After the mediocre drafts run by Berry before 2025, an average draft would look good, but how good was the 2025 draft for Cleveland?
Let's take a look:
Round One: Mason Graham (5th overall) Defensive Tackle, Michigan.
Graham was obtained with the pick from Jacksonville in the trade that dropped the Browns from fifth to second and included Jacksonville's 2026 first-rounder.
Graham started every game and dropped runners for losses seven times, but only notched four hits on the quarterback and finished with only a half-sack on the year.
If you are picking a defensive tackle fifth overall, you expect an impact player, and I'm not sure Graham is that type of player.
He may make a Pro Bowl or two, but I still think he was overdrafted.
Two excellent wide receivers had strong rookie seasons (Tetairoa McMillan to Carolina and Emeka Egbuka to Tampa Bay), and the Browns have the league's weakest receiving corps; they could have used either of those two.
Round Two: Carson Schwesinger LB, UCLA
This is where I give Andrew Berry his first good grade, as I was concerned about Schwesinger as the first pick in round two.
Schwesinger was the deserving defensive rookie of the year, finishing with sixty-seven solo tackles, two and a half sacks, and two interceptions in sixteen games.
Schwesinger has a motor that never stops, and is a player who is fun to root for.
If he doesn't become beaten down by the organization, Schwesinger could be a stalwart for a long time in Cleveland.
Round Two: Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State
Judkins would have likely finished with over one thousand yards rushing if not for a late-season injury, but still finished with 827 yards and seven touchdowns as the person every defense focused on every week.
Judkins will be the main back for the Browns in 2026 and hopes to up his 2025 average of 3.6 yards per carry.
Round Three: Harold Fannin, TE, Bowling Green
This was the pick I liked most after the draft, and another big hit for Andrew Berry.
Fannin caught 72 passes for over 700 yards and, as a rookie, was the only pass catcher Cleveland quarterbacks could depend on to catch the ball.
Fannin is still learning the position and has the type of potential to be a long-term standout.
Round Three: Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon
I hated this pick when the Browns made it, and even though it was an "extra" third-round pick (Obtained from Buffalo for Amari Cooper), the Browns gave it away.
Gabriel appeared in 10 games, throwing 7 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, but those numbers are deceiving, as he rarely threw the ball more than a yard or two downfield.
Two picks later, Atlanta chose Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts, who intercepted five passes and was a challenger to Carson Schwesinger as defensive rookie of the year.
A blown opportunity for the Browns, who now will either give Gabriel away before the draft, or he will have to beat someone out next season to be the third-stringer.
Round Four: Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee
Used as a pass-catching back (33 catches, 271 yards, and two touchdowns) more than as a runner (175 yards on 65 carries), Sampson didn't dazzle anyone in his playing time.
Rather than a second running back, Cleveland could have taken Iowa State tackle Jalen Travis, who showed promise for the Colts and could have been a starter for the Browns next year since all of their 2025 starters on the offensive line could be elsewhere.
Round Five: Shedeu Sanders, QB, Colorado,
Sanders showed occasional flashes of talent but just as often seemed lost against the speed of NFL play, and for all the touting about his accuracy, he completed fifty-six percent of his passes (nothing special) and threw ten interceptions against seven scores.
Sanders struggles against the pass rush, and while he needs to develop patience in the pocket, he never gives up on a play.
This was a low risk high reward selection, and while the jury is still out on Sanders being the long-term answer at quarterback, I'm in on giving him the chance to be the starter in 2026 to find out.
My scores are as follows
Home Runs: (2) Carson Schwesinger, Harold Fannin
Solid Base Hits: (1) Quinshon Judkins,
Base Hits: (2) Mason Graham, Shedeur Sanders
Meh: (1) Dylan Sampson
Strikeouts: (1) Dillon Gabriel.
That's a very good draft class with a chance of being excellent, if Mason Graham improves, and especially with development from Shedeur Sanders.
But I still wince at the selection of Dillon Gabriel, and taking Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders wasn't fair to either of their development.
Overall, give Andrew Berry credit, but I'll still have to see Berry do it again before I'm convinced the Browns are on the proper track.
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