For years, the Cleveland Browns lacked the youth and the young talent to get the team back on track to contention. They gave up a plethora of assets to get Deshaun Watson, and they didn’t always do a good job of finding good prospects with whatever draft picks they had left.
That wasn’t the case this season. For the first time in the Andrew Berry era, the Browns absolutely aced the NFL Draft, to the point where even some of his harshest critics now believe he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.
This Browns’ rookie class has been pretty spectacular, with most of the players looking like building blocks for years to come.
To put it in context, ESPN analyst Ben Solak shared how the Browns made NFL history in their win over the Las Vegas Raiders:
“All detailed analysis aside, the Browns won a game Sunday, which is very exciting. The most exciting part? They got this win with a whopping 84.2% of their scrimmage yards coming from rookie contributors. Browns rookies accounted for 100% of the team’s passing yards, 100% of its rushing yards (114%, actually) and 75% of its receiving yards. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this has happened in only one other game since the 1970 merger. It was done by the 1974 Chargers, and they had 17 rounds of draft picks to work with, compared to the seven we have today,” Solak wrote.
Browns Find Core Pieces For The Future
The Browns made the most of almost every single selection they had in the 2025 draft, and even their undrafted free agents have exceeded expectations for the most part.
Unfortunately, they still might not have a franchise-caliber quarterback. Despite using a third and a fifth-round selection on signal callers, they might still have to take someone else in the 2026 NFL Draft or trade for a veteran in the offseason.
But even if that’s the case, this team has found two potential All-Pro defensive players in Carson Schwesinger and Mason Graham, as well as two potential top-five players at their positions in Harold Fannin Jr. and Quinshon Judkins.
The roster is far from perfect, but they’re certainly trending in the right direction.
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