B+
Cleveland Browns
The Browns worked the phones like thieves and earned a B+.
by mfinch3 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 8 steals
· 4 reaches
The Browns went off the board in a big way for Barryn Sorrell, 110 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another. It does the job without flash, and the B+ reflects it.
The Ferguson value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 3 they get a problem off the edge. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 29th overall pick they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Jaxson Dart at slot 33 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Walter Nolen is a better player than the Round 2 slot suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They paid sticker price for Quinshon Judkins in pick 65, and that is fine. A need, and now a little less of one.
Zy Alexander at the 67th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A premium they did not need to pay, Smael Mondon Jr. a notch or two before his time. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Donovan Jackson at the 103rd pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Circle this one: Tai Felton at pick 104 is a fall that decides a draft. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They barely believed it either: Cody Simon still on the board at the 165th overall pick. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Terrance Ferguson in the Round 6 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A tidy bit of business in slot 194, where JJ Pegues graded well above the range. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A real head-scratcher, Barryn Sorrell in Round 6, Pick 24 is miles ahead of his ranking. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jaylen Reed at pick No. 216 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. The roster fit checks out.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Seth McLaughlin. It fills a real need, too.
The board had cheaper options than Jeremy Crawshaw at the 221st pick, and it noticed. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Somehow Trevor Etienne was still sitting there in slot 257, and they pounced on premier running back value. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.