Browns Already Being Disrespected In Early Power Rankings

NFL.com released its first set of preseason power rankings this week, and Cleveland fans will not be thrilled with where the Browns landed as Nick Shook took over the weekly rankings duties. Sitting at number 28 out of 32 teams, Cleveland finds itself grouped closer to the bottom of the league than most Browns fans would expect given the genuine progress this roster has shown throughout training camp.

Shook laid out his reasoning for placing Cleveland so far down the list, pointing to the uncertainty at quarterback as the driving factor behind the low ranking.

“With Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders yo yoing in their battle for the starting job, it’s fair to expect another low output season from this offense, even after Cleveland’s a coaching change. And that same staff turnover leaves questions about how effective this defense will be, especially after trading away Myles Garrett. A year or two from now, the Browns might have a very strong core. For now, though, it’s a work in progress with plenty left to sort out,” Shook wrote.

Shook did credit the Browns for what he called arguably the best rookie class in the entire league from the 2025 draft, along with specifically highlighting Denzel Boston as a legitimate gem at receiver, comparing the current pass-catching depth favorably to the days of Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr.

Trading away a player with two Defensive Player of the Year awards during his prime was always going to raise questions about defensive production, but early camp reports have told a different story entirely, with Cleveland’s defense generating a historic pace of interceptions under new coordinator Mike Rutenberg.

Rankings released this early in the calendar must be taken with a grain of salt. Browns fans have plenty of motivation heading into the preseason opener against Chicago to start proving these early rankings wrong.

With Andrew Berry building out a roster that Shook himself admits could feature a very strong core within a year or two, Cleveland’s rebuild appears to be trending in the right direction even if the national perception has not fully caught up yet.