaranteed at least one of them. Heckert also downplayed trading down in this draft stating “It would be hard to do”. Given all of these comments I believe that the Browns will either take Richardson or Kalil.

Although Heckert would not state who the Browns are targeting at number four overall, he did defend Blackmon stating that “he is a good kid, and good football player”. Some read into that as being a statement that the Browns may be targeting the wide receiver standout, but I do not believe that this is the case. Heckert also downplayed Tannehill’s “rising stock” mentioning that teams will not buy into the hype and wherever a player is graded at the end of a season tends to be where that player will go in the draft.

So why trust what these two GM’s said during their press conferences on Thursday? It wasn’t so much what they said. It was what they didn’t say, and how they said it. Now at that end of the day I could be proven wrong, but If I didn’t at least make an educated guess, then what would you guys read about? Kalil is number one on the Browns wish list with Richardson right behind, and trading down is NOT an option that the Browns will consider. You can take that to the bank.