The Cleveland Browns haven’t found much success in the NFL Draft during the Andrew Berry era.
They didn’t have a lot of capital to work with because of the now-infamous Deshaun Watson trade, but they haven’t necessarily nailed it when they’ve been on the clock, either.
However, they’ve usually fared well with undrafted free agents.
Notably, that was the case in 2023 when they signed Ronnie Hickman Jr. out of Ohio State.
As a matter of fact, he’s actually the highest-graded safety from that class, according to Thomas Valentine of PFF:
“The Browns picked up Hickman as an undrafted free agent after the 2023 NFL Draft, but the former Ohio State Buckeye has been the highest-graded safety in a class that featured Brian Branch. Hickman has been a good rotational safety covering the back end for a Cleveland defense that was red-hot in 2023 but struggled in 2024,” Valentine wrote. “He has allowed only 6.4 yards per reception on 19 targets, and he earned an 81.7 PFF grade against the run in 2024. Hickman is more often used as a roaming free safety and has proven to be a valuable tool for the Browns’ defense thus far.”
Hickman has yet to have a big role with the team, but he’s responded every single time he’s been asked to step up.
Now, with Juan Thornhill no longer in town, he will have plenty of opportunities to start next to Grant Delpit.
He’s one of the top breakout candidates for the upcoming campaign.
On top of that, he’s entering the final year of his three-year contract with the team before hitting restricted free agency, so he should have more than enough motivation to land the first big payday of his career.
The Browns’ defense as a whole took a big step back in Jim Schwartz’s second season as defensive coordinator.
The secondary allowed plenty of big plays, with the aforementioned Thornhill being involved in several of those.
Hopefully, they will go back to their dominant ways next season, and having Hickman at his best will most definitely make life easier for them.
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